reimagining feminism

I'm in Gainesville, Florida for a few days and will be facilitating a Feminism In/Action discussion tomorrow night. Sponsored by the University of Florida's Center for Women's Studies & Gender Research and The Friends of Wild Iris Books
:::
Friday, 3 October, 7:00 pm
The Atrium at Ustler Hall, UF Campus

Please come and spread the word!

First off, if you live in San Diego, you should get yourself to this benefit concert this weekend! 

I'll be in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Oakland (for the Critical Resistance conference) this week -- please come out for these if you can! And please spread the word...

SAN DIEGO

Monday, September 22, 4:30-6:30

Feminism In/Action: What is your feminism for and why does it matter?

* Free and open to the public

At the home of Pat Washington, 4537 Alamo Drive, San Diego, CA 92115

If you live in Los Angeles, please join the Make/shift Collective, me, and lots of others for a film/video screening followed by a participatory discussion about contemporary feminisms, privilege, power, difference, and so much more...

When: Thursday, September 25, 8pm-10pm

Where:  Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N Alvarado St. (at Sunset)

Please spread the word; it's going to be a great event!

Long before I was aware of concepts like oppression and feminism, I learned about animal rights. 

It started as love. I've had a deep love for animals for as long as I can remember, often preferring their company to that of humans. Growing up I could spend hours -- probably days -- sitting in the cornfields talking to mice, playing in the snow with my dog, or visiting the toads and turtles near my grandparents' summer trailer.

Another amazingly articulate, thoughtful, critical analysis of "feminism" by Jess Hoffmann... Here's a snippet, but please please go read the rest.  

I see a lot of people who say they believe in “intersectionality” talk about it kind of like this: Since some women are people of color, and some women are poor, and some women are queer, it’s important for feminism to take an intersectional approach that recognizes the way some women experience sexism and racism, or sexism and economic exploitation, or sexism and homophobia, or other such combinations. And then maybe they’ll go a step further, and say something about how, for women of color, sexism and racism aren’t just two separate forms of oppression experienced simultaneously, but are intertwined in really complicated ways. So, a lot of self-identified supporters of intersectionality will say, if feminism is going to be a movement by and for all women, it needs to look at how all forms of oppression, not just sexism, play out in different women’s lives. And I think that’s all true and good.

Thanks to Jessica Hoffmann for alerting me to a new project I'm thrilled to spread the word about:

Enough: The Personal Politics of Resisting Capitalism

Enough is a space for conversations about creating shared values and practices around wealth redistribution, how to sustain grassroots movements, how to resist capitalism in our everyday lives.

Please go there now!  Read, comment, send your thoughts and ideas, submit your essays, and spread the word...

Isn't our new website pretty?  I'm really excited about it. Except that when I clicked on the blog page, I freaked out when I saw all of our staff/founder images, with little bits of information about us. In fact I freaked out so much that I called our web design team and begged them to take it down; it felt so exposing and self-important!  They suggested I write a blog post instead and ask some questions to y'all, so here's a stab... 

...

I often think about how to build community around the work we're doing without replicating (among other things) the cult of celebrity. That's a tall order in our culture, where even in progressive and radical communities, we often see the same few talking heads saying the same things. But if we're committed to real systemic change, I believe we have to reckon with this.