WAM! 2008

On Seal Press, and the fucking of same

Andi Zeisler — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:11:42 -0400

I haven't posted about either WAM or the rest of my trip east because, frankly, I haven't had time — I got back to Portland with a teetering pile of pre-production work about to fall off my already stacked-sky-high plate, and I'm still slogging through it. But I have been reading what others out there have had to say about their conference experiences, and it's a combination of unsurprising, enlightening, and depressing.

Among the postconference musings I read today were those of Blackamazon, one of which has started something of a...situation with Seal Press. Namely, the musing — which came at the end of a long and sort-of-unrelated-to-said-musing post — was "Fuck Seal Press," and the situation was that the ladies at Seal jumped in to defend themselves, with less than satisfactory results. And when I say "less than satisfactory," I mean for everyone.

As a Seal Press author — I just finished a book on feminism and pop culture that's coming out sometime this fall, as part of their new academic series Seal Studies, and I've contributed to two of their previous anthologies, one edited by Lisa — I have very mixed feelings about adding my voice to the already very amplified conversation that has resulted from the whole dust-up. On the other hand, the fact that I am a Seal author also makes me feel compelled to do just that. So I'm gonna say it: Seeing the Seal folks respond they way they did to Blackamazon's post — really, the fact that they responded at all in that space — was like watching from afar as your friend exits the club bathroom with her skirt tucked into her pantyhose and walks straight up to the guy in the "Too Drunk to Fuck, So Just Give Me a Blowjob" t-shirt. You're trying to yell, "No! Retreat! Rewind! Bad idea!" but the music's just way too loud.

Seal Press's subsequent post about the incident, then, was sort of like watching that same friend, a second later, whip out a big bag of glue and start huffing it. I mean, put the glue away! You've done enough damage already!

I'll stop with this analogy now, I think. My point is that it's hard to watch an entity you care so much about dig itself deeper and deeper into a mess. And I do care about Seal Press — Seal books like Listen Up, Adios Barbie, Colonize This!, Whipping Girl, and many more have been part of the bedrock of my ongoing education, and I was honored to be invited to be part of the Seal Studies series. Furthermore, with the rapid winnowing of both feminist presses and feminist bookstores, I feel like it's important to support as many of both as possible. Which is why, when we get the Seal catalog each season, I refrain from wondering if the world really needs another memoir of wacky motherhood hijinks written by an alternative-styled white gal, and instead feel happy that the press has managed to stay kicking. (It's also why I'm a little baffled that Seal, in that response in which they listed the several excellent woman-of-color–centric books they have published, chose to link to Amazon.com. But that's a whole other post.)

The other thing, which I would be remiss not to mention, is that I absolutely understand that it's hard not to be defensive sometimes. There are very likely people out there who've said "Fuck Bitch magazine" for the same reasons Blackamazon said "Fuck Seal Press" — and, indeed, that would feel personal to me, no matter how much I wanted to get past that part of it. So I get it, Seal people, I do. There's much more to this discussion — so much more — but sometimes it's better to apologize, pull your skirt out of the pantyhose, and just listen.

WAM-n-me

Debbie Rasmussen — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:06:34 -0400

A lot of discussion about WAM! is going on. Some of it's in public blogs, like here, and here, here, here, and here. (I know, that's a lazy way of linking, but I'm tired....) Also here. (OK, I promise I'll stop that.)

A lot of the discussion is also happening over email, and so it's not public. I've participated in some of this email discussion, but in the interest of being open about my perceptions, I'd like to mention some of the things I've written about in emails…

This was my first WAM! experience, so I have no direct points of comparison. In all honesty, I've outright avoided WAM! up until this year. Here's why...

When I first learned of WAM! a few years ago, one of their sponsors was Whole Foods Market. That was my first clue that WAM! did not promote the kind of feminism I adhere to—one that includes in its conception things like labor/workers' rights, local economies, community-building...

In the interest of full self-disclosure, Whole Foods has long been a particularly sharp thorn in my side. I've participated in efforts to raise public awareness of their history of violating workers' rights, destroying local economies, food webs, and small farms, strategically opening stores in communities where small local grocers and co-ops are struggling to survive. I was also involved in a grassroots and community-based unionizing campaign at one of their stores.

Anyway. So I was suspicious. And pessimistic and jaded—I'd had enough experiences intended "for women” and "for feminists" to know how far out in the margins I am with my belief that feminism isn't all about "women," and that any feminism that doesn't critique privilege, power, elitism, state violence—capitalism—is, frankly, not only a waste of time but totally destructive to movements for actual social change.

And indeed, the email list affiliated with the conference and reports from politically radical friends and colleagues who'd attended provided truth to my assumption that the prevailing type of feminism at WAM! would be disconnected—from things that should be central to it, like racial/economic justice, from challenging privilege, from critiquing state violence… I don't mean to imply that there wouldn't be exceptions. Nor do I mean to imply that it's solely the obligation of the conference organizers to change this culture. Like many nonprofits, the Center for New Words—of which WAM! is a program–is working within the confines of having a tiny budget, a tiny staff, and a tiny amount of resources.

Moving on... I decided to attend WAM! this year.

And I'm very glad I did. I met a number of amazing and inspiring folks. I was touched by the number of people who came up to me to tell me how valuable Bitch is in their lives, and touched further by the number who asked how they could support our work. I'm incredibly grateful to WAM! for offering scholarships to those of us in financial need. I'm grateful to other folks who, despite their misgivings, took a risk and gave it a chance—in particular, women of color/queers/radicals/young folks/anyone who feels marginalized and left out of feminism.

I attended a few phenomenal sessions—most notably one on empowering youth through media. I was thrilled to sit in a packed room of mostly young people (a number of whom were actually still in high school) who were invested in feminism and media justice. I was profoundly moved to listen to their stories and experiences—trying to understand what it's like to be a politically aware and active teenager in this age of reality TV, celebrity worship, and suffocating commercialism in every open space. Hearing young women of color talk about how damaging shows like Flavor of Love are to their lives, to their perceptions of beauty and relationship expectations was incredibly moving. Heartbreaking.

I was thrilled that so many people came out at 9am on Sunday to participate in a discussion about how to grow and sustain mission-driven feminist/social change-oriented media: in the room were folks from New Moon (a magazine for "girls and their dreams," ad free!), Make/Shift (an awesome new politically radical feminist magazine, of which the incredible Jessica Hoffman co- edits/publishes), Shameless (a magazine out of Toronto aimed at girls and young women but with writing so great it's engaging for all ages), In These Times (one of the few publications importantly focusing on labor/union/workers' rights), $pread (the only [I think?] magazine specifically about sex workers and the sex industry); also the wonderful Tara Roberts of the-now-defunct Fierce (who's now an editor at Cosmo Girl; talking to her reminded me of how essential it is to have feminists involved in mainstream publications like this), the ever-dedicated and tireless Jen Angel of the-now-defunct Clamor.... Near the end of the discussion, I even recognized the voice of someone from my entry into the world of feminist publishing, the publisher of the Minnesota Women's Press, where I volunteered many, many years ago. Unexpected! Audacia Ray and Amber Rhea "live blogged" the session (a concept I hadn't even heard about), and we even had a question from someone following the live blog. Coooool...

But.

Overall, in terms of my own politics and identity, I felt tremendously out of place (as, among other things, a radical, as a queer, as not-class-privileged, as someone who doesn't really identify with the label "woman," as someone who finds the schmoozing-aspect of conferences, well, kind of tacky). I was frustrated at the overall energy of the conference, in terms of how feminism is (and, more importantly, isn't) conceived. I was dismayed at the number of people who, frankly, seemed solely interested in promoting their work, uninterested (unaware?) of the deeper struggle, oblivious to the fact that really, shouldn't we all be "working" ourselves out of work?

When this discussion came up on the email list affiliated with the conference, lots of folks jumped in to express what an amazing experience it was for them, especially folks who work within mainstream publishing and face every day the horrors of blatant sexism, misogyny—things I am extremely lucky to not be confronted with overtly, hourly, in the relative "safety" of Bitch. I'm grateful for them that they have this space—one weekend a year—to strategize about things like dealing with those experiences and figuring out how to get more feminist voices in the mainstream.

Others added that lots of folks coming to WAM! are totally new to feminism, so find the space almost revolutionary, compared to what they're used to.

Wonderful, I say.

But. There are other people who didn't have such a great experience (and some who had a downright painful experience), and it's critical that those voices are heard and that we make change.

As I explained on the email list, yes, of course it's essential to make a space that feels welcoming to people just beginning to come into an awareness of feminism. But equally important is to create a space that feels welcoming to those of who are way past that point, who see the need for systemic change, and are trying to do something about it. And especially welcoming to those who've been marginalized and left out of "feminism." And when these people are telling you they don't feel welcome, or they have criticisms, that's a huge problem that we all have an oblgation to deal with, especially those with the power to do something about it.

As I also explained on the list, frankly, over the past several years, it's been increasingly difficult for me to even call myself a feminist. As I'm endlessly saying (in fact I think this is the third time in this post), I think feminism without capitalist critique is not just a waste of time, I think it's absolutely destructive. I think the reluctance (and too many times outright refusal) on the part of "professional feminists" to engage with the hard work of facing the clear strains of, among other things, racism and class privilege within feminism/within themselves is beyond fucked up.

Perhaps part of the conference could be a session teaching self-awareness skills? I'm only half-kidding.

It's deeply disturbing to me that it's so difficult to find like-minded people at conferences like this. And more disturbing to discover (again) the unwillingness of those with the power to listen, to yield, to make space. I know it's true that people don't concede power without a struggle. But damn. Sometimes it just seems like it shouldn't be this difficult.

I hope the folks who went and felt marginalized won't give up yet. I really do think there's potential in this space. I appreciate WAM!'s "big tent" approach; it offers an amazing opportunity to bring folks together with all sorts of perspectives, backgrounds, approaches. And it's an amazing opportunity to radicalize people.

Anyway. I'm losing steam. There's so much more to say, but I'll end for now.

WAMmy goodness

Lisa Jervis — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:24:39 -0400

I have been to every Women, Action, and Media conference except one (I had to miss last year's because of a scheduling conflict, and it just about broke my heart), and this one was the best ever. Put on by the Center for New Words, WAM 2008 gathered 600 feminist activists and media folk to discuss, analyze, and strategize.

Among panels (too many of which I couldn't go to because there were just so many great sessions) on blogging against racism, the urgent need for more feminist coverage of immigration, surprising (and not-so-surprising) news about women in gaming, media representation of sex work, and so much more (links are to panel presenters with one obvious exception), there was a whole bunch of talking and talking and talking.

Some of my personal highlights of the weekend were the people I got to meet, most especially Deanne Cuellar from the Texas Media Empowerment Project, who talked hard-core media policy strategy with me and showed me pictures of her cats on her iPhone (yes, I started it by showing her my cat pics); Megan and Stacey May from Shameless, who gratifyingly almost peed their pants with excitement when I told them how much we all fought over the first issue of their mag when it came to our office; and the two young women who drove all the way to Boston from their Christian college in Kentucky and told me all about the controversial editorals they've been writing about the idiocy of abstinence-only sex education and the like.

In short, WAM was a kick-ass movement-building experience, and it just gets better every year.

(Update: I just saw that brownfemipower posted the full text of her speech from the immigration panel. It's a must-read. Seriously. Right now this minute.)

Flying to WAM!

Debbie Rasmussen — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:08:01 -0400

In the frenzy of preparing for my first Women, Action, and the Media (WAM!) conference, I'd arranged a flight that arrived in Boston a day before the conference actually began. Not cool since my hotel room share wasn't starting until tomorrow.

I wasn't too worried because I had a layover in Minneapolis and I managed to convince myself that surely the fine folks at Northwest would let me bump my flight to tomorrow and let me spend a day with my mom.

Well, the boarding agent would've happily rearranged my flight in exchange for $219. "But it's my mom," I reasoned. She wasn't moved. I handed over my boarding pass, took my seat, and for some reason, again let a sense of irrational optimism get the better of me as I told myself that surely I could find a reasonably-priced hotel nearby.

Strike two. I couldn't find anything under $250. (It's probably apparent by now that planes and hotels aren't a regular part of my travels.)

I moved onto Plan C and tracked down a dear old friend — and partner in so-called (Whole Foods union organizing) crime – who lives in Jamaica Plain with her girlfriend and their dog (it's like I never left Portland!). They graciously let me stay with them, and even gave me a tour of their neighborhood and took me out for the most amazing Indian food I've had in years. After, I watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development and went to sleep.

What would a trip entry be without some sort of animal photo? Here, below, are my gracious hosts: Karey, Julie, and Bijou the poodle. And yes, all three are as adorable and sweet as they look.