This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending my first NOW (National Organization for Women). Overall, I thought the material was great. I got to attend some great workshops (my favorites were on reproductive justice and women in the media). I even got to meet Lilly Leadbetter, one of the winners of NOW's "Women of Courage" awards for her fearless legal battle with GoodYear Tire for wage discrimination and the creator of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007.

However, I was extremely disapointed with the lack of diversity. I was with a group of fellow young, college feminists and, to be honest, I felt like we stood out like a sore thumb. Not to say that I did not feel welcomed by the older feminists, I just did not feel the energy and mobilization that I pictured I would.

And I really don't think that the lack of diversity was due to lack of interest, but the fact that NOW still seems to cater the white, privileged population for which feminists are so often criticized for doing. The 3 day conference was held in a very nice, but expensive hotel which would most likely be inaccessible to lower-class women who could simply not afford to stay there. No, they would not be required to stay in hotel, but unless they just happen to live within walking/driving distance of the conference, they're screwed. Yes, they could stay in a cheaper hotel nearby, but what if they can't even afford that? Why not have it at a local community center and sleep in sleeping bags (while of course offering the option of going to a hotel for those who want to and can afford it)? That would not only make the conference more accessible, but also be a good place for new feminists to discover NOW and maybe show that feminists do care about more than just the white and privileged.

I know there are plenty of flaws to my logic here, but seriously something has got to change, NOW (pun intended).

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July 22, 2008 7:19 PM

[0+|0-]  Marc said:

I totally understand what you mean. I was at the conference in Detroit last year, and although there were many, many more young feminists there than this year, I felt like the conversations were dominated by the older feminists. You're also on point about class - as the majority of the participants were white, affluent women who were financially stabled enough to have flown into Detroit and stayed three days in a hotel.

That said, I feel like we're also missing the LGBT part of it all - while we stand for gay rights and such, I'd actually like to include LGBT members in NOW. As far as I knew, the majority of us were heterosexuals.

Other than that, how did you enjoy the conference? I really wanted to go this year, but was too busy to. Did they throw a party for you guys Saturday night, too?

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