Recently in Feministing Category

Thinking about the recent discussions of ableism on Feministing, I decided to start going back and transcribing video posts if nobody else already had and posting the transcript in the comments. It's actually bothered me for awhile that not all video posts have transcripts, and I'm sorry I didn't do something sooner. (I have a lot of free time and I know I'm probably the exception in that way in this community.) I noticed then that you can't leave comments on posts that are over a week old.

Do y'all think it's worth transcribing video posts that are a week or more old? I know when I was new to Feministing I read a lot of back entries, and I still sometimes look back to reference something. Can you think of any other ways this could be done other than a community member leaving the transcript in a comment? Maybe emailing mods the transcripts and having them add it to the main post? I'm not sure.

P.S. When selecting a category for this post I didn't see any about disability rights or issues, which was unexpected.

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would let you know that Miriam, Vanessa and Courtney all did a fabulous job yesterday at the University of Ottawa! Their insight and their discussions were both informative and inspiring!

If any of you have the chance to bring Feministing to your community, I highly recommend that you do!

So I'm doing the most "drama queen" thing I've ever done, and something I've actually made fun of others for doing (well it's not like it's my first foray into hypocrisy). I'm committing "Feministing suicide" aka: quitting the site.

The implementation of some of the policies is an understandable attempt to appease the larger, or at least the louder, masses of users. I get it, it's attractive to appeal to the broader group even if you have the intellect to discern nuance it might be impossible to, or simply too time consuming, to get the fine points across. So it's much easier to squash any debate that can't easily be addressed or to quote by rote "Feminism 101" all day long.

I've enjoyed interacting with quite a few great and super smart folks here (and I include people who I've disagreed with in there too) and I will miss some of the "conversations" I've had over the past couple of years, but then I've been missing them for a while now anyhow as the demographic has changed so have the opportunities to discuss anything of much merit.

The site has become remedial; it's the Adam Sandler film of feminist theory. It pretends to be "edgy" and is occasionally on point, but by and large its broad strokes that never make it out of freshman year and is ultimately dilettante at best or even discouraging to actual intellectual pursuit at worst.

If this comes off as resentful or angry, well that's the stage of mourning that I'm in right now.

I'll be at a Gawker affiliated site (Jezebel) as well as checking in on some of the personal blogs of users I've been bookmarking for the past two years.

Love, peace, and chicken grease.

I was reading Atul Gawande's article on American healthcare costs in the New Yorker and really enjoying the piece until I ran smack into this little gem:

"I went to see the hospital’s chief operating officer, Gilda Romero. Truth be told, her office seemed less churrigueresco than Office Depot. She had straight brown hair, sympathetic eyes, and looked more like a young school teacher than like a corporate officer with nineteen years of experience. And when I inquired, “What is going on in this place?” she looked surprised.

Is McAllen really that expensive? she asked."

Emphasis mine.

The article is here.

Can you imagine the author describing a MALE corporate officer in that way? 

SO I've been reading the feminist blogosphere lately, getting a refreshing dose of feminist opinions and ideas from other women on different topics, we don't always agree but we all call ourselves feminists.

But how do you reconcile the disagreement over deeply feminist ideals?

Is it ok to be feminist but think an abortion is killing your child?

Is it ok to be feminist and absolutely adore your father and be not so close with your mother?

Is it ok to be feminist and thin or a "fat" feminist who not only wants to be smaller but actively doing things to be smaller while feminism preaches acceptance of our bodies and destigmitizing plus sized bodies?

Is it ok to be feminist and a heterosexual cis-gendered wife?

Is it ok to be feminist and a stay at home heterosexual cis-gendered mother?

Is it ok to be feminist and secretly hope your child (future or born) grows into a cis-gendered, heterosexual, highly financially and corporately successful adult?

There are women who are pro-choice, pro-equality, pro-equal pay, pro-gay marriage, pro freedom of religion (or not to be religious at all), pro-environment, pro-gressive and yet they prefer to lead their own lives is very traditional ways that clash with the feminist ideals. Can these women still be called feminists without contradicting themselves or feminism as a whole?

What are your thoughts?

So I wrote this letter a while back to the site, but I guess it would have been better if I just posted it here instead:

Okay, so I have been a faithful reader of your newsletter since Jane Magazine first put out an article highlighting you. I love everything about your site...except for this. My name is Michaela. I'm a feminist. And I'm a military wife to a soldier who is just completed a 15 month tour in Iraq. And while you guys do post every so often about what a lot of the active duty military women go through. (such as your articles about the rape cases, etc.) I don't see anything about the everyday things we as milspouses have to deal with. In some ways I understand, b/c you can't get to everyone. But in every post on this site, it seems like there's something for every one. Ever been called an angry black woman? There's Shark fu's musings. Sick of the being a latina and getting denied proper rights or healthcare, we gotcha! But I never see much about the blatant sexism that we as military significant others go through. Let me give you a little insight:

Once you marry a man in the military, you are pretty much looked at as one of two things. One, you are either, a lazy, fat, baby making slob who just sits home and collects her husbands checks on the 1st and the 15th or, you're a cheating whore, who screws your husbands best friend as soon as he leaves for deployment. Or you got married just for the benefits. I'm a young, educated, black female and I dont' know many times, in fact I've lost count, when I've talked to some of my husbands superiors, and they are absolutely shocked that I can put together a sentence.

The sexism doesn't stop there. It's as small as your ID card. In the military, we wives are referred to at all times as dependents, and our husbands are our "sponsors". It doesn't matter if we are the breadwinners in our families, to the military we are just another chick cashing in on her husbands pension. (This is something a lot of us milspouses hate as well.)

Feministing, this place for the past two years has been my eyeopener not only into the world of feminism.  I come to this blog almost everyday.  As a feminist, a feminist, a feminist...I've only been calling myself that for the past few months and it feels good, empowering.  I don't think I could have done it without you, the editors and some of the commentors.  But then I read Zyfron's post and it hit me that I have to leave this place.  This! when I finally have a bit of time and feel comfortable enough to begin to contribute to the conversation. I wanted to have a presence here and I am finally starting my own blog (though it's not specifically a feminist blog it will definitely make use of the feminist lens.)

About me...I'm a 21, just graduated from college with a degree in biology, cis, heterosexual as far as I know, born in Taiwan, raised in America--woman. 

I was going to list all of the amazing things that I've learned through Feministing, but I need to leave before I lose my nerve, so I need to cut this short...I loved this place.  A good friend of mine was telling me how Feministing was not a safe place for a lot of people, and I couldn't believe her.  I defended this place and very strongly its editors because I believe that they are very considerate and compassionate people.  But as this place grows in size and visibility, I no longer feel a sense of their presence or leadership, instead it is the ignorance and privilege by some of the commentors that barrels to the forefront.  I am thankful for the more experienced commentors who are able to rebut and put into proper perspective some of the really craptastic stuff that is said.

But I'm not growing any more, I am at the risk of becoming complacent in the little bit about feminism that I've learned.  I'm in danger of absorbing harmful views and silencing behaviors that I am not yet properly educated enough to withstand.  The onus is on me to find and go to other resources that don't allow this type of thing to go largely unaddressed.  But I think I have to leave mostly in support of those who suffer and are outcasted here--the trans community, people of color (I'm a person of color! that's another thing...as an eastern asian woman...I don't find much for myself here as I try to understand my own identity--but that's a whole other story). It's not good enough when people who suffer have to defend themselves in a place that is supposed to be inclusive and safe.  I thought 'the personal is political' was something that is taken seriously here, not 'only some people's problems matter.'

Now I'm hoping for a time when I can come back, either there are some big changes or I feel strong enough to come back and fight.  This is an great resource for young feminists and it's developed into an amazing platform for feminism, but it's no longer enough.  

Newsweek posted a study yesterday about how people perceive emotions based on the sex of the individual. The study found that both men and women assume that men are emotional due to context (ex-someone cut him off in traffic, therefore he's mad). On the other hand, people attribute women's emotions to her disposition (ex: she's upset because she's just an emotional person). Sharon Begley (author of the Newsweek piece) explains that these perceptions have little scientific evidence to support them. Since people believe that women are more emotional, they make their assumptions about that belief. As she correctly explains, "What we believe is what we see."

Hey friends! Just a quick little observation. Does anyone remember a post (I forget whether it was on the community site or the main site) wherein the author expressed that they felt annoyed at the fact that Facebook's default avatar, for people who don't have profile pictures, is male?

And has anyone else noticed that here on the Feministing community, if you go to your user profile and you don't have an avatar, the default is male?

Of course it could be a woman with very short hair, or a bald woman, but it just took me a little by surprise. Personally I'm not particularly offended or annoyed, but I just remembered that post about the Facebook default avatar and I thought it was sort of funny that Feministing's default avatar isn't entirely gender neutral. What do you guys think?

Hey everyone! This is my first post so bear with me...

I'm a 21 year old college girl from the midwest and I just landed my dream internship with an amazing educational non-profit in New York City for the summer. I've never been to the city before and I'm super super excited!

Now, for all you New Yorkers: any suggestions for fun feminist activities or cool cultural events I can take advantage of while I'm there? Anything really cool in general besides the normal touristy stuff that I need to check out? I figured the feministing community would be the perfect people to ask for recommendations that would be right up my alley. Any info that would be of particular interest to Black women would be great too!

I'm also planning on attending the Feministing 5th Anniversary Bash in June. If anyone else is in the city for the summer interning/working/whatever, I'd love to meet up beforehand! Just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thanks! :)

I came across a post about Miss California announcing she is going to bare her breasts while going across the country to promote anti-gay marriage. First of all what do showing boobs have to do with gay marriage? The last part Donald Trump says he hopes to see more of her. I am sure he would.

It seems to me that, quite often recently, there have been extremely hostile environments in comments here on Feministing.

The first and most obvious issue that I believe contributes to this is related to moderation - how much is too much, how little is too little, etc.  It seems that the Feministing community is divided about this issue, and I will make a call for the editors to revise their commenting policy, to make that available to the community, and then to enforce it strategically and effectively.

There is, however, a much more pervasive problem here, which is the behaviour of the commenters.  Putting the responsibility for the threads on the shoulders of the editors is correct, but there must be some element of education, so that we can actually have open discussions with some degree of freedom, while still maintaining a safe space in which to discuss them.

In my opinion, the essential problem is a sense of entitlement to the threads from commenters in various positions of privilege.

As a third-wave feminist, I am committed to disabling the three fundamental ways in which privileged groups assert their power.  Those three things are, in my opinion:

1. Ommitting the voices and experiences of oppressed groups from conversations, texts, etc.;

2. Labelling (directly or indirectly) the members of oppressed groups (and their ideas and experiences) as inferior, and;

3. Dichotomising their experience and knowledge to that of the oppressed group, ie, making them appear opposite to what is normalised.

This is clearly recognisable in the atitude that men have historically shown towards women, and was the second-wave feminists' focus.

However, third-wave feminists and other activists from other oppressed groups began to highlight the hypocrisy within the feminist movement regarding people of colour, people with disabilities, queer people, etc, etc, and the ways in which the feminist movement was inadvertantly (hopefully) using tactics 1, 2 and 3 to focus feminism onto a small but powerful group of white, upper-middle class, educated, heterosexual women.

I am disappointed that people who describe themselves as feminists now are so unaware of these developments in feminist theory, and have not understood the ways in which they are trained to omit, address as inferior and dichotomise other people's experiences and their ideas.

With privilege comes responsibility. 
A responsibility not to weild it in the faces of those who do not have it. 
A responsibility to use it as a powerful tool. 
A responsibility to listen to those who have experienced a specific form of oppression, which a privileged person cannot even begin to understand without information that is unavailable anywhere else. 
A responsibility to educate oneself as much as possible on correct terminology, history, social belief and other topics about those whom, due to privilege, have less power in society than you.

Most importantly, we have a responsibility to respect the fact that there are some places where privileged people are welcome to listen and participate, but are to do so upon the request that they recognise themselves as privileged and act accordingly, and not allow themselves to use their privilege as a tool to do 1, 2 or 3.

I hope that this post is read as from an alliance and not an attacker - I believe that we are all still learning, and that is the beauty of it all; that we could have a place here in which to learn, and share knowledge with each other.

Let's make it into a place where everyone who truly wants to learn - and teach - feels safe and supported enough to do so.

All it takes is thought.

I recently read these two posts:  "Dear Community Bloggers: Stop Apologizing" and "Stop Apologizing!", both piece published in the community section of Feministing.  While I thought that both pieces were excellent, I'd like to take those ideas a step farther.  After reading another community piece, "Own Your Space!" I thought more about how we as women try to be as non-invasive as possible.

I've noticed that many community bloggers end their pieces with comments like, "thanks for reading, if you got that far," or "I don't even know if I make sense anymore," or, "that was WAY too long."  This is another way that women try to be less forceful.

To me, it’s like, you have something really good to say, and then you get to wrapping the piece up and suddenly become self-conscious about the spotlight that’s on you.  It’s like when women are speaking in class or anytime in public for that matter, and they conclude with awkward stammering, shifting their weight, and lowering their eyes.  All these gestures are made to take the edge off of your force as a woman.  These movements are made to make you seem like less of a confrontation to power.

Community bloggers, when you write a piece, recognize that YOU JUST SAID SOMETHING VALUABLE!   I understand that, for those of you who have studied journalism, it is statistically significant if someone continues after the jump in order to finish reading the piece.  But these kind of wavering comments give validation to the people challenging you.  We shouldn’t be waiting to cave in at the first sign of disagreement or debate.  Or worse, trying to avoid those confrontations all together.  Those moments of conflict are GREAT learning opportunities.  Besides that, the community posts are really pretty freaking awesome .  If you check out some other community blogs, you’ll see that rarely are a group of random internet surfers so articulate and knowledgeable.  Even those of you who aren’t writing researched current events pieces, (i.e. someone asking a question about how to deal with a misogynist friend) you’re still asking important questions and making important analysis!

I will repeat what Kala said so well in the first post I mentioned, “So this is a call to make your posts bold, kick-ass, and, most importantly, unapologetic.”

So I have a proposal.  In order to make ourselves more aware of this awkward, non-confrontational, apologetic-ness, can we please start a community-posting fad by ending our posts with something like the following:
“I totally kick ass.”
“I did my research and what I just wrote is awesome.”
“Basically that post was a punch in the face to patriarchy.”

For the commenters, suggestions??

Women & Power: Connecting Across the Generations 

From now until the conference, this space will explore:

• How can we build bridges across the generations that inspire and empower women to change the world?

Visit our website for detailed information on the conference.

Check back often to see new posts and new opportunities to be involved.

I was in The Vagina Monologues a few weeks ago (woo Coochie Snorcher!), and I kept meaning to post that I listed Feministing.com as my Vagina Warrior in our program - which was read by over 300 people at the University of Connecticut! Why?

A. Because I love that a place like this exists. It is SO refreshing and inspiring to be reminded each day that there are so many kind, intelligent, wonderful people thinking about and fighting for social justice!

B. For exposure. Sneaky, huh? ;)

C. Because you're all just kick-ass. And you know it.

Celebrate yourselves today, my fellow Feminists. You most definitely deserve it!

I've been an avid reader & commenter of feministing since early 07' and I've read A LOT of comments and posts. Recently, I've been noticing a lot of negativity in the comments. There are a few users (one in particular) I've noticed that comment often, and always seem to try to invalidate the OP's ideas and ALWAYS try to contradict what the poster says. I understand that sometimes we as feminists don't agree, but this particular user ALWAYS seems to want to stir up controversy with a bit of anti-feminism. There are always topics that have a fair share of opposing view points, but lately it seems ALL of the topics have a few comments from users that seem out of place. I'm just wondering if I'm the only regular who has noticed this.

Is it because there’s more traffic? Or are these users actually trolls that are pretending to be a part of our community? What are your thoughts?

Hey everyone! I was surprised to see that Feministing did not have an entry on Wikipedia while surfing this morning. So, I created one!

It's important to make sure we have a presence on Wikipedia, which is to some extent a measure of how important or notable a certain subject is. Though I work in academic support, where citing Wikipedia in academic work is the newest cardinal sin, I think it's a great way to disseminate reliable information when used correctly.

It's always a fight to establish new articles as notable, so any resources that are directly about Feministing - not, say, an article about Jessica that mentions Feministing - especially from established print sources. (The Wikipedia article about Jessica, incidentally, is a great example of how articles about feminism will be dismissed and devalued.)

Or, you can go edit the article yourself! That's what is great about Wikipedia - it's collaborative!

Recently on Feministing there have been a few posts that touched on fairly radical topics that prompted a flurry of responses, many of which were extremely negative, and somewhat hostile. I'll be the last to complain about dissent and vigorous debate, as I'm a bit of a philosophy geek who thrives on intense debate, and I think that dissent is essential to constructive dialogue. But the tone of many of the dissenting comments made me stop and think about the dynamic of these threads. Often when radical feminist ideas are introduced into a mainstream context, there is an immediate, non-reflective backlash that sounds kind of defensive to me, as if the commenters feel threatened in some way by radical ideas. This leads to a shut-down of dialogue, which often involves personal attacks, rather than constructive debate over the topic at hand. I recognize that at times it's because radical feminism tends to touch on very personal topics, such as marriage and family life. But I think that we miss out on the very real and valuable contribution that radical feminism (and other "fringe" -isms) can make when we're too quick to shut others down and defend our way of life, our choices, or our views in general. Many times it's helpful to view the critique in question as a systemic critique (as it's almost always intended, in my experience) rather than a personal attack.

And even if, in the end, we disagree strongly with the more radical view, we shouldn't lose sight of the contributions radical views have made to mainstream feminism. For instance, the form of feminism that most Feministing members seem to embrace is a hybrid of mostly liberal (or equality) feminism, with aspects of radical, postmodern, and socialist feminism mixed in, along with a dose of queer theory. These elements of varying feminist theories have gradually entered mainstream feminism. For example, the view that oppression is systemic, and that varying types of oppression form an interlocking system, was originally a radical claim which was resisted by liberal feminists, but is now taken for granted. The idea that gender is fluid and culturally contingent is a postmodern view that has, to some extent, replaced the old mainstream view that we should re-value the "feminine traits" so that they will be viewed as equally valuable with "masculine traits." In addition, the scrutiny on the role that socio-economic forces have in maintaining gender inequality comes from socialist and Marxist feminism, but is now a typical feature of mainstream feminism. These views were considered to be fairly radical at one time, and met with varying degrees of resistance from mainstream liberal feminists, but have gradually been incorporated over time, and have enriched feminism, in my view. So I think that it's important to be open to new ideas, and include them in even-handed, inclusive dialogue, even if we end up rejecting them in the end. We may at times think that someone is taking an idea to an extreme that is not helpful, or that the way s/he is making the argument is problematic. However, that doesn't mean that their position is entirely without merit or not worthy of some attention. After all, if it wasn't for the radical feminist critiques of marriage and family structure, for instance, many of the valuable cultural changes that have taken place would not have happened, or would have taken much longer. As with any cultural movement, the more radical voices often serve to nudge people out of their indifference and apathy, and make them really re-think the status quo. And that is almost always a good thing.

Are there any feminists in the St Louis or surrounding area that want to get together? The small town I live in is literally chipping away at my soul everyday. I just need the reinforcement that there are other feminist that I can relate with.

I really hate AOL health/love/relationships.

It's packed full of nonsense and sexist drivel from supposed "experts".

The more I look, the more I want to take a f-ing baseball bat to my monitor. Then I would be out a monitor and the content would still be there.

In this article I pulled up out of curiosity, there are 13 lies *all* men tell their partners.

1. Men will always look at women prettier and bustier than you. Live with it. It's how they are "programmed".

2. "I have thick luxurious hair! No really, I do!"

3. "I know you would never fake 'it'".

4. "what woman in the thong bikini"

While surfing the blogosphere, my blog has now come under the attack of some pretty fascist anti-feminism bloggers.

Here is an excerpt from one of their blogs:

"They are about asserting the supremacy of feminists. They are about imposing feminism on everyone, and if one disagrees with their ideology, they use their collective power to deem that person a "misogynist", conflating opposition to feminism with hatred of women, which is grossly dishonest. People who oppose feminism do not hate women, as a general rule. But feminists have re-defined "hatred" to their advantage, and have blinded themselves to what truly consists of hatred and disrespect. They have done so in the name of political advancement, and a lot of people are sick and tired of it, and won't be silenced by them.

Hey women of America, well done and congratulations on the election of your new President Obama. I live in England and would like on behalf of all my feminist friends to say you have restored our faith and we are also breathing a big sigh of relief! We have a glossy "lesbian life and syle" magazine called Diva which is sold in all major news agents and supermarket stores over here. December's issue "151" has an article about women in USA politics. Before I read the article, I read the editorial on the front page and editor Jane Czyzselska states "As Joanne Walters discovered when she spoke to some of the out lesbian politicians in America, bizarrely even women like conservative Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin are paving the way for lesbians in positions of power." The article talks about Hilary Clinton, Tammy Baldwin, Christine Quinn, Denise Simmons and Sarah Palin. Although the article calls Palin a "right-wing, evangelical Christian (who has said the Iraq war is 'God's will'), anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-Darwinist, global-warming denier...", the article then quotes Laura Liswood, the  Secretary-general of the Washington-based Council of World Women Leaders saying Once the glass ceiling has been smashed, you can't discriminate about who can rise to the top. "...it creates an equal opportunity to have both heroic people and mediocre people coming through. I'm not saying who's who, but the tide raises all the boats." I saw the Feministing 'Is Sarah Palin a Feminist' clip and agree with but don't understand the glass ceiling thing, I mean we had Maggie Thatcher as Prime-Minister and if anything, she made life much worse for women and brought the country to its knees, Just as I believe Palin would have for you. So can anyone explain to me what a glass ceiling is please and do people like Palin deserve the title of 'Glass ceiling breaker'?

The day my husband referred to himself as feminist, was for me, one of the most important things he has ever told me.

I am a self-proclaimed, and vocal feminist, and the more I dive into the military, and in general to the working world do I realise how much we need male feminists to help in the feminist quest. My husband works in construction, which can be a sess pool of comments negative towards women.. My husband stands up for women in these environments.

My husband cooks, and does much of the cleaning, and we are equal partners in our relationship. I currently make more money, but he will in awhile. We work together... but honestly, especially for a guy that grew up in an uber religious patriarchal house hold, for him to be a feminist is a great joy.

What’s better than being able to say, “Hell yes, I’m a feminist”? Well, not much -- but a partnership between Feministing and The Liberal Card just might be.

The Liberal Card is a project of Living Liberally that promotes liberal pride, liberal community … and liberal discounts. We’re hooking you up with places that allow you to shop, dine and drink with a clear conscience. You can find out everything about the card and its perks at www.theliberalcard.org .

We’ve just added a new discount to the New York area that we’re proud to announce first to Feministing: By referencing your Liberal Card, you’ll get a $30 Emerging Membership (regularly $40) to Women’s Project , the nation's oldest and largest company dedicated to producing and promoting theater created by women.

In addition to Women’s Project, there are discounts at other theaters and bars, clothes, green products, phone service, books and movies, plus free music -- and a whole lot more!

As a gift to the loyal members of the Feministing community , we’re offering FREE Liberal Cards to the first 50 people who can answer the trivia question below. Think you know the answer? Email it to 2008@theliberalcard.org and we’ll get your card sent out faster than John McCain changes campaign strategies.

Hump Day Giveaway Trivia
Which Feministing editor has made it clear that she is not a fan of cats?

Again, don’t post your answer in the comments. If you think you know the women at Feministing well enough, email your answer to 2008@theliberalcard.org .

I think all this positive-negative thing is SUCH CRAP you're either a feminist or you're not. You either stand up for women's rights or you don't. And why do we have to choose? Isn't being a feminist about not conforming and standing up for what you believe in? So why do we have to stereotype ourselves? I think it just defeats the purpose of everything that we as feminists want to achieve. Please comment and tell me if you agree. Can't we just agree that we all have different views on what we class as exploitation of women's rights and all that jazz?!

But to clarify it, if I was to totally contradict myself and place myself in one of these categories I'd be sex-negative...oh and also; why do the categories have to be sooo...false...it makes us sex-negatives sound like abstinent prudes (although a virgin, I'm not a prude)

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of seeing there's a new comment on some thread and then clicking, only to find out it's a troll post. It's not only annoying, but it's also pretty weird. I don't go on conservative blogs and fill their comments pages with my opinions. Why not? There are plenty of reasons. It would make no difference, because they've heard it all before. Anyone dedicated to a cause has heard most of the major criticisms before - that's how come there are those bingo cards and drinking games, to highlight that irony.

As a college student, I found out quickly that it's ok to have several passions.  Obviously, feminism is a passion of mine.  I'm in full support of gender equality and reproductive rights.  But last year another socio-economic movement struck a chord of passion in my heart: fair trade.

For those of you who don't know, Fair Trade is a movement to provide farmers, workers, and artisans with fair wages rather than minimum wages.  It is targeted more toward third-world countries, but can also be found in industrialized nations as well, such as the U.S. and Canada.  Fair Trade items can be as trivial as artwork and jewelry and as practical as food and clothing.  In Europe, the movement has taken hold in the economy for the past decade now, but in the U.S. it's just now starting to emerge.

But Fair Trade is more than just fair wages.  It's about building communities and improving living conditions.  Coffee farmers can organize co-ops and through Fair Trade can raise the village out of the slums and provide them with running water and electricity, something I think we all take for granted.  It's also about improving the environment.  Artisans in Africa will used recycled goods if there is a need.  I've seen purses made out of tires and baskets from telephone wires (pardon the rhyme).  There is even paper from Southeast Asia made out of elephant poo.  Amazing!

But why should feminists take interest?  Why should I make that specification?  It is because Fair Trade is left of center?  No.  To be honest, Fair Trade is quite moderate.  Perhaps its the whole "Save the World" stance that we tend to take on as activists. It's not that either.  Frankly is simply gender equality.  Yeah I know, pretty anti-climactic.  "Oh Ariel, you could've said that at the get-go." True.  Won't deny it.  But this simple fact of gender equality in the workforce may be something we're trying to work the kinks out (and there are a lot of sexist kinks), in some countries it's an entirely new concept. 

I don't  deny sexism in the workforce in the U.S..  I've been subject to it.  And I know that feminists take an active stance in women's issues across the globe.  Let this just be another way.  My sermon today is: be an ethical consumer.  Buy Fair Trade.  It could be something as simple as coffee or tea, or as elaborate as a embroidered silk scarf.  You don't always have to protest to make a difference.  Sometimes all it takes is a trip to your local grocery store.

Okay, this is my first post so I doubt people will even comment, but I want to pour my heart out.  Growing up in a household of women, I guess I was destined to be a feminist.  My first bout with patriarchy was in the church, battling against a bunch of fundamentalists saying women should never preach, while my mom was a lisenced minister.  But last year, after taking an amazing class, I realized that I was a feminist.  I told my professor that I made the commitment and he told me, "welcome to the struggle."  I thought I would be prepared.  I was wrong. 

Coming out of the feminist closet has been a hard journey.  The first thing I noticed was how differently I thought from my peers.  I noticed I was making connections to patriarchy, sexism, and misogyny that my friends couldn't make.  I was often told that I was thinking to hard, or looking to closely.  One guy friend (who was never too thrilled about my coming out) would call me a sexist or would lecture me how feminism is a crock and had run it's course.  His words really hurt me, especially when I was looking for his approval.  (I no longer associate with him.)  What discouraged me more was the association feminists had with man hating and radicals.  I was often lectured by my friends how feminists don't care about male issues and ignore me when I plead to them that most feminists understand that patriarchy hurts men too. 

I wasn't sure if I could ever meet someone who understood how I thought, until I met Christin, an ardent feminist.  We thought similarly, we agreed on the same issues.  We did a lot to help each other out, but the best thing she's done for me was introduce me to Feministing.com.  Suddenly the world of feminism was no longer restricted to she and I.  There was a whole world of it.  My thoughts weren't alone when it came to interpretation to commercials and television shows.  Thoughts that I could notice but argue were articulated.  But I think the aspect that got me hooked to feministing.com was it's commitment to gender equality.  I ready feministing.com everyday now, and it has only made me stronger as a feminist and a person.  It has helped me commit myself to take action against injustice, express my opinion without fear of societal stigma, and realize that the most important thing I can do is believe in myself.  So thank you Feministing.com, and that includes the community, editors, and commentors.  Thank you!

A while ago I found myself in a conversation with two girlfriends, they were discussing the dressing habits of this other girl. My friend had over reacted in front of this girl when she saw the "provocative" outfit she was wearing. What was probably just un-known jealousy came across as "well I am just concerned that something will happen to her if she goes out like that." While its an understandable concern, it still goes against the idea that women should be able to wear whatever they want without the concern of being assaulted etc. I tried to explain this to the two of them, because it smelled a little like victim blaming, but I did get a bit worked up. I told them I had just read Jessica's book. So I was quick to jump on any signs of such things described in her book.

How is everyone enjoying the community site so far?! Thanks to everyone for being patient today.  I required multiple drinks to get through the afternoon.  Only kidding.  Kinda.

I noticed that a lot of you are signing up as community members - awesome!  Don't forget that you can add a picture, a description of you/your blog/your org and some more infomation by going to "edit profile." 

Thanks for signing up!