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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.

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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!