sisterhood is…

I loved reading Emily Bazelon’s interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine.

I loved that she gave this interview so strategically, with its publication on the eve of the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings.  The interview both anticipates and undermines the predictable sexism and racism (see, for example, all of the ink spilled about the “wise Latina woman” quote, and Ginsburg’s spin on that tempest in a teapot) that have informed both the hearings and the media coverage surrounding the Sotomayor nomination.

I loved that it was feminist.  From talking about why women matter on the court and in public life to arguing that “[t]ime is on the side of change,” with regard to abortion rights, Ginsburg’s responses are unabashedly feminist.  How wonderful to see this on display—at length—in a mainstream media publication.

But most of all I loved the way it represented women supporting one another.  Maybe this is what our feminist foremothers had in mind when they used the phrase, “sisterhood is powerful.”  I have to say that I’ve never had much use for the idea of “sisterhood” in my definition of feminism, since the term seemed to rely on artificially flattening differences among women.  It seems to assume that gender struggles are the most important ones, something that has been most often true for white women.  (As many GWP readers already know, GWPenner-in-Chief Deborah Siegel has a terrific analysis of the conflicts and controversies at work in feminist ideas of “sisterhood” in Sisterhood, Interrupted).

So with all of that history in mind, that show of support is what I especially loved about Ginsburg’s interview.  Positioning herself as white, Jewish woman from Brooklyn, she was standing up for her Latina. . .colleague (sister??) in a very public, political way.  Speaking as a white woman myself, we need to this more often, and not just when it comes to gender struggles.

I’ve also been thinking about this public, political, feminist show of support in the context of girls’ relationships.  My daughter has recently been grappling with what is probably the beginning of many girl friend conflicts that center around attention, inclusion and exclusion, and degrees of “best friend-ness.”  (For example, “I have no one to play with on the playground.  Sally and Susie are spending all of their time together and they don’t include me.”)

I’m saddened that these conflicts are arising already, in second grade.  But I’m also thinking from a feminist perspective about how my daughter can learn to value her female relationships, and about how I can model female friendship myself.

I return to thinking about the Ginsburg interview.  It’s clear from the Q&A that Ginsburg and Sotomayer don’t know one another well.  Certainly they would not call one another friends.  But no doubt they share a passion for their work, a commitment to advancing social justice, intellectual curiosity, and much more perhaps.

Friends are important in life, no doubt.  But so are feminists.  I hope my daughter finds plenty of both as her relationships unfold.

Here we are, at 92Y Tribeca.  From left to right: Courtney Martin, Elizabeth Hines, Gloria Feldt, and me.  Logo on screen done by Marco.  Thanks to everyone for coming out, props to the great staff at the Y, and endless gratitude to my fellow WGLs — of all the different things I do, doing this panel with them is hands down one of my FAVES.

For some recaps, check out:

Courtney’s reflections on our shared blog, WomenGirlsLadies, in which she summarizes a lot of what I’ve been thinking about of late: “There is an opportunity, this economic downturn, for all sorts of gender shake-up. When we’re forced to recognize that old styles of leadership and assumptions about gender roles are no longer valid, we can get even the most reluctant folks to try a more enlightened, equal approach. The media coverage of this phenomenon has been totally unsatisfying (dads who cook! women who work! what a revelation!), but in truth, there is something interesting going on.”

A meaty comment over at WomenGirlsLadies from audience member Sara: “I think the most exciting thing anyone said was that this is a moment the feminist movement can take advantage of the social chaos to effect broad change, but if we’re not looking beyond the division of work at home and our ability to balance family and work life, even just in the context of work we’re limiting ourselves.”

Elisabeth Garber-Paul’s review over at RH Reality Check, Feminism and the New Great Depression: What’s Next?, in which she writes: “However, the depression [sic] makes it a more volatile time for the discussion of gender roles—especially because 4 out of 5 laid-off workers are men, and that translates into a seeming crisis of masculinity. The image of the female breadwinner and the stay-at-home dad is increasingly common, and now that men don’t necessarily identify primarily through their title at work, how we define masculinity will need to change—just as the image of femininity has been changing over the past 40 years.”

BTW, I’m starting to develop a TALK on these themes of men, women, gender, and recession — I’ll be trying it out next week at Framingham State College and in April at Catalyst here in NYC.  More on all that soon….and potentially one day coming to a venue near you….stay tuned!

GWP’s Gwendolyn Beetham (coauthor with Tonni Brodber of our Global Exchange column) attended the Association for Women in Development Forum this month, in Cape Town.  Here’s her report.  And do note the contrast between Gwen’s sentiment and the findings of the Daily Beast report this week.  Feminism, alive and well. Not dead. Copy that, America?  -Deborah

November 20, 2008

I just got back from Cape Town, South Africa, where I was lucky enough to attend the 2008 AWID Forum, aptly titled The Power of Movements. While networking, learning and listening to fabulous feminists from around the world, I was inspired, moved, and most of all energized by the power of feminists! Do check out the website, they are in the process of posting summaries of the panel discussions, as well as videos and photos from the conference. I’ve listed some personal highlights below.

One of my favorite videos was done by the Young Women’s Caucus, younger feminists who also went around the conference passing around pink scarves to conference-goers to symbolize intergenerational collaboration among feminists and asking people how they define feminism. Although the video isn’t available online yet, I can tell you that many participants said that feminism is a way of life – love it!  For more on young feminist action at the conference, you can check out the Young Feminists at the AWID Forum blog, as well as AWID’s Feminist Tech Exchange (I must admit however, that some of the comments from the younger feminists really saddened me – it seems as if much of the “intergenerational” discussion hasn’t changed much from the point where it was five years ago when I was heavily involved in the young feminist movement here in the States.)

One of the best panels that I attended was hosted by the Third Wave Foundation, Ms. Foundation, and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, along with some of their partner organizations. During the discussion, Rickke Mananzala, of the NYC-based organization Fierce, raised a really important point on the success of Prop 8 in California and similar bills in Arkansas and Florida.  He suggested that not only do these victories (for the right) point to the amount of funding that went into the promotion of these bills, but to the lack of an intersectional perspective in our own social justice movements. Makes me wonder what would have happened if youth organizations, children’s organizations and LGBT organizations would have come together to oppose the ban on unmarried couples adopting in Arkansas, or if organizations working for people of color and other marginalized groups would have come together to oppose Prop 8 in California. Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot of great organizations (including Fierce!) who do a great job of working collaboratively. But I do think that may organizations – especially those in the women’s movement, with which I’m most familiar – have really had problems incorporating both perspectives and actions which truly recognize the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion and age.

I would be happy to chat with folks in comments about the rest of the conference. And kudos to AWID for organizing such an amazing event!

And stay tuned for next week, when Tonni & I resume our Global Exchange. This time we’ll be talking about the impact of the global financial crisis on women internationally.  Stay tuned!

–Gwendolyn Beetham

Check out this GORGEOUS collage over at the new collaborate blog Fourth Wave Feminism, which launched on the eve of the Democratic National Convention this year.  I just had to share:

While you’re at it, check out Fourth Wave’s mission statement, here.

As a chronicler of feminism, of course I’m fascinated by the term. Here’s Fourth Wave’s post on the third (wave, that is).  My basic position: I don’t care what we call it, let’s just keep on doing it.  Fourth, five, sixth, sixteenth….bring it on.

To veterans, these divisions get tiresome, and I have seen how they can keep us from coming together.  But IMHO, the rolling of waves and the recognition of intergenerational difference in any social movement is natural, and essential to its growth.  I’m not seeing the same tensions between the “new” and the “old” with this fourth as there seemed to be when the term “third wave” first came about in the early 1990s.  (Unless I’m missing something here?)  At the same time, as the savvy ladies over at the UK feminist blog, The F-Word, remind us, many of the aims of so-called second-wave feminism, both here and there, still haven’t been achieved.  So boo to generational in-fighting.  We’ve got far too much at stake.  And hence, a caveat: fourth, fifth, sixth, bring it on, but let’s all keep our eyes on the larger prize.

I write all about this waving of feminism (ah, the oceanography of it all…) in a book, of course, with a hot pink cover.  And the WomenGirlsLadies and I have been having a wonderful experience taking it all on the road.  Meanwhile, back in medialand, New York Magazine did a piece in April titled “The Feminist Reawakening: Hillary Clinton and the Fourth Wave” and there was an article in Utne Reader back in 2001 called “Feminism’s Fourth Wave.” Journalist Julie Leupold is doing a special project on “Fourth Wave Feminism” over at Porfolio at NYU.  And so the public conversation and feminism and its waves continues.

Once again, I’m curious…what do others think of the term?  Interesting conversation going on in comments, across the pond.

PS. Feminism, in some corners, has been known to eat its young. So to the Fourth Wave blog– “exploring feminism in the 21st century and grappling with the continued gender inequity in America and the world”–a hearty welcome again to the blogosphere! And speaking of exploring, do check out the 68th Carnival of Feminists, hosted at Fourth Wave.

Ok, I can write that sensational headline cause I wasn’t there this time. But my fellow WGLs Courtney Martin, Gloria Feldt, and Kristal Brent Zook were, plus the amazing Maria Teresa Peterson (who stepped in for me – thank you MTP!).

For those who haven’t heard of this yet, Women, Girls, Ladies: A Fresh Conversation Across Generations is a traveling panel promoting intergenerational feminist dialogue across the land.  We speak at campuses and organizations (and are available to come to YOU! Rebecca Rosenberg, rebecca@parchitamedia.com, is our contact lady).  Here is Miss Courtney with a recap for us all:

We had an incredible experience yesterday in Kansas City. First we did a very interactive, intergenerational workshop over at University of Missouri-Kansas City where we met fascinating local women (many of them named Linda?!) from the YWCA, The American Association of University Women, the incredible UMKC Women’s Center staff and board, and so many more.

One of the big insights that came up from that experience was a question:

When do we, as feminists, confront sexism directly and when do we deal with it indirectly instead?

It seemed like so many of the experiences and anecdotes that women of all generations brought to the table were focused on this difficult negotiation. In order to get the progress we so desire, do we swallow some of our ire when a sexist guy says something inane? Or is it our responsibility as loud and proud feminists to call him out regardless of the fall out?

As if that conversation wasn’t rich enough, we still had the big event to come. Yesterday evening we had a panel in honor of Ruth Margolin, Founding Director of the UMKC Women’s Center. There was a huge crowd (300+) in the absolutely beautiful Kansas City Public Library-Plaza Branch. After wine and cheese we migrated into the newly renovated auditorium and got to hear some wonderful words about Ruth Margolin’s fiery character. Apparently she was never afraid of being a loud and proud feminist! It was so special to be having our dialogue in honor of her legacy.

The audience brought up a range of issues; everything from women in the military, pay equity, body image, abortion, Clinton’s infidelity scandal, Sarah Palin, and racial tensions within feminism were a part of the conversation.

Thanks to all who contributed your insights and questions. And thanks to everyone at UMKC, especially Brenda Bethman, for making this really exquisite event and experience possible! And a special, special thanks to Maria Teresa Petersen, who stepped in for the much missed Deborah Siegel with grace and eloquence. Maria Teresa was fantastic. Check out her organization, Voto Latino, here.

*The Kansas City Star did a great write up of the event. So did The Pitch, Kansas City’s weekly, but check out the title! “Meow Mix”? Come on people, this is exactly the point of our panel. When men disagree, it’s called a disagreement. When women disagree, it’s called a cat fight. Thank goodness we’re reclaiming the frame!

–Courtney Martin

Crossposted at WomenGirlsLadies.

I am all nail-bitey today as we enter the final stretch. As my co-penner extraordinaire Kristen said to me this morning, we have the audacity to hope.

To get your mind off–or ok, on–everything, here are a few links that came our way via the WMC. Enjoy, and Happy Hallowe’en!

Rachel Maddow has something to say about Sarah Palin

Lynn Sherr writes on why she thinks non-voters should have their toenails removed (ouch!)

Prize-winning historian Mary Hershberger asks why the media won’t examine the McCain war record

Nida Khan brings up the other campaign, the one with two women candidates: Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente of the Green Party.

Robin Morgan tackles “faux feminists.”

Lorelei Kelly tells us why women must take charge

Ellen Bravo, who advocates for paid sick leave, sympathizes with Barack Obama’s break from the trail to see his ailing grandmother

Joanne Cronrath Bamberger writes about one congresswoman who went a few steps too far.

Peg Simpson focuses on possible wins for women in Congress.

Rebekah Traistor writes on the effects of the election on Katie Couric, Campbell Brown and Rachel Maddow: “Ladies of the Nightly News”.

And the current issue of Ms. Magazine has GWP blogger Veronica Arreloa’s review of the anthology edited by amazing duo Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti, Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape and also a piece by Latoya Peterson, who edits Racialicious.com.

At a rally on Saturday in California, Sarah Palin offered up what Nico Pitney at Huffinton Post calls a rather “jarring” comment, and which I would term as offensive and mind-boggling on a variety of levels (though given the current McCain/Palin strategy, we shouldn’t be surprised). To a cheering crowd, she claimed to be quoting former Clinton Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright when she said:

“There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t support other women.”

In a GWP post last week, Virginia Rutter told us why she wouldn’t sign those “women against Palin” emails, as she believes “the ‘women against’ gambit feeds into the identity politics of Sarah Palin that make her so damn scary. Ironically, by mounting a ‘women against’ campaign, we make her a ‘woman’s candidate.'”

And how right she is. In fact she has Albright to back her up, who responded to the misquote (the right word is “help” not “support” and was a comment on society, not politics) with the following: “This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women.”

But given that Palin has herself brought it up, I think it’s fair game to point out the significant ways in which Palin has not supported women throughout her political career. I would like to note that this is not a response by me as a woman; it is a response by me as a voter who cares deeply about issues that affect women.

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Well if you’re not awake this morning already, this one will wake you up. Robin Morgan has a new piece just up (remember Goodbye to All That #2?) over at the Women’s Media Center. In “When Sisterhood Is Suicide and Other Late Night Thoughts,” Morgan is at her absolute best.

She begins by offering 10 nice things first, as follows:

Ten Nice Things to Say About Sarah Palin:

1. She’s a lifelong NRA member and crack rifle-woman, but hasn’t yet shot a single person in the face.
2. She’s so unafraid of power that a majority-Republican legislative committee is investigating her abuse of it.
3. She’s broad-minded, willing to have evolution taught alongside creationism.
4. She gives “the personal is political” new meaning: Axing the public-safety commissioner for not firing her ex-brother-in-law (Trooper-gate); firing “foes” suspected of “disloyalty” (Library-gate).
5. She knows how to delegate, involving “First Dude” husband Todd in more governmental decisions than any male politician’s spouse has dared since Hillary tried to give us healthcare in 1993. (First Dude’s defying a subpoena from those meanies mentioned up in #2.)
6. She has executive experience: As mayor of Wasilla, then-constituency 5,000 souls, she presided over a population almost as vast as that of some urban high-schools.
7. She’s an existentialist: Bridge-to-Nowhere-gate, Highway-to-Nowhere-gate. She never “focused much on Iraq”—after all, “the war is part of God’s plan”—and she dismisses McCain’s reluctance to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as being like “Eastern politicians” about environment. (Check out Wasilla’s dead-Lake-Lucille-gate.)
8. She brings home the earmarked bacon—plus moose, caribou, wolf, and any other animal stumbling haplessly across her rifle-sight as she leans out of the ‘copter on another heli-hunt. But! Does she rely solely on godless government for her $500 million U.S.-subsidized natural-gas pipeline? No! Last June, at the Pentecostal Assembly of God Church, she declared, “God’s will has to be done to get that gas line built!”
9. She displays refreshing curiosity, as when she asked, “What is it exactly the VP does?” (Don’t scoff: Are you smarter than a 5th grader?)
10. She’s multi-talented—studied journalism, tried sportscasting, can slickly scan a teleprompter (unlike her running-mate). She’s a jock (Sports-Complex-gate.) She was a beauty queen (as all of McCain’s wives were; how ‘bout that?) She’s patriotic—well, except for attending that secessionist Alaska Independent Party conference during the seven years when First Dude was a party member pulling down DWI convictions on the side. Best of all, she’s a born-again feminist, a “feminist for life.” Which I guess makes me a feminist for death.

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Deborah here. Last night Gloria Feldt, Kristal Brent Zook, Courtney Martin and I spoke together at George Washington University’s Elizabeth J. Somers Women’s Leadership Program and I have to say, we all feel tremendously encouraged by the amazing women we met there and just a bit proud of our own little quartet for prompting such great questions and reflections from the audience. Topics of conversation during the Q&A included: race vs. gender in the election, work/family balance, public policy approaches to rape and sexual assault, “opting out,” dealing with anti-feminist crap from insecure boys, beauty standards and their sources, abortion, equality vs. elevating women above men, women in politics, intersection feminism etc.

Thank you to Dean Heller, Sam, and all those that joined us in the conversation. The future is looking pretty bright…This pic is from a previous talk, but photos from GW coming soon!

(crossposted at WomenGirlsLadies)

One mo’ from Courtney…

I think for me it was a slow process, starting from when I was in the womb…

We were reading the Great Gatsby in high school English, and I came across this line: ‘That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.’ I felt enraged, but none of my classmates even seemed to notice.

It was a rainy Take Back The Night rally my first year of college… I looked around at the women on every side, and thought about how strange it was that I’d ended up here, given my conservative Republican upbringing. I realized that if I don’t identify as a feminist, no one really does.

One movie: Girls Town. Amazing.

A generation ago, feminists talked about their “click” moments: those split-second experiences that led them to join the women’s movement. Today’s young feminists come to the movement–which is looking less like a protest march and more like a blog–in myriad, often piecemeal, ways. It can be as simple as reading a book or attending an event or talking with one person or witnessing a horrendous act of sexism.

Deciding to identify as a feminist often requires a lot of learning and unlearning these days; so many of us have been exposed to the well-oiled machine of the anti-feminist movement. According to Newsweek, feminism might be dead. Charlotte Allen tells us that we’re stupid, via the Washington Post. Some older women within our own movement wonder if we even exist.

J. Courtney Sullivan and Courtney Martin are editing a new anthology for Seal Press on the topic, and we want your ideas. Send us a couple of paragraphs–in the style and voice that you’d use in a full-fledged essay–proposing what you would write, along with your name, email address, phone #, age, and ethnic background (we understand that this might seem a little reductive, but we are committed to including diverse authors). We’ll look them all over, then get back to you once we’ve accounted for a range of moments, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds.

We hope it will be a historic document, a totally entertaining gift, a course adoption text, and, most of all, a collection that makes young women who already identify with the movement feel seen and heard, and welcomes all those just growing into the still unfolding story of feminism.

Send your ideas to: clickmoment@gmail.com
DEADLINE: October 15, 2008

Bonus: We’ve already got some great feminist writers on board that you may have heard of, including (in no particular order):

Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan (well, obviously)
Jessica Valenti
Miriam Perez
Samhita Mukhopadhyay
Curtis Sittenfield
Rebecca Traister
Anna Holmes
Rachel Simmons
Winter Miller
Deborah Siegel
Alissa Quart
Hannah Seligson
Latoya Petersen
Shelby Knox
Jennifer Baumgardner
Amy Richards