I’m thrilled to be part of this dialogue. In my head I keep calling it “Sisterhood, UNinterrupted,” and I feel so fortunate to be working with my fellow womengirlsladies to foster some much-needed cross-generational talk. These wgls inspire the heck outa me. And Patti: you’ll be pleased to know, perhaps, that we decided against calling ourselves womenladygirls; we had different feelings among us, in the end, about calling ourselves “girls” 🙂

In addition to continuing the conversation I’ve been having at readings and talks around my book these past few months, the significance this dialogue has for me goes straight to my core. I’ve worked in the women’s movement and in academia for about 15 years now, and, like Courtney, I’ve watched some pretty rough dynamics play out between women of different generations at work. And I’ve often felt caught in between — the confidant of women on both ends of the age spectrum.
Old enough to sympathize, young enough to want things to change. Now that I’m working independently, I watch the chasm reflected — or rather, writ large — in our popular culture. Stereotypes of young women as apolitical bimbos (“Britney, c’est moi”??) and Boomer women as bra-burning throwbacks (“Hillary – so out of touch”) drive me insane. With so much unfinished business, so much still to be done to ensure that women across ages and classes and races have the opportunity to live safe and full lives, I’m convinced it’s time for a different tune.

And speaking of tunes, I love that Gloria has started us with a musical thread.

I recently learned of this jukebox musical that’s currently playing in Minneapolis, called Respect: A Musical Journey of Women. It made me wonder, if feminism today had a few contemporary anthems, what would they be?