writing life

This morning I was a guest on the final airing of The Lisa Birnbach Show, along with Gloria Feldt, Courtney Martin, and, by phone, Gloria Steinem. I was honored to be flanked by the Glorias and Courtney, and our intergenerational conversation about feminism was a great practice run of the panel we’re putting together and taking on the road. I accidentally said “damn” (as in “Women become more radical with age, but I also know lots of damn radical young women”) on the air and then immediately wondered if you are allowed to say “damn” on the radio.

Though we all looked hot in our celebratory pink feather boas, it was a sad sad day, as GreenStone Media, the show’s short-lived parent company, is closing down. Lisa (pictured above) is a witty, wise, charismatic talk radio host who makes you feel like you’re chatting in her living room. She’s had some incredible guests, mainstream and radical activisty alike, and she has great shoes. The idea and existence of GreenStone — talk radio for women — held such promise. I know Lisa will land on her feet, and wherever she goes will be damn lucky to have her. Oops. There I go again.

Goodbye, GreenStone. Thank you for having me, and thank you, most of all, for trying. We’ll miss you like crazy.

A quick hello from a layover in Dallas! Please do check out thisWomen’s eNews article, “Women’s Studies Writers Vie for More Media Turf,” by writer extraordinaire Courtney Martin. I’m so excited. Seriously, I’m jumping up and down.

And to stay updated on future workshops and course offerings, be sure to subscribe to the Girl with Pen newsletter (<-subscribe button over there). I'm looking forward to doing more.

Last Thursday’s forum on my book hosted by Demos, NCRW, Woodhull, and Ms. Foundation airs today from 9:30AM to 10:30 AM ET on Truth For A Change, Time Warner Channel 34, and streaming simultaneously 9:30 AM ET here: http://www.mnn.org (select channel 34).

Just found a review of Sisterhood, Interrupted by Eryn Loeb on my number one favorite book site, Bookslut! As Daphne, who is sitting across from me with her computer, Battleship-style, can attest, I am literally jumping out of my seat.

I just learned that the forum that Demos, NCRW, Woodhull, and Ms. Foundation sponsored last week on my book will air this Thursday (Aug. 2) from 9:30AM to 10:30 AM ET on Truth For A Change, Time Warner Channel 34, and streaming simultaneously 9:30 AM ET here: http://www.mnn.org (select channel 34).

I’m writing from a Starbucks around the corner from my dad’s office here in downtown Chicago, waiting for the opening bell of BlogHer to ring. Yesterday’s Demos Women’s Leadership Forum about my book was truly a high. Thank you to all you who came out — especially those who had to stand in the doorways! Respondents Mary Hartman of the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers and Desiree Flores from the Ms. Foundation were fabulous (and said such nice things!). Ever since my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Furstenburg, taught us to say “Thank you, Grandma, thank you”, I’ve been a firm believer in gratitude. So I thought I’d share the public thanks part of my talk:

I begin with a story about an intergenerational exchange.

When the folks at Demos and I had our first conversation about putting together this forum, I was working on Q&A document for my publisher to send around with the book, and I sent an early draft to Linda Tarr-Whelan. There was a question about what are the stereotypes that different generations of women, and in particular, feminists, have of each other. I wrote in response that feminists have fallen into the worst kind of generational stereotyping. “Veteran feminists, Boomers, tend to think younger women are self-hating, apolitical bimbos who aspire to be Bettie Page instead of Betty Friedan.” I then wrote, “Younger feminists think veterans are man-hating power-mongerers who won’t pass the torch and never go online.”

And Linda rightly stopped me there and said “Which Boomer women are you talking about? And what kind of feminism? Academic feminism?”

And in doing so she reminded me, of course, to be wary of falling into the broad stereotyping that I rail against in my book.

So I preface my talk by saying that there are indeed shining examples of cross-generational collaboration among women and within the feminist movement. And as I’ve toured the country these past two months, I’ve been struck by the connections that I’ve witnessed during and after some of my readings.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Demos itself has partnered with the Building Movement Project, and together they’ve done stellar work on the topic of generational change and nonprofit leadership.

The Ms. Foundation has been a stalwart supporter of younger women’s organizing.

The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership is built around the premise that older women leaders need to mentor younger ones.

And various women at the National Council for Research on Women have personally mentored me since I was in college – I’ve been working on and off with women’s research centers within this network pretty much since my senior year.

So I want to give kudos where kudos are due. And I want to send forth a note of profound gratitude for the hard work that these organizations do. I feel honored and humbled to be here in a room with such change-makers. I thank you all for coming together to cosponsor this event. You are the avant-garde. I look forward to the day that you are the norm….

A bit of the reading I did at Cody’s in Berkeley is now up on YouTube, thanks to FORA.tv. I love the title they gave it, hehe.

…for a conversation about Sisterhood, Interrupted.

It’s on XM radio, and for those who haven’t yet figured out XM (hi Mom!), click here to listen in.

Judith, who writes my favorite New York Times blog, Domestic Disturbances, had me on for the whole show, so it’s a pretty in-depth conversation. She is an excellent interviewer, deeply informed, and truly makes you think.

Encores:
Monday – 5 AM ET
Saturday – 4 PM ET
Sunday – 1 PM ET

For those of you who whose cities I missed during the latest leg of my book tour, here’s another chance: FORA.tv filmed the reading at Cody’s in Berkeley. (I can’t watch it, because I can’t stand watching myself on tv, but feel free!)

Truly, I do. Lisa (pictured left) interviewed me this morning on her show, and her questions, as to be expected, were incredibly thoughtful. We were talking on the air about how the having-it-all debate plays out among younger women, and, during a break, Lisa brought her 10 year old daughter into the studio to say goodbye. Said (adorable) daughter was leaving for a trip today with her dad. Work/family in action. I found it highly appropriate.

Lisa’s producer proposed the possibility of a panel on the intergenerational issues (how’s that for alliteration) with me, Gloria Steinem, and Courtney Martin. How fun would THAT be?!

I’ll try to figure out how to post the mp3 file, when I get it, here. (If any of my bloggy mentors out there know how to do this, please feel free to shoot me a note!)