I encourage people to browse all categories, not just the ones you identify with.
NOW: National Organization for Women
Radical Philosophy
Guerrilla Girls
About Face
A Radical Feminist Analysis of Mass Media
The Transfeminist Manifesto (PDF File)
Men Stopping Violence
Men Can Stop Rape
Jewish Feminist Resources
Nomy Lamm: Bad Ass, Fat Ass, Jew, Dyke Amputee
The Gimp Parade
Big Fat Blog
The F-word
Anarchist Feminism
Anarchist People of Color
Black Feminist Thought
Black Radical Congress
Asian American Empowerment
Big Bad Chinese Mama
Las Culturas
Making Face, Making Soul: A Chicana Feminist Website
New Socialist Group: Indigenous Feminism Without Apology
Mushycat!
Scarlet Letter Project
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I am a feminist.
I'm not a person that wants rights and equality for women, but will not say the word feminist.
I am not just a humanist, I'm specific about it: I am a feminist.
I want:
equal pay for equal work
more time off for pregnant mothers
men to clean up their own messes: politically and personally
lesbians to be thought of as real women, as real human beings
more inclusion: all womens' issues need to be addressed
by society AND by mainstream feminist theory. Demand it.
women to not be afraid to walk alone at night
no more rape, no more domestic abuse
an end to homophobia which reinforces sexism and gender stereotypes and roles
an end to the double-standard
women to stop putting themselves down
male to female transsexuals to be recognized as women
and on and on......
My introduction to feminism began my freshman year of college. At this point I honestly knew nothing about what feminism was, but I knew that I was passionate about activism and that I had a strong sense of justice. I encountered a professor at MSUM, named Chris Smith, who was a self-identified feminist. Feminism was a set of beliefs that guided everything she did and she became my mentor in many ways. Everything she taught me was from a feminist perspective, specifically a Marxist, lesbian feminist perspective. I learned about capitalism, feminism, and queer culture from her. I think that I would have still identified with feminist beliefs if I had not met Chris, but she helped me make this a core part of my identity. Feminism has become a way of thinking and being for me, just as it was for her. It is a value system that guides what I do every day in my personal life, as well as in my work with clients as a student in the Couple and Family Therapy program.
Feminism, to me, is fundamentally about equal rights. It is the acknowledgement of racism, sexism, heterosexism, able-ism, and classism, and how these affect an individual’s life. It is actively working to dismantle these forms of oppression. I believe that all of these “isms” work together in a systematic way, each reinforcing the other. True equality will not be achieved unless all interlocking systems are addressed. Feminism is founded on the idea that women are subjugated through male power and privilege. However, a woman faces multiple oppressions if she belongs to another subordinate group. White men and women could be said to oppress women of color. Straight men and women receive privileges that lesbian and bisexual women do not have access to. The point is that women belong to all suppressed groups. This is why I believe feminism should focus on the structures that keep racism, sexism, classism, etc., alive. Furthermore, I don’t think it would be fair, or feminist, to focus on only one group’s experience (such as white, middle-class womens’ experience). Also, I think that dominant structures would want women to fight over what the priorities of the feminist movement should be. This, of course, keeps women and pro-feminist men from focusing on challenging dominant structures.
I have been asked before if I am a humanist rather than a feminist. While I do believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all people, it is very powerful to make the distinction that I am a feminist. While it is important to acknowledge the experience of people of any gender in subordinate groups, and I do not mean to discredit the experience of men in oppressed groups, women in these groups have the unique experience of being a “minority within a minority.” Even in these groups women are considered to be worth less than men of the same group. This is why I consider myself a feminist as opposed to a humanist.
I am also a feminist because I personally experience some of the oppressions that I have discussed. I identify as transgender and queer. Before I began “transitioning” I identified as a lesbian. While I look and sound male, I do not claim a male identity. I feel neither male nor female, or possibly both simultaneously. At this point in time I would consider my views of feminism to be partly multicultural and partly transfeminist. Transfeminism explores the construction of gender through language and the performance of gendered behaviors. Transfeminism explores ways of “doing” gender that both men and women find constraining. Transfeminism seeks to question and break down these gender roles that keep both men and women acting out these prescribed ways of being. For me, it makes sense to identity as a feminist, especially at this point in my life, because feminism is about challenging the idea that biology equals destiny. I feel that I challenge this notion by living as a transgender person every day. I constantly protest gender roles and notions of masculinity and femininity by simply existing.
I think it is important to be an out transperson while claiming a feminist identity, especially since I could very well pass for a man and take advantage of white, male privilege. A society founded on sexism relies on the idea that biology determines who a person is and what he or she (or zi*) is capable of. Since our culture only acknowledges two genders, and two sexes, and mandates that both be in harmony with each other, there is a lot of pressure to adhere to proper ways of being a male/man and female/woman. We are trained from birth to search for these gender cues and police others when these gender norms are broken. To me, feminism is about breaking down those gender lines that ultimately lead to the assertion that one gender is superior to another. Although many transgender people do not identify as feminist, I would say that I could not separate my personal gender identity from my political feminist identity. I feel that I am very aware of power structures and the impact it has on my life as someone who is transgender and queer. Because of this, I have the power to question those structures and alter the impact it has on my life. After all, I can’t challenge dominant ideology about gender and sexuality if I am not aware that these things exist. I feel that remaining oblivious to these dominant ideologies, whether in my personal life or in my work with clients, is equivalent to being an active participant in these dominant ways of thinking and being. I have come to these beliefs from my personal experiences and the observance of the experiences of others. I hope that I have exemplified in this essay the importance of feminism in my life and why I identify as a feminist.
Many years ago I wrote the following article for the Minnesota State University Moorhead Campus Feminist Organization zine.
I have left it unedited, despite my current embarassment. Gone are the days of being a "fuck you" punk kid. Please enjoy an unrefined view of feminism from the perspective of an eighteen year old....
Reclaim Your Body
Before writing this, I looked on the internet because I couldn't figure out how to start talking about body image and tattoos. All I saw were articles (coincidentally ? all written by men) about how women shouldn't get tattoos because it would interfere with job opportunities. How it is unfeminine if women have tattoos other than flowers and butterflies. How tattoos always, always must be hidden under clothing. How women shouldn't get tattoos because when they lose weight (which they all should be doing of course) or become pregnant, the tattoos will stretch and become unsightly.
This is, to me, another way in which men are trying to control women. Maybe unconsciously that was one of the reasons I chose to get large, visable tattoos. I mean I wasn't like, "Oh, I want to piss off men," because I wasn't thinking about them. I personally like the way tattoos look....pissing men off is just an added bonus.
It is true that I have had backlash from having large tattoos that I rarely cover. I'm threatening to some people because my tattoos highlight the fact that I am queer (come on, really, what straight woman has tattoos all over her arms?). If I gain weight my tattoos will stretch and I will still like them.
It's not likely my tattoos are offensive. They are anything but. One is an African tribal woman with the Kenyan flag, another is a totem pole, the third is an abstract person with arrows pointing in all directions, and the fourth is a women's symbol with a fist, inside of a inverted triangle, the fifth is on my chest, and therefore, not for public view. Now, how could the first three possibly be offensive to anyone?
Maybe it is the bright colors or the intricate designs. The fourth tattoo is on the inside of my wrist and barely visable, but I know that it probably scares a few people who know that it means that I am a feminist and I'm queer, and so what! It's MY body; I'll do what I want with it. Don't like it Dad? Too bad. Hey, dude walking past me giving me dirty looks, go fuck yourself.
Reclaim yourself. Not necessarily by getting a tattoo, because tattoos aren't everyone's thing.
But find another way to reclaim the body that American culture has taken away from you. For example, stop shaving. Do you personally care if your armpit is hairy? I don't know about anyone else, but I don't really look at my armpit all that much, so I don't notice that it is. Does your boyfriend care? Probably. A lot of straight women go through all that trouble to look nice for men. A lot of straight women and queer women feel that they have to look nice for men at their jobs (their male bosses and co-workers).
If you really like to do your hair, make-up, and nails, that is fine, but do it for yourself. I mean, why else would you want to spend hours each week "fixing up" and hundreds of dollars a year to get the equipment to do it? How about telling him that you want him to start painting his fingernails, spending an hour each day doing his hair, and getting his bikini area waxed once a week and see how he reacts...
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