Fem 2.0: An Intersectional Identity

Published February 02, 2009 @ 08:51PM PT

Phew. What a day at Fem 2.0. I met so many women who are often only known to me by their Twitter handle, email address or blog URL and the best thing about it - everyone was just as amazing in person as they appear to be in the online world. Additionally, I had a nice time hanging out with my fellow Change.org bloggers, Loryn Wilson and Dorothee Royal-Hedinger who stopped by to join the fun.

The panel I moderated and presented on titled At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off went really well. We discussed how to customize the feminist movement in order to allow women to opt-in, circumvent the heirarchy and embrace the movement without feeling stifled by it. The end question of the panel was: How can we customize the Fem 2.0 movement to allow more to participate while still holding onto feminist foundations?

You can see notes on the presentation by LaurieWrites here, who was kind enough to live blog the entire thing. Additionally, @nerdette took video footage of the entire presentation and will be posting the conversation on NotMyGal very soon.

Here are some other intriguing observations from the day, but I hope to carry on the conversation for the next few weeks once my thoughts become more lucid.

1.) Linkfluence

The day started off with some interesting imagery and rankings about which blogs link to each other within the feminist-o-sphere. The most notable trend was that institutional websites such as NOW, Feminist Majority Foundation and Planned Parenthood do not have the policy of linking back to others as seen within the blogosphere. The top three blogs with the highest rankings of linkfluence were: Feministing, Shakesville and Feministe. Here is a visual of the feminist-o-sphere by Stanislas Magninant:

2.) Creative Messaging

I heard a lot of interesting ideas from MomsRising.org about creative ways to deliver messages regarding the women's rights movement in the form of infant ONEsies, a burrito, and even a fortune cookie. Additional bursts of ingenuity came from the panel on "Media and Culture: Injecting Feminism Into Popular Culture" as well as from members of Blogher and the American Association of University Women.

With all these suggestions for creative tactics in activist organizing, I decided that I want to start hosting policy potlucks where I can dish out democracy to other women and review key legislative actions.

3.) Men are Mystified by Feminism

With only a handful of men who attended the conference, it was clear that there needs to be a greater focus on talking to men about feminism, including them in the action network and explaining that both women and men need a voice in the political and cultural arena. This is something that will be addressed here on Change.org in the near future, but for now I recommend reading "Feminism Is For Everybody" by bell hooks.

4.) Partisan Values Create Restrictions on Future of Feminist Movement

There was discussion at Fem 2.0 about how the alignment of the feminist movement with liberal causes may serve to divide the movement rather than unite it because just like women, feminists are not a monolithic voting block. Some felt that in order to garner future success for the feminist movement it will need to engage individuals beyond partisan politics, and instead focus on opt-in ideals such as equal pay, privacy, family and health care. But before I see this as a good direction for the movement, I really need conservative women to start putting their stilettos on the throats of conservative men who refuse to recognize the concept of women's rights and instead legislate against healthcare, education, and economic stimulus options.

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Comments (4)

I just want to say that as I man, I am proud to identify as a feminist. I am all for the equality of the genders and am proud to be working on starting a girls' secondary school in Kenya, because I have personally internalized the benefits of empowering women. I understand the rift between most men and feminists, and think it's a shame...and I think the comments here are important. I do think that men need to feel welcome into the conversation. Of course, it takes effort for them to be willing to engage, but I know that many men are extremely intimidated by women who identify themselves as "feministis." I don't understand their feelings, but I certainly acknowledge them.

Anyway, I don't have much to contribute except a major encouragement for groups like this to continue to extend an open hand to skeptical males, as un-fun as that may be some times.

Thanks for the updates, and I look forward to more.

Posted by Mark Lukach on 02/02/2009 @ 09:13PM PT
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It's always important that people "outside" a group speak up for those within the group: men for women, straights for gays, humans for animals, etc. etc.. It makes a bigger impression when my husband declares "I'm a feminist" - it makes people stop and listen, they become interested in what would make a man a feminist.

It's very important that we reach those who might otherwise avoid feminism.

Posted by Lisa Smolen on 02/03/2009 @ 08:08AM PT
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I loev this line: "But before I see this as a good direction for the movement, I really need conservative women to start putting their stilettos on the throats of conservative men who refuse to recognize the concept of women's rights and instead legislate against healthcare, education, and economic stimulus options."

Perfectly said. Of course. ;)

Posted by Jill Zimon on 02/04/2009 @ 07:33PM PT
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I hate this line: "But before I see this as a good direction for the movement, I really need conservative women to start putting their stilettos on the throats of conservative men who refuse to recognize the concept of women's rights and instead legislate against healthcare, education, and economic stimulus options." As a conservative male working to reduce violence against women, and also working to prevent irresponsible liberal spending disguised as the critical economic stimulus package, I find the above statement very offensive. I see no connection between liberal partisanism and feminism, and I agree with those that realize that identifying feminism with liberal causes eliminates at least 50% of the population, both male and female conservative feminists.

Posted by George Hanson on 02/07/2009 @ 11:44AM PT
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Author

Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media. In August 2008, Nedeau was selected to be the Editor of the WomensRights.Change.Org where she facilitates daily discussion about the feminist movement. Additionally, Nedeau volunteers as the Chief Technology Officer for New Leaders Council, a non-profit that offers exclusive training for young leaders. You can follow her on Twitter @HumanFolly or learn more here: www.jennedeau.com.