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Feminists Give Thanks

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What are feminists thankful for this year, besides turkey, stuffing and fabulous shoes? A few friends and I got together and took stock of our cornucopia of blessings, thanks to the hard work of many who have come before us. Read as these fab feminists give thanks and take time to reflect on how you have benefited from feminism. Feel free to leave a comment!

The Undomestic Goddess:

In an imperfect world where there’s still much hate, and at a time in our nation where we’re very much divided, I can still be thankful for the overwhelming amount of people who do good, and who mobilize to protect the rights of other human beings. I’m also thankful for Twitter, for connecting me with some pretty fabulous feminists, and for teaching me that I’m not alone.

DancingGrapes (the consequences of a naked foot):

I’m thankful for strong women. Women that raised me, those I work with, women that inspire me every day. There’s something about the company of women that goes so beyond the pragmatic. I’m so thankful every time I’m in the presence of magnificent women.

Shelby Knox:

In 1972, Pat Schroeder was elected to Congress from a Denver district and given a coveted seat on the Armed Services Committee. This so peeved Chairman F. Edward Hébert, who was in his 31st year in Congress and a vehement opponent of desegregation, that he ordered the freshman Congresswoman and a black second-term member to literally share a chair because each was worth half a “regular” member. In 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton logged those 16 million votes for the presidency and Barack Obama currently sits in the White House.

I’m grateful to the women and men who paved the way for young men of color and women of all hues to imagine ourselves as “Congressman” or “Governor” or “Madame President.” Victoria Woodhull.  Frederick Douglass. Jeannette Rankin. Shirley Chisholm.  Patsy Mink. Carol Moseley-Braun. Wilma Mankiller. (And many more whose names we’ve forgotten but on whose shoulders we stand.)

And yes, I’m even grateful this blessing extends to one rogue former Alaska governor. In the words of Bella Abzug, a woman to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude, “Women have been and are prejudiced, narrow-minded, reactionary, even violent. Some women. They, of course, have a right to vote and a right to run for office. I will defend that right, but I will not support them or vote for them.”

As for me….

I am thankful for all the women who paved the way for me to get a degree in computer science. I am thankful to Sally Ride and Christa McAuliffe for being two high profile female astronauts and scientists during my formative years.

I am thankful to Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman for being CEOs at HP and eBay, respectively, while I was in college, proving that women can break the glass ceiling in the IT world. (Why do they have to be Republican? Argh.)

I am thankful to the AAUW for their work in increasing the number of women and girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Most of all, I am thankful to Anita Borg, who started the Systers email list for women in computer science and technology. Without Systers and the knowledge that there were thousands of other smart, savvy technical women out there, I would never have made it through college.

Thank you!

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Getting Overwhelmed

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I can admit it. I’ve been overwhelmed lately. I’m on disability and trying to become self-employed through freelance writing. Because of my disabilities and health problems, I’ve thought long and hard about what kind of work I can do, what I’m physically able to do. (If you’re going to comment on this post, please don’t judge me or make crappy comments. You don’t have to live life in my shoes so you can’t possibly know what it’s like. I do the best I can. On that note, any unsupportive comments like “get a job” will be deleted.)

I decided to pursue a writing career late last winter. I began by practicing writing articles (like this one). I started submitting columns (like this one to Bitch). In the spring, I started building up my website and building up my online presence, including using Twitter. In June, I got a few big breaks. First, Bitch picked up my piece on Meghan McCain.

Also, on June 9th, I sent a letter to my congressional delegation, Rep. Dave Obey, Sen. Russ Feingold and Sen. Herb Kohl, telling them about what I’ve been through and asking them to support the public option. A week later, Sen. Feingold’s office called and asked to tell my story in a speech he was going to give in support of the public option on the Senate floor.

After the speech, which was humbling and awe-inspiring, I used the moment to do some major networking, which led to my semi-regular contributions to the Women’s Rights blog at Change.org. Since then, I have guest-posted on other blogs and networked with other feminists, but I am feeling kind of stuck.  I’ve built up something of a portfolio but how do I make a living at this writing thing?

The long and short of it is that I’ve been beating myself up lately. I’ll figure out the money thing. I’ve already got some ideas for what to do next but I freely admit that I’ve been frustrated lately. Why is this writing/self-employed thing so hard? Will I ever be able to make a living at it? Why did this illness/injury happen to me? And there we go, now I’ve overshared.

But here’s the reason for this post: I’ve got to take a deep breath and give myself a break. I took a four-day mini vacay this weekend and basically didn’t let myself think about anything at all. (You would not believe how many games of Bejewled Blitz I played on Facebook yesterday as I listened to the football games in the background.) I’ve got to remember that this will all work out. I will figure this writing career thing out. I just need to be nicer to myself.

Ashley over at the Small Strokes blog has been going through a rough time herself lately and has also decided to give herself a break. In fact, she’s declared today Love Myself Day and encourages everyone to do the same. Here’s her new mantra:

I am going to love myself enough to know and respect my limits, and to not talk myself into feeling worthless when something takes a little longer to get done than I expected. I am going to feel great about all of the good things I am doing, and I am going to make time in my life for the things that are important to me.

I’m going to try to do these things. I may not always succeed but I’ll try. Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
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Literacy in the Feminist Blogging Community: Danine Spencer

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Exciting news! I let Ashley over at the Small Strokes blog pick my brain for her Literacy in the Feminist Blogging Community interview project. Here’s a sample of what I had to say:

1. Define the online feminist blogging community.

Feminists, particularly younger feminists, have exploited social media really well. We use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to network and exchange information with each other. Blogging allows feminists to network with each other like Facebook and Twitter but it’s more than that. Blogging allows us to contribute to the feminist (and sometimes national) dialogue as soon as we hit “publish.” By examining the world around us through a feminist lens and writing about it, we are participating in online and real-life activism. Continue reading….

Now that I’ve got you hooked, continue reading at the Small Strokes Project!

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Seriously? No Public Option?

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Today is one of those days where my body is laughing at me saying, “Ha! You really think you could ever work a normal full-time job? Seriously? Are you out of your blooming mind?!” I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that mobility returned to the extremities but not all of the internal organs. You figure it out. In any case, my full-time job over the last few days has simply been taking care of my physical needs.

I guess that’s why I’m on disability. I really wish I weren’t and I am working hard towards the day when I won’t be. As I’ve said before, I need low-cost health insurance (and a living wage) to get off SSI and Medicaid. That’s why I’m in favor of the public option.

But what the heck, President Obama? Over the past 48 hours, the Obama administration appears to be backing away from the public option. At Saturday’s town hall, President Obama gave a long-winded, three-point answer in response to one question on the public option. Later, while discussing whether or not a private plans could compete with a public option, he said:

This is a legitimate debate to have. All I’m saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it.

Then, yesterday HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told John King on CNN that the public option is “not essential.” Watch:

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was on CBS’ Face the Nation, where he where he said, “the bottom line for this for the president is, what we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market.” He did say that the president favored the public option “thus far.” Watch:

On the one hand, I can live without a public option. My only main objective is that health insurance is affordable for low-income people like me. On the hand, seriously?! What the hell have we gone through all of this crazy B.S. for if there won’t be a public option. I’ve shed tears over this. Last week, I stood on a picnic table in front of strangers and briefly told my story. I let Sen. Russ Feingold tell the entire world my story on the Senate floor, all the freakin’ hope that maybe someday I will be financially independent again.

If Obama was going to cave on the public option, why bother even talking about it in the first place?  This country has been torn even further apart because the Fox News crowd  is using “socialized medicine” to stir up racial tensions. Members of Congress have gotten death threats. In my personal life, I fear I have lost or damaged at least one relationship with a loved one over this issue.

If Obama was going to cave on the public option, why did any of us even bother? Why did we elect him in the first place? I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and I’m really proud I did. Where is my fierce advocate in the White House?

Progressives, if you believe in the public option, now is the time to get busy. Call, write, email, fax or tweet your representative and senators. (Find your representative here and your senators here. See top of page on both websites.) Last night on Twitter, Melissa Harris-Lacewell (@harrislacewell) suggested that everyone contact the White House demanding they support the public option. You can do that here.

The time is now. We need health care reform. We need a public option.

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