Bloggers, Journalists, and Activists, Oh My

On Thursday, the Ms. at 40 Symposium hosted a pregame of sorts for the Gloria Steinem keynote, called the “Future of Feminism: a Panel Discussion with Feminist Editors, Journalist, and Bloggers.”  There was a surprisingly large audience waiting to watch the event go down. It was mostly comprised of older women, although there was a smattering of men and younger women. We were all anxious to hear what the panelists had to say about the history and future of feminist media.

First, we were introduced to Suzanne Braun Levine, writer, editor, and first editor of Ms. She said that the most important thing about Ms. was that it gave women the opportunity to tell their own stories and use their own voices.

Next we met Marcia Ann Gillespie, former Editor-in-Chief of Ms. and of Essence. Marcia intimated that she was suspicious of Ms. magazine, and worried that it wouldn’t accurately represent the experiences of women of color. However, when she joined up as a contributing editor, the Ms. staff seemed like a close-knit family, and there was no lack of articles about women of color.

Helen Zia, was next, a former Executive Editor and Advisory Board Member of Ms. She spoke on her difficulties managing intersectional identities in activism. She often wondered why there were no spaces for feminist activists in the anti-racist civil rights movement, so she became a journalist and joined up with Ms.

Then we heard from Katherine Spillar, Executive Editor of Ms. magazine. She considers herself an activist, not a journalist. She explained that one of the best things about Ms. during her tenure was the fact that the magazine was self-owned. This allowed the editors to investigate feminist and woman-centered issues that very few magazines took on during 90s.

Afterwards, we were introduced to the bloggers. Miriam Zolla Pérez, feminist blogger and reproductive justice activist. Miriam enjoys blogging because she feels she gets to “leave behind the gatekeepers.” Miriam got into blogging after she met Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing, at an abortion activism event. Now she speaks about feminist issues from a Latina perspective.

Shelby Knox, feminist blogger, activist, and subject of the documentary, “The Education of Shelby Knox,” doesn’t consider herself a journalist or a blogger, but instead a spokesperson for young feminists. She said that her definition of feminism arose after hearing stories from other women and feeling “less crazy, less alone, but more pissed off.”

It was especially interesting to hear what each woman thought were the greatest challenges for the future of feminism. Helen Zia thought it was important to find women who had personal, lived experiences with an issue to author feminist articles. Katharine Spillar touted the greatness of technology as an organizing tool, speaking about the campaign to have the FBI update its definition of rape. In response to a question about fashion trends and sexuality, Shelby Knox warned against the dangers of slut shaming. She suggested that we should focus on giving young women information about healthy sexuality as well as focus on media education through sources like SparkSummit. Another panelist noted that the younger generation needed to help older feminists become used to technology to avoid widening the intergenerational gap.

Overall, this was a very refreshing dialogue that successfully showcased the ideals and accomplishments of the print-media era alongside the strengths and weaknesses of the digital future. Shelby Knox declared that online media exposes vast audiences to what feminisms look like, both online and on the ground. She looks forward to the time when the blogs and websites that we love today will serve as personal histories for the next generation. What do you think the future of feminist media will bring?

On Shelby Knox and Finding Your Feminist Voice

           Growing up, I remember being taught of the importance of voice.  English teachers would repeatedly stress, “Find your voice!”  Or they would tell me, “Your voice isn’t really coming though in this paper.”  At times I was commanded, “Keep your voice down!”  And other times I was encouraged, “Speak up!  Use your voice.”  These various encounters really only ever taught me one thing, and it didn’t even have very much to do with voice at all.  They taught me that in this world, people care so much more about how you say something than what it is you are actually saying.  In other words, my fifteen and a half years in the United States school system—both public and private—has taught me that before you say whatever it is that you’re thinking of saying, you better think long and hard about how you’re going to say it.  What this does is it ends up reinforcing traditional hierarchies in which people who have had the most formal training and developed effective forms of communication are valued over those with equally valid arguments but who have yet to perfect their communication skills.  It is this hierarchy that the 2005 documentary, “The Education of Shelby Knox” attempts to disrupt.

            The film follows Shelby Knox—a 15-year-old girl from the second most conservative city in the nation—in her battle for a drastic reform of her school district’s sex education abstinence only policy.  More importantly, however, the piece is about a young woman refusing to be rendered voiceless.  It’s about a sophomore in high school going against conservative parents, school boards, and churches and refusing to give up even after experiencing the pain of failure.  It’s about realizing that despite everything that we’ve been told, emotions are good and are our way of coping with the frustration of being socially gagged and made to accept instead of critique.  It’s about saying how you feel and what you think even if it isn’t pretty at first because we only ever grow from experience.  It’s about recognizing “failure” as a starting point, not a finish line.  It’s about admitting that even though fighting for social change is hard, sitting back silently is harder.

            These are the types of messages that young people, especially those belonging to marginalized groups, need to hear.  They need to know that what they think and what they have to say is valuable, even if it is difficult to articulate.  They need to realize that when there are no young people being represented in the mainstream debates surrounding social issues that very much impact their lives, there is a problem.

            As I watched the film, I reflected on my own quest for my voice.  I tried to remember when it was that I finally realized that the reason I hadn’t been able to find it was not because I didn’t have it, but because the entire concept of voice, as it had been imposed on me from a young age, was such that I would never find it within myself.  I am not an old white heterosexual man like all the men that wrote the books used to teach me what voice is.  The reason that I could not find my voice was because I wasn’t looking for my voice I was looking for the voices of others within me.  It is difficult to pinpoint the exact moment, but as I think about it and how liberating it was I really applaud Knox and her willingness to share her personal experience and to ask young feminists, “This is what finding my feminist voice looked like for me, what will it look like for you?” 

Gloria Steinem and the Intergenerational Rift

Alright, confession time. Before watching, Gloria: In Her Own Words, I didn't really know too much about Gloria Steinem. I knew that she was a key figure during Second Wave feminism, that she’d founded Ms magazine, and had been the subject of extreme controversy over the years. I also knew about her infamous stance on Obama and that she was coming to speak at Stanford in a few weeks, and that this was a “very big deal.”

I considered perusing a few Wikipedia articles, but opted against it in favor of viewing the film with as few preconceived notions about Steinem as possible.

The film did a great job at portraying Steinem as a more sympathetic and human figure than she typically gets cast as in the media. It followed Steinem’s ascent from investigative journalist to feminist lightning rod and was interspersed with quotes and interview clips, both about and from Steinem. There were plenty of scenes crafted to make the enlightened feminist laugh, but there were also moments of sadness, particularly when Steinem spoke of her complex relationship with her parents.

            

I was left wanting, though, in the segments about the general feminist movement.  The film offered tantalizing glimpses into the conflicts and struggles within the movement, such as the rivalry between Steinem and fellow leader, Betty Friedan, but as a film about feminism, Gloria really fell flat. The filmmakers glossed over the issues of class, race, and sexuality, preferring to linger on tales of Steinem’s legendary beauty.  I get that this was a documentary biopic, but I wish the film had focused more on the movement itself.

            

The movie wrapped up with an uplifting scene of young, third-wave feminists at a rally, and I sat, swilling my drink, reviewing my notes on the film, totally expecting to be done for the day. But this was a Stanford event, and no Stanford event is complete without a Q&A. I glanced around the room, surprised to see that there were only a handful of students in the room. The majority of the audience was comprised of older women, ranging from grad student to staff member. I settled in for what was likely to be rousing discussion on the ups and downs of the film, or even a discussion on Gloria Steinem.

I was sorely disappointed when the first question, offered by an older woman, was along the lines of, “I don’t think young women today really understand the sacrifices we made in the 70s. They seem really ungrateful, and it feels like the movement is dying. Can the young women in the audience talk about this?"

“Can the young women in the audience…” was the theme of the night, a mildly condescending phrase with deep implications about the rift between Second and Third wave feminists. I was left feeling like a rabbit in a snare as the comments continued:

“Why do young women today dress so slutty?”

“The movement is disjointed and has no message.”

“Young women think feminism is a dirty word.”

I was left wondering how so much got lost in translation between the “waves,” or if this was simply nostalgia kicking in. Sure, Third wavers aren't taking to the streets in the way our fore-feminists were, but we’re still feminists. How can we try to repair this rift between the generations? Will Gloria Steinem comment on these issues in her upcoming talk?  

Alicia Ostriker - A Woman's Language? Who Will Listen?

On Wednesday, January 18 at 8 pm, Alicia Ostriker spoke in front of a small audience of primarily senior citizens, mixed with a handful Stanford students. Just a short glance at this assortment of people immediately brought up an issue I found with the idea of Ostriker’s work as an agent of change: our generation’s lack of interest in creative writing with a cause, let alone feminist poetry aimed at reinterpreting religion.

In her presentation - “Re-Deeming Scripture: Feminist Midrash in America,” - Ostriker explained her use of poetry/prose as a means through which to challenge tradition, using a feminist lens. She spoke of reinterpreting the Torah through “Midrash,” stories that read between the lines of biblical texts and fill in the gaps. As a lover of creative writing and a long time reader of Midrash, I valued Ostriker’s goals of finding the gray between biblical black and white by giving voices to the voiceless (especially nameless women). I enjoyed her use of wit as a means through which to reimagine the texts of the Torah. One particular Midrash that struck me was from Hagar’s perspective (Hagar birthed Abraham’s first child and was then thrown out of the house by Sarah.) In this story of surrogate motherhood, Hagar asks about Sarah, “Why could she not love me? We were women together.”

While I appreciate the creative means through which Ostriker hopes to achieve her aims, I can’t help but be skeptical of the effectiveness of such feminist media. Will those of our generation actually take the time to seek this poetry out and consider its implications? Additionally, with the recent decline in adherence to traditional religion - especially in progressive, young activists - will biblical reinterpretations interest young people? I’m unsure that this type of creative writing will speak to young feminists to the extent of other media, such as documentaries like “Miss Representation” and real world news.

On a separate note, I found it interesting to hear Ostriker’s speak after reading the critique of Stealing the Language. While the critique argued against Ostriker’s conception of a “female voice,” Ostriker brought up the fact that she writes about both men and women in the Bible, commenting that just because she is a woman doesn’t mean she can only write about women. Does this mean that Ostriker aims to write of males, but in her own, feminine voice? The broader, fundamental question comes up of whether or not there IS a “women’s language,” a “female voice.” Can you tell that this blog post was written by a woman? Are there certain aspects of writing by women that define it as female? In my opinion, it is possible to have writing that is not gendered at all - although I’m not sure if I’ve actually come across such writing.

Despite some minor doubt about the future of feminist Midrash, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Ostriker speak. Just like Gloria Steinem, Ostriker made the point that “people who are happy lose their ferocity.” As a young feminist, it’s nice to know that many still believe that the “women’s issue” is far from resolved.

Events for the Week of Jan. 16th!

The Women's Movement: Looking Forward Looking Back - Screening of "Gloria: In Her Own Words"

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Please join us for the screening of a documentary on Gloria Steinem, followed by appetizers and drinks over a guided discussion. The screening is free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP in advance here. This event is part of the series of satellite events organized as part of Ms. @ 40 and the Future of Feminism.
Stanford Law School - Student Lounge
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305

Poet Alicia Ostriker on "Re-Deeming Scripture: Feminist Midrash in America"
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 8:00pm
All are welcome for a talk given by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, a feminist poet, critic and scholar. She is author of twelve volumes of poetry, a National Book Award finalist, and winner of numerous literary awards. Ostriker is Professor Emerita of Rutgers University.
Oak Room West, Tresidder Memorial Union
459 Lagunita Dr
Stanford, CA 94305

All events available on http://gender.stanford.edu/ms-40-and-future-feminism-winter-quarter-events