Intergenerational Issues: Inevitable or Regrettable?

I was thoroughly impressed with the Intergenerational Feminist Panel on Thursday. The panelists were selected from a wide variety of professions and backgrounds, and each had their own perspective to share with the audience.

Miranda Mammen, a current sophomore at Stanford, lived abroad and experienced many different cultures. She was introduced by to the blog, Feministing, by a friend, and felt compelled to create her own blog called Women's Glib. Miranda focused on high school/teenage issues, and believes that she wouldn't be the feminist she is today without the internet.

Vanessa Daniels is the executive developer of Groundswell, an organization that gives grants to reproductive justice groups, people of color groups, and trans*/queer rights groups. She identifies as a feminist because of her mother's strength and struggles, despite her race and class privilege, as well as the pride her aunt showed in her identity. Vanessa strongly believes in the move from individual to collective rights within the feminist movement.

Helen Kim explains that her journey to feminism was like a bridge. She immigrated to the US when she was 12 because her mother believed that South Korea was no place to raise two daughters. Helen fought against institutional racism and sexism, but felt alienated from the feminist movement until she got into workers and immigrant rights. Helen wants to challenge the notion of what is women's work and has written a book on intergenerational work.

Linda Burnham works at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and came to identify as a feminist because of her liberal, activist family. Linda went to a rally in San Francisco, but was disappointed by the lack of women of color attending the event, so she started an organization with the ones women who were there. Linda didn't identify with the 2nd wave feminist movement because she didn't see racial equality as a major goal.

Kim Meredith worked at Planned Parenthood before coming to work at Stanford. Kim became an activist after living in LA and worked at both the grassroots and national levels. She sees her feminism as revolving around reproductive health. Kim grew up in a rural environment where her father was a doctor for the women in the community.

Shannon Farley works at Spark, a network of young activists. She grew up in a conservative, religious family, but her big sister had tons of feminist literature on her bookshelf. During college, she worked the morning shift at a rape crisis center. She believes that feminists were "born this way," and later found the words for their rejection of injustice.

When asked about the rift between older feminists and younger ones, Miranda said that it was healthy to have a little animosity within the movement, as it showed that people still cared. However, she found that rhetoric about "young people" was harmful to the movement, as it discredits young feminists working in the movement and doesn't invite participation. Linda agreed with Miranda's thinking, but also felt that intergenerational tensions were due to differences in perspective and the need for older feminists to still feel relevant. Shannon said that our work may seem invisible to the older generation, who are used to marches and direct actions. We need to find ways to make modern feminist work more visible, and to communicate our efforts to older feminists.

What I found very refreshing about this event was that the panelists weren't just listing the problems within the feminist movement, but also coming up with solutions. Helen suggested that people feel isolated, and there needs to be a safe space for feminists to respond to issues. Perhaps this panel was a first step in creating this space. Vanessa noted that in the philanthropic arena, right wing organizations have much more funding and are able to galvanize youth movements at a level that liberal groups have not. Linda wants future activists to put effort into intersectional interests, and shift mentoring interests so that younger women are prepared for future leadership roles.

What are your thoughts on creating a cohesive feminist movement?