Feminist | Mom
I do not intend to dive back into the mania that surrounded Nona's article in the Nation, but I feel like Michael Corleone when I read shots like Julie Pippert's Guardian's article:
What is naive is to keep saying the same thing over and over and expect the problem to go away. "Now, Veronica," you're saying, "You keep saying the same thing over and over." Yes, but I want the problem to be resolved not tucked under the rug.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people to have sent me emails about this issue. They say things like "I too feel alone in finding feminist mom friends!" online and off.
First, if you're online, do check out MOMocrats and find each of those writers personal blogs. They are feminists and moms. The fact that Nona failed to mention them in the article continues to be beaten into the earth.
I was asked by Julie and others why I didn't mention MOMocrats when I talked with Nona. And I replied with:: I have no idea if I did or did not. I'm fairly certain that I mentioned PunditMom because I love her stuff and I want to see her get more play. I'm sure I mentioned NOW's Mothers & Caregivers Economic Rights committee because I'm the co-chair. Why am I not certain about MOMocrats? Well honestly cause I'm not one of them. Why would I spend valuable time talking with a journalist writing for the Nation talking about a group that I'm not involved with? Now really...I wanted to see the NOW committee get more play. Mostly because I do hear from moms and others that feminists in general and NOW specifically don't work on mom issues. Oh really? is my response.
Now is there a divide? A disconnect? A whatchamacallit between mom bloggers and feminist bloggers? I still say yes.
That does not mean that there aren't feminist bloggers who support mom issues OR that mom bloggers aren't feminist. What that means is that we aren't connecting enough to really galvanize our power to get stuff done.
And this is coming from someone who has been blogging since late 2000 (I really hate to throw that around like this, but I feel like I have to) and has loved since almost their inception Feministe (started by a single former teenage mom) and Bitch PhD (feminist mom extraordinaire).
There are also a TON of moms of color who are so feminist/womanist/political that they don't embrace the mom blogger label because they feel it isn't strong enough for them. This list is not to signify that they personally feel that way, but I see them as missing in the mom(my) blog is feminist discussion Culture Kitchen, Mamita Mala and flip flopping joy. They are three women who are far more radical in so many ways and whom I learn from in different ways (even if they don't always appreciate me as a student).
This is another example of what I mean by a disconnect.
This is why I was FLOORED with joy when Momsrising took the brave step to send out alerts on the issue of immigration. While I love Momsrising and love to work with them, they do work on some fairly tame issues. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, I think paid sick days is such a tame issue it boggles my mind why it's not a freakin' given.
And really maybe that's the issue here. Me.
Maybe I wish the mom blogosphere isn't aggressive enough and that the feminist blogosphere doesn't respect enough.
Or maybe I've been around so damn long that I don't recognize the evolution.
Maybe I surround myself with too many different characters.
Or maybe I'm flat wrong. But I know I'm not because some of you have told me otherwise.
As long as I keep hearing from you that I'm on to something, I'm going to ride this horse until it's dead. Althou I do hope I can gracefully dismount and let the critter go graze into the sunset.
This most recent debate among feminists began with a naive assertion by Nona Willis Aronowitz that mothers who write blogs are disconnected from feminists. Nonsense, I said, in a lengthy comment, citing both MOMocrats and WomenCount. Both cover issues of interest to women, and have begun working to influence political decision making.
What is naive is to keep saying the same thing over and over and expect the problem to go away. "Now, Veronica," you're saying, "You keep saying the same thing over and over." Yes, but I want the problem to be resolved not tucked under the rug.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people to have sent me emails about this issue. They say things like "I too feel alone in finding feminist mom friends!" online and off.
First, if you're online, do check out MOMocrats and find each of those writers personal blogs. They are feminists and moms. The fact that Nona failed to mention them in the article continues to be beaten into the earth.
I was asked by Julie and others why I didn't mention MOMocrats when I talked with Nona. And I replied with:: I have no idea if I did or did not. I'm fairly certain that I mentioned PunditMom because I love her stuff and I want to see her get more play. I'm sure I mentioned NOW's Mothers & Caregivers Economic Rights committee because I'm the co-chair. Why am I not certain about MOMocrats? Well honestly cause I'm not one of them. Why would I spend valuable time talking with a journalist writing for the Nation talking about a group that I'm not involved with? Now really...I wanted to see the NOW committee get more play. Mostly because I do hear from moms and others that feminists in general and NOW specifically don't work on mom issues. Oh really? is my response.
Now is there a divide? A disconnect? A whatchamacallit between mom bloggers and feminist bloggers? I still say yes.
That does not mean that there aren't feminist bloggers who support mom issues OR that mom bloggers aren't feminist. What that means is that we aren't connecting enough to really galvanize our power to get stuff done.
And this is coming from someone who has been blogging since late 2000 (I really hate to throw that around like this, but I feel like I have to) and has loved since almost their inception Feministe (started by a single former teenage mom) and Bitch PhD (feminist mom extraordinaire).
There are also a TON of moms of color who are so feminist/womanist/political that they don't embrace the mom blogger label because they feel it isn't strong enough for them. This list is not to signify that they personally feel that way, but I see them as missing in the mom(my) blog is feminist discussion Culture Kitchen, Mamita Mala and flip flopping joy. They are three women who are far more radical in so many ways and whom I learn from in different ways (even if they don't always appreciate me as a student).
This is another example of what I mean by a disconnect.
This is why I was FLOORED with joy when Momsrising took the brave step to send out alerts on the issue of immigration. While I love Momsrising and love to work with them, they do work on some fairly tame issues. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, I think paid sick days is such a tame issue it boggles my mind why it's not a freakin' given.
And really maybe that's the issue here. Me.
Maybe I wish the mom blogosphere isn't aggressive enough and that the feminist blogosphere doesn't respect enough.
Or maybe I've been around so damn long that I don't recognize the evolution.
Maybe I surround myself with too many different characters.
Or maybe I'm flat wrong. But I know I'm not because some of you have told me otherwise.
As long as I keep hearing from you that I'm on to something, I'm going to ride this horse until it's dead. Althou I do hope I can gracefully dismount and let the critter go graze into the sunset.
