FAME & FORTUNE IS A STUPID GAME & FAME & FORTUNE IS THE GAME I PLAY
I went to the largest women's rights march in U.S. history. So there. I'm really glad I participated, even though it couldn't have been during a busier weekend school-wise, even though I've had to run around like crazy the last few hours just to get things done for classes today. Still, still, still. And yes, there are a lot of elements of the march that bothered me (the extremely obvious Kerry campaigners, especially), and yes, I think the march ignored a lot of trans issues in its overtly biological definition of "woman" and "women's struggle." Still, still, still. It means a lot to organize such a large group of dissenters, to make clear to our Senators and Representatives (and even our lizardlike president) that a Fucking Whole Lot of people are angry and ready to vote accordingly. That's all.
P.S. To all the guys I've talked to in the last few days who weren't interested in the Women's March because the IMF is, like, way more important apparently: Okay. You've got a cause, too. But don't disrespect me for not making it cross-town for your protest. And don't try to tell me that your action was more important than mine. I want to be an active part of your struggle, and I want you to be an active part of mine. In order for us to do so, you have to realize that male privilege allows you to find abortion and healthcare and family issues less crucial than I do. But I have to make them crucial. My life depends on it. I can't be a part of your struggle unless I'm alive, and I can't be alive if my only choice is to raise a child when I'm not ready to or to have a clotheshanger shoved up my cunt in a back alley abortion.
P.P.S. Asking me if I think the Radical Cheerleaders are gender-biased is ridiculous. Radical Cheerleaders reclaim the territory of their own bodies by using a particularly insidious and painful representation of the ideal female body and subverting it. Further, they remove their actions from the OBVIOUSLY gender-biased site of the sports arena and take radical menstruation and body issues as the topics of their cheers. It probably makes you pretty nervous to see women subverting a power structure in which you, as men, are obviously powerful. You can deal with this by acknowledging your privilege-- that is, asking yourself how you could interpret the action of the Radical Cheerleaders in such a way. This diatribe is not meant to indicate that I don't want any help from you in this struggle. Hell, no, I want a lot of help from you. But this is the way you can help. Analyze examples (like this one) of internalized sexism. And don't say shit like that anymore.
XO
Sarah
I went to the largest women's rights march in U.S. history. So there. I'm really glad I participated, even though it couldn't have been during a busier weekend school-wise, even though I've had to run around like crazy the last few hours just to get things done for classes today. Still, still, still. And yes, there are a lot of elements of the march that bothered me (the extremely obvious Kerry campaigners, especially), and yes, I think the march ignored a lot of trans issues in its overtly biological definition of "woman" and "women's struggle." Still, still, still. It means a lot to organize such a large group of dissenters, to make clear to our Senators and Representatives (and even our lizardlike president) that a Fucking Whole Lot of people are angry and ready to vote accordingly. That's all.
P.S. To all the guys I've talked to in the last few days who weren't interested in the Women's March because the IMF is, like, way more important apparently: Okay. You've got a cause, too. But don't disrespect me for not making it cross-town for your protest. And don't try to tell me that your action was more important than mine. I want to be an active part of your struggle, and I want you to be an active part of mine. In order for us to do so, you have to realize that male privilege allows you to find abortion and healthcare and family issues less crucial than I do. But I have to make them crucial. My life depends on it. I can't be a part of your struggle unless I'm alive, and I can't be alive if my only choice is to raise a child when I'm not ready to or to have a clotheshanger shoved up my cunt in a back alley abortion.
P.P.S. Asking me if I think the Radical Cheerleaders are gender-biased is ridiculous. Radical Cheerleaders reclaim the territory of their own bodies by using a particularly insidious and painful representation of the ideal female body and subverting it. Further, they remove their actions from the OBVIOUSLY gender-biased site of the sports arena and take radical menstruation and body issues as the topics of their cheers. It probably makes you pretty nervous to see women subverting a power structure in which you, as men, are obviously powerful. You can deal with this by acknowledging your privilege-- that is, asking yourself how you could interpret the action of the Radical Cheerleaders in such a way. This diatribe is not meant to indicate that I don't want any help from you in this struggle. Hell, no, I want a lot of help from you. But this is the way you can help. Analyze examples (like this one) of internalized sexism. And don't say shit like that anymore.
XO
Sarah
