So where do I start?

[tortilla]

I've hovered a bit on this board and posted once or twice (under an old name). I've always considered myself a feminist but I guess it's been in a rather passive, reactive sort of way. But the birth of my DD 6 months ago has made me realise that I need to get off my backside and actual do something rather than just think I'm a feminist and pay lip service to it but just live cosily without challenging anything. But I'm a little overwhelmed and not sure where to start.

I now have a DD and a DS and I'm really conscious of how other people treat them differently and I don't like it, and don't want it for my children. I want them to grow up with equal opportunities and choices in life and it just doesn't seem possible the way society is at the moment, and I feel I need to start doing something now to set them a feminist example and to try and change things. I can influence what they wear, what toys they have and what activities they do, but it's harder for me to influence how the rest of the world treats them and I want to start doing that.

I paid a visit to the feminist book section of Waterstones the other day and came out with The Equality Illusion and Reclaiming the F Word as they seemed good introduction to feminism today so I've started on those. So I guess I'm looking for a few more suggestions (maybe just point me to an old thread with recommendationss on if that is easiest).

I also am very keen to support a charity or NGO that is doing a lot of good work for women and girls in the developing world, particularly around education and finance - this is something I've been interested in for a while anyway, and it suddenly seems like a logical way of supporting women's rights globally. Any ideas of organisations I could look into further?

Any ideas on how to raise my children as feminists (and ensure my husband does too!)?

Any suggestions on blogs I should read, organisations I should join?

And any suggestions for practical things I can do?

I guess I just feel that my passive feminism needs to stop - I need to show my children how to live as a feminist instead of just benefitting from feminism IYSWIM.

Sorry, this is a bit rambling, but my head feels like that at the moment - lots of thoughts bubbling around but not yet coherent - I need to do something, and I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks!

Hello!

Women for women international fit the bill for what you described I'd say. There are others that I can bring to mind.

Read here

Joining - Fawcett? Have you got a local group? Check on UK Feminista.

Once you're plugged in it cascades I'd say. Hence the reading there.

welcome!
I also found that having a boy and a girl really underlines the way people treat girls and boys differently.

The Fawcett Society is great, as is Object.

Try and find a local group too - partly because feminist issues are often local ones (eg lapdancing club licensing, police approach to rape), partly because it's nice to have some real-life feminist friends as well as ones on here.

the bookstudy group on here is a great way to expand your reading; we're doing Fat Is A Feminist Issue next. But feel free to start threads on anything you have read and want to talk about.

Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine is another great book and the author's coming for a webchat soon.

I think to some extent we all operate reactively - something happens or you come across a particularly egregious example of sexism and it flicks a switch and you suddenly can't stop yourself getting involved. But that interacts with the reading and discussion and you see things with a heightened (or indeed, raised) feminist consciousness.

very brave op,i feel the same,am definately a feminist (cant imagine why any woman wouldn't be)but dont possess the knowlege or theory to post on her I have brought up 3 very respectfull ds's and now have 2 dd's 9 and 6 wks who i will obviously bring up to be independent young women.
I think i will lurk around and mop up some of your journey from passivness.

You could post on here about how you brought up your boys Ledkr, some of us might have read a lot of theory but we are not so hot on practical tips

welcome!

Hello! I could have written than post a couple of months ago (except for the having a boy and a girl bit - I have four girls ).

There's no local group that near me, so I thought I'd set up one up try to learn more through discussion, but I had to cancel the first date and never set another one (yet!). Since then I've read on here, argued on FB with my brother, with support from here (which was very good practice), read books, read more on here, got involved in debates on here (which helps your argument). Then I went on a workshop in Bristol which I heard about through UKFeminista (great website) and 'liked' loads of good FB pages (having added some lovely MN fems to my FB friends list so I get lots of articles and links come up in my news feed, which I then pass on), and found out about the Million Women Rise March last weekend, and went on that, and organised a rather small, but fun, event for IWD for Women For Women International, and now I'm in the process of properly planning and arranging a new date for a first meeting of a new group in my town.

I'm not suggesting you need to do all that (I do get a bit obsessive about things when I'm interested in them!), but that might give you a few ideas of what you can do to learn more and feel like you're doing more. Reclaiming The F-Word has a good little bit at the end of each chapter with suggestions about what you can do about each issue.

Do stick you head above the parapet and post on here (you too, ledkr!) because the best way to learn is to get stuck in! I cannot believe how much I've learnt, and how dramatically my understanding has changed, since I started getting the bit between my teeth a couple of months ago.

Thank you for the ideas :) I just feel a bit overwhelmed and not sure where to start but I guess I do just need to get stuck in, like you say FlamingoBingo, and then work it out as I go.

As my homework for today I will check out Women For Women and UK Feminista and maybe have a good read of a few threads on this board.

I'm about 15 mins north of Brighton so imagine there is loads going on in Brighton, but would be nice to find something a bit more local, even though where I live doesn't strike me as the feminist heartland :)

Thanks for the welcome

Hello: I pop in and out too. I am a member of my local Fawcett group and can really recommend it. It's a great organisation, very welcming and inclusive and with great links to other feminist groups so that I can keep in touch with what's going on locally. It was great to celebrate IWD with them. For me it's just important to know that I'm not alone and that other people share my frustrations and aims. Good luck.

Link to women for women as I recall now there's another org with a very similar name.

Hi :)

I came on to post a new thread similar to this one, so hope you don't mind me tagging along here, Tortilla

I have become increasingly aware recently of my views on feminism (for example, I realised that I have my marital status on my CV, and that I go to some lengths to discuss my children and childcare arrangements in an interview situation ), and have been trying to challenge my own views and opinions. I have two sons (and a husband!) in whom I want to instil a genuine and deep-rooted respect for women, and a view that woman are entirely equal to men.

I'll start on the books the OP bought, and keep lurking here. Any book/article/website suggestions would be most welcome :)