Thanking my feminist sisters

[JeanneDeMontbaston]

Excuse the 1970s title, but I do want to say thanks.

I get the feeling FWR is a bit under a cloud at the moment, but I've had so much good advice and support here, and I don't remember to say thanks often enough. I was chatting to some RL friends today and realising that I have a lot of affection for proper, old style feminism where we do use terms like 'women's liberation' and 'patriarchy' and, yes, sisterhood. And there aren't so very much places you can talk about feminism the way we can here.

So, thank you very much, sisters.

Why would I get deleted? I'm just trying to discuss whether we should be using fist bumps.

If no one said feminine, why are you trying to make a point about it?

Mostly lurk, occasionally post. For me as an old time second-wave (actually pre-second wave) feminist I've found the way the battleground has shifted fascinating

Ditto, grimbletart Although I do think that the same old battles are still there.

I do believe we were conned into 'post-feminism' and all the queer theory stuff of post-modernism (I have found it, er- 'interesting' that in politics and the ideological battles queer/gay men and feminists have very very little in common, and sometimes gay men are v v misogynist, but that straight women will still go in to fight battles for gay men. Rarely the reverse ... )

The young women I teach are still having to deal with overt bog-standard sexism (groping, harassment, verbal assault etc etc etc etc). BUt they now lack the structural analysis to help them see it's a cultural working out of ideology, not them just being "wrong" in some way. I've been going back to teaching 70s feminism/women's lib. They need that first before the po-mo stuff, IMO (never humble on this topic).

I say we bump vaginas

But it's an internal organ I always thought

Labial high five

The mind boggles

Since I been lurking on this board I feel like I've done that degree in Women's Studies that I didn't have the confidence to do 30 years ago. It's brilliant. Thanks everyone

You have five labias? That's even better than the two vaginas on the other thread. Not sure whether to be jealous. Does it make it difficult to walk?

I love the FWR board.

I've learnt a lot by reading, don't always get involved in conversations as some are a bit 'high brow' for me and I don't understand them

I haven't ever found the posters on this board to be aggressive.

to you all.

I lurk a lot on this board and post rarely. It's reawakened my feminism, which had fallen by the wayside when my DC were younger. It makes me think, and read, and try to reach some conclusions.

PS I have never seen fists as inherently masculine having used my own when cornered at school

everybody has fists

am not sure why the hmm face

Koala, no danger of highbrow on a thread where we are counting our labia!!!

Four, I think? Two lots of two!

yes, this isn't one of the threads where I feel out of my depth Yonic!

Wrenching this back to jeanne's wonderful starting point: I've been so so lucky in my life to have had some excellent female mentors (and one or two male mentors). From my female academic "mothers" I've learnt so much about how to navigate a very male-dominated profession (academia) and still stay true to myself. Or rather, to work out what my "self" is in any given situation (we all have many faces, selves etc etc).

Coming from the late 70s women's lib end of feminism (2nd wave), I still think that there are advantages to being socialised as female/feminine, and I try to be a professional & a woman, rather than try to be like the men/masculinity.

Oh dear does that make sense? I've been marking all day and now

Yes it makes sense UpThe

Sorry, I've been out for family-related things, but thanks so much for carrying on this thread. Especially in spite of the trolling.

I agree with upthe about the importance of female mentors - I guess it is about having a feminist tradition?

I feel as if I found a lot of that on here. And I agree 100% that I think we have something special, of value, that comes of not being socialised masculine.

I also love feeling that there is a supportive, collaborative aspect to feminism that really gives women (or me, anyway! ) space to grow into themselves.

I do see feminism as a journey so I'm glad to see so many have made that journey in this space.

Yy Athena.