but how do we get the monkeys to wear pants?
i left my phone at work on accident saturday so, among other implications, it garanteed a quiet, recovery sunday (which i was in desperate need of). lets just say i slept in til 2 and ate breakfast at 3. haven't had one of those days in a while!
i actually, accidentally, hung out with my damn mom at the end of the day. she even left a note on the counter - 'dear ashley, yesterday was fun' blah blah kind of stuff. sick, i know. we ended the night drinking our respective vices (she her beer and me my coffee) while watching this fucking FUCKEDUPcrazyAZHELL christian right documentary totally blasting feminism/glbt/...commonsense - it was fucking cracking me up. i used to absolutely hate reading/listening to disagreeing opinions but i've been trying to remedy that inability. point of the matter is, i got some great quotes which includes, but is not limited to, "inserts tube to vaccume out baby's brain" (ah, rhetoric!) and (trying to debunk a supreme courtee) 'wants to eradicate the roles of husband as bread-winner and wife as home-maker' yeah. they went there. best part? at the end the credits declared that the whole flippin documentary was DEDICATED to the loving memory of Ronald Reagan. i was screaming i was laughing so hard. i mean... mom was kinda worried and didn't know how to take the reaction but i was estatic.
as i've gotten older i have become more and more rooted in my pro-choice stance and that film pushed the roots even further. STOP THE GENOCIDE! I WOUDLN'T HAVE BEEN BORN IF I HAD BEEN ABORTED! STOP THE GENOCIDE!!! genocide? "fuck off." has become my more common response but i think i'm ready to start talking, legitmately talking, about the subject again. for a while there i was so burned out - i feel the heat comin back! KYEO MOTHERFUCKERS! and such. i hope justice for all comes back soon, that's how rooted i am right now.
speaking of activism, yesterday i read
Grassroots
by amy richards
and jennifer baumgardner
i have mixed feelings about this book. (and manifesta too, actually, but that's a different converstaion for another time) however, thanks to my good pals erin pj and brit stupidhead*, i was able to apply my dissent to formulate a more rounded opinion. (instead of throwing a tantrum, writing a rant, and taking nothing from the book. and there was A LOT to take from this book so good job me)
i had my review of this book worked out really well in my head, the problem has alwasy been transfering the thoughts onto something more tangible. (if you find it approprite to touch the monitor at any part in this monologue, please do so!)
on the whole i'm going to say that i am very grateful for reading Grassroots. however, i also feel the need to express that i think this book failed - simply by the sentiment that i took away being that i would, with out a doubt, give this book to my little sister (soon to be high-school freshman) but not my mother(non-college educated mother of four). a main goal of this book was to convince everybody (meaning every body) that being an activist was a.)accessible to all and b.)easy to do. instead, what i took away from this book was a feeling of alienation. no where in the book did i ever recieve the impression that a non-college educated person could be an activist. even in the subchapter 'life outside the college bubble' negated any chance of someone, oh say... me, of producing impact. when i read the title i cracked a joke, "ah yes, for us poor, uneducated folk" but to my dismay the joke stopped being funny. the context was not about 24 year old high-school drop outs joining local 'plant trees not bombs' groups but instead encouraging college students to give food/clothes/books to the homeless. which, obviously is very necessary and very good but WHAT THE FUCK? was my reaction. i was really disheartened. the best job i can do is to equate this sentiment to the same as 'we proper well-to-do's are going to visit you poor, uneducated, heathen nations and teach you how to take care of yourselves.' not going to happen. assimlation is not needed, funds and muscle power to build irrigation ditches are. burkas are not what's oppressing so many women but the conditions of the government are - see what i'm trying to get at?
of course, i have extreme guilt concerning this particular critique for a very obvious reason, but i still hold on to my opinion. my activism is worked out through a college organization. we've maintained that fmla is a community based group that anybody can join however, i get it. i'm the only one not in college. the things i have done were made possible through college, even if i myself have not had the privilege to walk through those unt class room doors.
secondly, i feel like they prioritize and then criticize various forms of ativism in regards to how they live out their lives. for instance boycotting, one of the most effective forms of protest/activism that i have encountered, is barely touched on. but if trying to make activism a part of your every day life is your goal, every time you reach for a pepsi (or ...hippie juice/blus sky/etc.) instead of a coca cola product you're actively saying no to a terrible problem. radicalism was downplayed if not outright written out against. i have a feelign this slant was infused to make activism seem more acceptable so i'm trying to overlook it, but come on! it just doesn't agree with me.
i know this is not what the book was trying to get across; i know they made an honest effort. but this was my perspective and it too is valid. i also register that they themselves are great activist and so much of our third wave has been helped along by the two of them. i unfortunately find myself slipping into critique mode instead of celebratory too often. they had some really great sources in their book and i am super stoked about using one of their organizations, soapbox, to try to get a legit feminist speaker to our community!
three orgs really caught my eye while reading the book. each made me think of a different friend/s.
for someone who's not sorry (right the fuck on) http://www.imnotsorry.net
for a fellow ladyactivist who wants to start up a college/community based self defense class http://www.safercampus.org/
and then soapbox for fmla. first year i joined fmla we hosted the southern states' women/human rights conference. i'd at least like to have a pretty badass speaker come to town for my co-prezidentin'.
*erin reinforcing the idea of it not only being normal to take issues with certain aspects of people's opinions expressed through whichever forms but that it was infact good and brit's calming way of helping me get around walls i run into that i mentioned awhile ago. thanks compadres!
word up, i'm out
i actually, accidentally, hung out with my damn mom at the end of the day. she even left a note on the counter - 'dear ashley, yesterday was fun' blah blah kind of stuff. sick, i know. we ended the night drinking our respective vices (she her beer and me my coffee) while watching this fucking FUCKEDUPcrazyAZHELL christian right documentary totally blasting feminism/glbt/...commonsense - it was fucking cracking me up. i used to absolutely hate reading/listening to disagreeing opinions but i've been trying to remedy that inability. point of the matter is, i got some great quotes which includes, but is not limited to, "inserts tube to vaccume out baby's brain" (ah, rhetoric!) and (trying to debunk a supreme courtee) 'wants to eradicate the roles of husband as bread-winner and wife as home-maker' yeah. they went there. best part? at the end the credits declared that the whole flippin documentary was DEDICATED to the loving memory of Ronald Reagan. i was screaming i was laughing so hard. i mean... mom was kinda worried and didn't know how to take the reaction but i was estatic.
as i've gotten older i have become more and more rooted in my pro-choice stance and that film pushed the roots even further. STOP THE GENOCIDE! I WOUDLN'T HAVE BEEN BORN IF I HAD BEEN ABORTED! STOP THE GENOCIDE!!! genocide? "fuck off." has become my more common response but i think i'm ready to start talking, legitmately talking, about the subject again. for a while there i was so burned out - i feel the heat comin back! KYEO MOTHERFUCKERS! and such. i hope justice for all comes back soon, that's how rooted i am right now.
speaking of activism, yesterday i read
Grassroots
by amy richards
and jennifer baumgardner
i have mixed feelings about this book. (and manifesta too, actually, but that's a different converstaion for another time) however, thanks to my good pals erin pj and brit stupidhead*, i was able to apply my dissent to formulate a more rounded opinion. (instead of throwing a tantrum, writing a rant, and taking nothing from the book. and there was A LOT to take from this book so good job me)
i had my review of this book worked out really well in my head, the problem has alwasy been transfering the thoughts onto something more tangible. (if you find it approprite to touch the monitor at any part in this monologue, please do so!)
on the whole i'm going to say that i am very grateful for reading Grassroots. however, i also feel the need to express that i think this book failed - simply by the sentiment that i took away being that i would, with out a doubt, give this book to my little sister (soon to be high-school freshman) but not my mother(non-college educated mother of four). a main goal of this book was to convince everybody (meaning every body) that being an activist was a.)accessible to all and b.)easy to do. instead, what i took away from this book was a feeling of alienation. no where in the book did i ever recieve the impression that a non-college educated person could be an activist. even in the subchapter 'life outside the college bubble' negated any chance of someone, oh say... me, of producing impact. when i read the title i cracked a joke, "ah yes, for us poor, uneducated folk" but to my dismay the joke stopped being funny. the context was not about 24 year old high-school drop outs joining local 'plant trees not bombs' groups but instead encouraging college students to give food/clothes/books to the homeless. which, obviously is very necessary and very good but WHAT THE FUCK? was my reaction. i was really disheartened. the best job i can do is to equate this sentiment to the same as 'we proper well-to-do's are going to visit you poor, uneducated, heathen nations and teach you how to take care of yourselves.' not going to happen. assimlation is not needed, funds and muscle power to build irrigation ditches are. burkas are not what's oppressing so many women but the conditions of the government are - see what i'm trying to get at?
of course, i have extreme guilt concerning this particular critique for a very obvious reason, but i still hold on to my opinion. my activism is worked out through a college organization. we've maintained that fmla is a community based group that anybody can join however, i get it. i'm the only one not in college. the things i have done were made possible through college, even if i myself have not had the privilege to walk through those unt class room doors.
secondly, i feel like they prioritize and then criticize various forms of ativism in regards to how they live out their lives. for instance boycotting, one of the most effective forms of protest/activism that i have encountered, is barely touched on. but if trying to make activism a part of your every day life is your goal, every time you reach for a pepsi (or ...hippie juice/blus sky/etc.) instead of a coca cola product you're actively saying no to a terrible problem. radicalism was downplayed if not outright written out against. i have a feelign this slant was infused to make activism seem more acceptable so i'm trying to overlook it, but come on! it just doesn't agree with me.
i know this is not what the book was trying to get across; i know they made an honest effort. but this was my perspective and it too is valid. i also register that they themselves are great activist and so much of our third wave has been helped along by the two of them. i unfortunately find myself slipping into critique mode instead of celebratory too often. they had some really great sources in their book and i am super stoked about using one of their organizations, soapbox, to try to get a legit feminist speaker to our community!
three orgs really caught my eye while reading the book. each made me think of a different friend/s.
for someone who's not sorry (right the fuck on) http://www.imnotsorry.net
for a fellow ladyactivist who wants to start up a college/community based self defense class http://www.safercampus.org/
and then soapbox for fmla. first year i joined fmla we hosted the southern states' women/human rights conference. i'd at least like to have a pretty badass speaker come to town for my co-prezidentin'.
*erin reinforcing the idea of it not only being normal to take issues with certain aspects of people's opinions expressed through whichever forms but that it was infact good and brit's calming way of helping me get around walls i run into that i mentioned awhile ago. thanks compadres!
word up, i'm out