In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Mid-week intro!

Nona

Soooo I’m a little late to the game this week. But I’m here and very excited to guest-blog for Feministe.

My name is Nona Willis Aronowitz. I just turned 26. I’m the author of Girldrive, a book based on a road trip my friend Emma and I took across the country to find out what young women think about feminism. I just finished up my last day at the Chicago Tribune, but I’ve also blogged and freelanced for places like Feministe, The Nation, Slate, The Frisky, and Firedoglake. I also have a weekly radio show called Feminist Wednesday on Chicago Public Radio’s Vocalo. Writing-wise, I have two feminist loves: sex and pop culture. But I get riled up about a variety of political and cultural issues.

I’m white, Jewish, middle class, straightish, and a New Yorker. I was raised atheist and kinda socialist—a baby of two semi-famous red diaper babies. I voted for Obama, in a hopeful moment, and even shed a tear or two in Grant Park. But my heart lies with radicals, and nothing gets me more pissed off than how much our country’s left keeps getting nudged to the center.

In other words, I’m the on-paper definition of a feminist stereotype, at least in the media’s imagination. But my interests lie in flouting these stereotypes, in creating and participating in a more inclusive convo where every type of person—young, historically marginalized, religious and/or conservative—has a say in what feminism should mean and what kind of power it has. Girldrive made me a “feminist populist”; in the moments after talking about gender issues with a 19-year-old bible college student or a Cheyenne-Arikara, Fargo activist, I’d realize how narrow my previous definition had been.* Also, I’d never use the phrase, “S/he’s a feminist but s/he doesn’t know it.” Maybe I’ll expand that more in a different post.

A personal note: y’all are getting me at quite an interesting time. I’m all of a sudden back in New York after a 3-year-long stint in Chicago, without a job or a plan. I’m at a crossroads personally, professionally, feministically—which often makes for some juicy blogging, which in turn works out for you!

Oh, and comment moderation: it’s simple…no personal attacks or derailments. Pretty much everything else is fair game. Thanks to Feministe for having me, and looking forward to the next two weeks!

*Although I don’t think that anyone can be a feminist, just because they decide to call themselves one. The Sarah-Palin-as-a-feminist debate has made that crystal clear.

13 thoughts on Mid-week intro!

  1. Welcome!

    Rest assured, no mushy centrist am I. I am an unapologetic socialist, but I’d never wish to be called a radical. Radical to me connotes people who use drastic measures that only make situations worse. I feel the same way about reactionaries. I’ve had bad experiences with people on both extremes, and while I wear my leftist credentials on my sleeve, I seek to build community with everyone, regardless of political convictions.

  5. @ComeradeKevin–excuse me for quibbling with my very first commenter, but I think the characterization of radicals as “making things worse” is incredibly depressing. 99% of the change in the world has been incited by radical thinkers. Just take the example of feminism! Radical feminists were the one to put these issues on a national stage by holding protests and consciousness-raising sessions–way before NOW and Ms. Magazine. Without radicals, the world would move at even more of a snail’s pace than it already does.

  7. Great point Nona- a radical Muslim used to mean one who was liberal and questioned aspects of the Koran- now it’s come to mean a hard core right wing literalist.

  8. I have your mother’s book “Decade of Denial” on my nightstand where it is currently sharing before bed reading with Bettina Aptheker’s “Tapestries of Life”.

    I’ll watch for your writings.

  9. In other words, I’m the on-paper definition of a feminist stereotype, at least in the media’s imagination. But my interests lie in flouting these stereotypes, in creating and participating in a more inclusive convo where every type of person—young, historically marginalized, religious and/or conservative—has a say in what feminism should mean and what kind of power it has. Girldrive made me a “feminist populist”; in the moments after talking about gender issues with a 19-year-old bible college student or a Cheyenne-Arikara, Fargo activist, I’d realize how narrow my previous definition had been.*

    ***

    *Although I don’t think that anyone can be a feminist, just because they decide to call themselves one. The Sarah-Palin-as-a-feminist debate has made that crystal clear.

    I hope you’ll say something more about the tension between those two views. On the one hand, you want feminism to be open to everyone’s perspective of what feminism is, but on the other hand you want to be able to police feminism and deny the feminist label to people who aren’t “real” feminists. How do you propose to draw that line?

  10. @a lawyer — I might indeed address this in a later post, but for now I’ll say this: I’m interested in building on feminism, not erasing its history. I’m looking for a nuanced and more inclusive conversation. But actively working on policy and legislation that roll back women’s rights, and putting forth distortions and lies about contemporary feminism, is IMO fundamentally unfeminist and goes beyond redefining the word for another generation. That said, I do think that religious and/or conservative women–who often have conflicting feelings about how their life and beliefs can fit into gender activism–have been wrongly left out of the conversation.

  11. @Nona I don’t agree! But Palin presumably doesn’t believe that she’s rolling back women’s rights, so you have to advance some conception of what counts as the “fundamentals” of feminism that exclude you from the category if you disagree with them. Sarah Palin’s an easy case, but is Christina Hoff Summers, who calls herself an “equity feminist” who opposes “gender feminism,” in the club? NOW seems to have no interest in transgendered women; does that put them out of the club? You need to have some idea of where the line is, and I’m hoping you’ll say more about it.

  13. hi, Nona…i definitely share your frustration with the Democrats and “lesser of two evilism” in general. i too voted for Obama hoping that he would be better than most Dems and, as was the case with B. Clinton, i am once again disappointed. i swear it will be nothing but Greens and Socialists for me from now on, hopefully i can keep that promise in spite of all the people who will whine about me “wasting my vote” or “helping to get Republicans elected.”

    i have chosen the last name Goldman for myself in homage to who else but Emma Goldman, who was not only WAY ahead of her own time but is STILL ahead of the current time, decades after she passed away. i hope that someday the world will catch up to Emma’s vision, as well as what John Lennon “Imagined” in his most famous song.

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