Summer School for Feminist Fighters! Aug. 8 - San Francisco

Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009
Time: 10:30am - 5:00pm
Location: New Valencia Hall
Street: 625 Larkin St, Suite 202
City/Town: San Francisco, CA

Come and hone your political skills and instincts, while benefiting the National Radical Women Fund Drive! Join a group of feisty rebels for a day of learning through presentations and hands-on activities on the following topics:

Morning sessions, beginning at 10:30am :

* How to Fight Fascism
* Understanding Gender

Afternoon sessions, beginning at 2:00pm :

* Writing to Make a Political Point
* Creating Art to Create Revolution

The workshops will take place at New Valencia Hall, 625 Larkin Street #202 , in San Francisco (near Civic Center BART, and on/near Muni lines #19, 31, 38, 47 & 49). All day registration is $20; single session only $12. Lunch will be available for a $5 donation. All proceeds go towards the National Radical Women Fund Drive.

To register, or for more information, please call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net.

Radical Women is a socialist feminist, grassroots activist organization that provides a radical voice within the feminist movement, a feminist voice within the Left, and trains women to be leaders in the movements for social and economic justice. It has branches in numerous United States cities; and Melbourne, Australia.
______________________________________________

Sadly, I must admit that when I first saw this event on facebook, I was a little skeptical, because unfortunately, I have learned that the term "radical feminist" sometimes means that the feminist does not support trans rights, which in my opinion, really disqualifies the person from being a true feminist, as feminism should value the worth of all equally. So, I checked their website and I am proud to say that they seem to be very supportive, with an article entitled, "Stonewall was a Riot-Now We Need a Revolution," which I read and fully support. My only quibble is that they have a seminar called, "Understanding Gender," when I don't think anyone can truly understand gender, but I do tend to sometimes get hung up up semantics. So, if you are in the area, go! I wish I could, but I suspect I'll be stuck selling appliances as usual...

And in case y'all are too lazy to peruse their homepage, here is their mission statement:


A trailblazing socialist feminist organization, Radical Women is the revolutionary wing of the women's movement and a strong feminist voice within the Left. Immersed in the daily fight against racism, sexism, homophobia, and labor exploitation, Radical Women views women's leadership as decisive to world revolution and trains women to take their place in the forefront of the struggle. RW is an autonomous, all-women's group, affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party on the basis of mutual respect, solidarity, and shared socialist feminist ideals.

Get involved if you want to change the world and collaborate with a feisty bunch of rebel grrlz of all colors, sexualities and ages. Everyone has something to learn, teach and contribute!

How a Radical Feminist Can Still Have an Eating Disorder

This is an older posting from my other blog, Hope is Real!

I am hesitant to write about this, but I feel I must, so here goes:

A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in the hall near my therapist’s office writing out her check and I see her out of the corner of my eye help her next client step onto a scale. All at once, I am consumed with envy! And then shame. How can I claim to be a radical feminist and yet want to be sick? And it’s true. The woman on the scale was crying and I was and am still insanely jealous.

My therapist last week also asked me why I wanted to be sick. That evening, right before my writing group, as I was convincing myself to eat a turkey and cheese sub at Savage Pizza, I wrote out my thoughts on the pad of paper that I carry with me wherever I go. This is what I wrote:

“I feel the need to accomplish something great and that is how I, a radical feminist, can fall victim to an eating disorder-somehow-and I do credit society with this-I have internalized the message that to be superskinny-to be thin to the point of death-is a great and wonderful accomplishment. And I fully blame society for this. When “The biggest loser is a big hit on TV, when Jessica Simpson is labeled fat, when Jessica Alba is lauded for working out so hard to get back to her pre-pregnant weight that she cries, when subsisting on a liquid diet that includes maple syrup and cayenne pepper is deemed a healthy and acceptable way to lose weight (Beyonce), then I have every right to be angry and to blame society for murdering the souls and bodies of people in this land. I grew up watching and idolizing TV and by, I believe, simply growing up in this country with the added bonus of having the mental illness called schizoaffective disorder wired into my brain, it is no wonder that I struggle with an eating disorder. In fact, I believe it is much more miraculous to be doing as well as I am!”

Perhaps I should have said, “media,” instead of society, but I’m not going to change a single word of what I wrote in that moment. Of course, there is more to it than the media. Eating disorders are strongly linked with obsessive compulsive disorder and with family relationships, but I sometimes wonder how my OCD would manifest itself if it wasn’t spent obsessing about food and weight and looks.

2008 was a rough year-I feel like a victim of a war between the gods struggling to cope with the aftermath. I relapsed in my eating disorder and had to be hospitalized; I moved in with a friend, only to realize that she too was unstable and so lived in my car for two weeks; I was sexually harassed by a psychiatrist and by several customers at the store where I worked; all leading me to the conclusion that I could not, at least for now, finish my education to fulfill my dream job of being a music therapist, but must instead leave the negativity that seems to reside in the lovely little town of Milledgeville and move back home.

But I can write and embroider and college and play piano and attend writing groups and get involved with NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness-America’s largest grassroots mental illness advocacy group). And be honest!-which is what radical feminism to me is all about! I no longer care about much about discussing fancy theories, but in telling my truth. My personal is very political! Georgia’s public mental health care sucks and that’s putting it nicely! The insurance from the college I just came from, Georgia College and State University, would not pay for my reviving had I tried to commit suicide! And I tell you, when I first read that statement in my insurance policy, I finally knew what it felt to feel inhuman-that according to law, a person with mental illness (for those who commit suicide do suffer from an illness) is better off dead. As I write this, I feel fury gather in my veins, and I tell you feminists-it is time you include the women and men who live with mental illness-that skinny woman crying on the scale may be your embarrassment, but she is still a woman!

(BTW, this post was also cross-posted on one of my favorite blogs in February, Womanist Musings!)