It was 364 days ago that Feminisms began. I had the honor of writing the first Feminisms diary, and now I have the honor of writing the diary for the one-year anniversary of this series.
It really began in the spring of 2006. There was a different feminism series around then, and I had gleefully participated in it from its earliest stages. But as I - and many others - quickly found out, it wasn't so much about feminism as it was about dictatorship for the person who created it. (For those who don't know, I don't feel a need to link to the diaries or name the person since that person later crossed the line into trolling and was banned.) I was told that I wasn't welcome there. My great offense? Saying that my embrace of feminism originated in my belief in humanism. Apparently, believing that all humans should have equal opportunities was blasphemy, even though that very belief coupled with the fact that women have further to go led me to feminism in the first place. The creator of the other series was too busy being angry at me for not believing exactly as she did to find out that my feminism was a recognition that women are generally lower on the totem pole and that I consider it imperative to improve women's lot in order to improve everyone's, that I believe "women's issues" are an integral part of all the issues that progressives fight for, so that fighting for women's rights also meant fighting for workers' rights, non-whites' rights, GLBT rights, improving the environment, etc. The fact that sexism hurts all people (or just admitting that you were male, or questioning the diarists' viewpoint) were taboo in the other series, and would get one berated off the thread.
As you can imagine, more and more people were alienated from the series and by late summer, Elise, MissLaura, and I had decided it was time to start our own series.
I think we've done a really good job in the past year. We've had lots of guest diarists with lots of different ideas, and most disagreements have remained fairly civil. I think we've managed to make a lot of different people feel comfortable here, including those who were treated with immediate hostility in the other thread. I'd like to think that we've managed to carve out a little space where women feel comfortable talking to each other and telling our stories, yet still including everyone who doesn't traditionally qualify as a woman. At the same time, the discussions we have here are always interesting, with so many different viewpoints brought together. I am challenged almost every week, I learn something almost every week, and I feel like I've grown into a better person because of this series; I just hope that I'm not the only one who feels that way! Feminisms diaries feel, to me, more like a conversation with those who comment than most other diaries, which I love. And while I'm not sure if we can take all the credit for it, it seems like feminist issues have gotten a lot more attention in the year since we started Feminisms. Though perhaps it's just that I've been so much more inspired to search out those kinds of diaries in the last year....
Now it's hard to believe that it's only been a year! And what an incredible year, engaging in a series that has made me so many new friends and taught me so many new things about life. Someone said to me recently that this is a tough crowd and all I could think was that, yes, it is a tough crowd, but that's what makes it so amazing. I wouldn't want it any other way! We have our fair share of fights and trolls but I always feel like I'm amongst friends here, and I always know that someone will have my back if I need it. And for a girl who's never had a lot of female friends, that's really special to me.
Which leads me to the big question that none of us has ever really asked each other and the part of this series that I really love, everyone else's contributions: What is your definition of feminism? What do you think its purpose is, and where does your belief in it come from? Who is included in it and who is excluded? And what do you think of Feminisms?