About this blog: Feminist Activism will be a forum for discussion of all gender issues but the focus of discussion should always be “What can be done to overcome this particular inequality?” Dialogues surrounding socially constructed gender roles, feminisms, sexualities, identities and, in particular, strategic nonviolent activism, are highly encouraged.
There are some ground rules to consider: derogatory, disrespectful, and/or irrelevant comments will not be allowed. Feel free to disagree but please always do so in a constructive and educational manner. Any racist, sexist, ageist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic or otherwise bigoted comments will not be allowed and the author will be blocked from discussion. Question everything but do so in a thought-provoking way, not in a way that makes anyone react defensively. Please share any links, personal stories, research or relevant information you may have on a given topic. The purpose of this blog is to share, educate, learn, and figure out how to change the world.
About the author: Many words describe me but none more so than activist. I am dedicated to equality of all people and have a special focus on gender issues including reproductive justice, sexual violence, and strategic nonviolent action.
I have been a feminist my whole life. The first biographical report I was assigned was in 4th grade–I chose Susan B. Anthony. I co-founded the first Gay-Straight Alliance on the campus of Modesto High School.
In college I worked with the National Organization for Women at San Diego State University on their I Heart Consensual Sex and Love Your Body Day campaign and organized for California NOW their 2006 annual conference and the 2007 southwest regional Women of Color and Allies Conference. I also worked with VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at SDSU to plan the No on Prop 85 Rally against a parental notification of abortion initiative, and helped to organize Sex on the Lawn, a safe sex educational fair. My BA is in Women’s Studies, Spanish, and Linguistics. I lived and studied in Madrid, Spain for a semester during undergrad.
After graduating I worked for a year in an amazing gynecologist office and abortion clinic in Austin, Texas where I have worked for the past two years. I also have the privilege of working for Love Is Respect, a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and I couldn’t be happier there.
I went to graduate school in Costa Rica at the UN-mandated University for Peace and earned my MA in Gender and Peace Building. My thesis was titled “Combating the Isms with Activism: A Cross-cultural Study in Women’s Strategic Nonviolent Action in the United States.” At UPeace I fundraised for and acted in The Vagina Monologues, served as the co-chair of the Student Sexual Health Committee, and organized the Clothesline Project.
Currently I live in Austin, Texas with my wonderful feminist partner.
Feminist Activism 
March 22nd, 2017 at 07:02
Hi! My name is Jill Anderson. I am enjoying your blog. I too am an activist and feeling more dedicated to activism than EVER in the Era of Trump. I am making a documentary film and one segment of it is about Native American Boarding schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I noticed a fantastic historic photo on your blog of native kids and three nuns standing in front of a boarding school. What might be the chances that I could get ahold of a good quality scan of that photo? It would help me immeasurably to tell the story of the abuse and domination that occurred in those schools.
March 22nd, 2017 at 09:45
Hi Jill, I’d love to see your documentary once it’s completed! Unfortunately I do not have ownership of most of the images I use in my blog; they were all found through the wonders of the internet. If you click on the photo you may be able to trace where I found it that way, or you can paste it into Google and do a reverse image search to see what comes up. Good luck!
April 28th, 2016 at 08:37
Hi, I’m a journalism student writing an article on the rise in meninism and anti-feminist groups. If anyone here is familiar with this topic it would be great to get a feminist’s point of view.
March 16th, 2015 at 07:48
Hello! First of all, I love your site. I think your articles are great, and really necessary.
I’m writing to you because I also have a new website about feminism around the world. We think it is incredibly important to include everyone in the discussion of feminism, and advocate for equality amongst everyone, regardless of differences.
If you want to check out the site, it is http://www.femvocates.com.
If you would like to feature our site, that would be so fantastic, and so appreciated. Even a tweet or facebook shout-out would be so amazing. Maybe we can find a way to collaborate in the future.
Thank you so much,
Rebecca
http://www.femvocates.com
May 26th, 2013 at 14:38
Hi there. I’m Peying and a University student in the US! I’m currently writing a research paper about the online feminist movement. I believe you would be a great person to get some opinions from. If you have the time, I was wondering if you would be available to talk/answer questions pertaining to online feminism? If you can and/or want any more information, please e-mail me at research.onlinefem at gmail. Thank you!
May 21st, 2013 at 21:25
Hey Girl, I’m looking for strong women just like you to join forces and really make a difference. I too am from California and now presently live in Conroe TX. I’m looking for women who want to spread their voice beyond blogs and discussion but forward activism that doesn’t just still on url waiting for people to somehow find it. This is rare. I hope you are in.
August 29th, 2012 at 22:51
Hi, Feminist Activist!
I\’m helping to spread the word about a cool Kickstarter project that has a lot to do with feminism and thought you\’d be interested in posting about it. Some more info below:
A young African woman with dreams of becoming a teacher takes reading and writing lessons from a visiting American. But when the male village elders find out, she is sentenced to death for breaking from tradition.
“Yefon” is a film that continues in the proud tradition of socially conscious, Africa-based cinema like “Hotel Rwanda,” “Beat the Drum” and “Sarafina”—but unlike those movies, its producers will come from the ranks of generous Kickstarter supporters: http://kck.st/QA8sh3
It has already attracted the attention of Hollywood stars like Jimmy Jean-Louise (“Tears of the Sun” “Heroes”), Adriana Barraza (Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee, “Babel”) and Hakeem Kae-Kazim (“Hotel Rwanda”). The film is being co-produced by Justin Massion, the director of the Kickstarter campaign for “Space Command,” which brought in $75,000 in just three days, and ended with over $200,000.
“Yefon” is the brainchild of 22-year-old actress and filmmaker Sahndra Fon Dufe, who got her inspiration from too many similar, true stories from Africa. Broken-hearted by this sad reality, she and the production team have pledged to use a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the film, a companion documentary, books and related merchandise to build an all-girls school in Nso, the Cameroon village where “Yefon” is set.
There are less than 4 weeks left to reach the goal of $50,000, so we would be honored if you would post about it on Feminist Activist. Please let me know your thoughts, thanks for your consideration!
Zach Taiji
zach@socialradius.com
January 8th, 2012 at 01:16
I found your article from March 14, 2011 very interesting. My thesis concerns women’s issues in Samoa and I would like to know where you found the photo advertisement from 1900 used in your post. Thanks!
January 8th, 2012 at 11:10
Thank you! To be honest, I don’t know where I got it. I googled “women Samoa” and searched through a lot of photos before I found that one. I think it was in a slideshow with a lot of other photos of Samoan women. Best of luck to you!
March 18th, 2012 at 17:30
I’m a very mouthy pesorn myself. (Even as a little kid, people would complain to my mom every now and then that I was rude to them, though I suspect the standards of rude for me, a little girl, would have been different than for a boy my age ) I probably just gave them the attention I thought they deserved (little to none :p).My parents are careful to praise me for speaking up, too, and have been my whole life, which I am endlessly grateful for. Even in fights with them, after we cool off and make up, often one of them will mention that they are proud of me for taking a stand and arguing what I think is right, even if they disagree or don’t enjoy it (or if I do it maybe not-so-considerately). My dad is very assertive ( um, sometimes aggressive) like me, but my mom was very much trained as a child to default to polite and quiet, and act nice even if the other pesorn’s behavior was rude or abusive. Luckily, she has used her experience with that crappy upbringing as a prompt to ensure that her daughters never feel obligated to endure in silence, or shut up in the face of opposition. She’s my biggest supporter in the tell em off! situations.
December 7th, 2011 at 00:38
Hello Feminist Activist !
I am glad to read the articles written by men on women’s issues. Are you friends with http://radicalprofeminist.blogspot.com/ ?
I was wondering if there were specific references regarding men and feminism ?
Thank you for your amazing work
Céline B. La Terreur
info@laterreur.com
http://www.laterreur.com
April 19th, 2011 at 03:00
Hi! I am so excited to find your blog and to learn where you are. And – I hope you will be interested enough in me to respond. I am not an activist. That said, I am a passionate person and much of that passion is focused on evoking and nurturing women’s leadership.
I know in my heart and gut that the future of the world depends on women, that we must make ways for women to lead and that as women we must step into our leadership to do whatever is ours to do. To that end I launched a web site last August – my major intent is to help women see themselves as leaders – through sharing stories of women who are leading.
SO, I plan to be in Turkey in October – and I would love to talk with you. I would love a face-to-face opportunity to hear some of your stories, to learn your perspective of what women in Turkey are experiencing and thinking.
I often convene what I call Conversation Circles in cities I visit – a few women who come together to talk about “What is the Role of Women in Global Leadership?” “What is the Role of Women in the World?” If that appeals to you at all I’d welcome suggestions of persons who might be interested in such a conversation. But that is secondary. I’d really like a conversation with you.
Hope to have a response from you,
Barbara
February 16th, 2011 at 15:42
I really hope that this project/page will remain active after March since it’s going to be a lively discussion over here 🙂 keep it up sista!
March 18th, 2012 at 02:33
well, yes, that is a definition that I sucbbrise to since it talks about equality in general rather than the idea that feminists should be out to “restore the balance” in some way or another.extremism is always going to happen though, to simply behave equitably to all people will often not be enough for some.the reasons behind it are manifold, including, but not limited to, the desire to “right wrongs”, appear to be completely on side with the group, simple zealotry or because that kind of attitude was how they were introduced to the concept of “feminism” (although all of this applies to pretty much any group, see religion)basically, people are not always great, and you can find yourself holding the same beliefs as some people whilst their way of expressing it leaves you sad and shaking your head.on the subject of that definition, although I like it, it is somewhat dated and might well do with changing to “all sexes” to be truly equitable.then again, I’m a sucker for equality. – wiggly