Feminist Vacation Part 3: Conversations

Erin Fenner

At the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. March 11 through 12, I spoke to feminists from across the country. I wanted to capture their voices and ideas. I used a recorder and a few questions as an attempt to grasp the attitudes of the different people I met.

For more information about some of the people I spoke to:

Christina Black’s blog, fem2.0 can be found at http://www.fem2pt0.com/.

Paul Seltzer and E.V. Ellington from George Washington University started the Second Sex Column, that you can find here: http://thesecondsexcolumn.wordpress.com/.

You can find more information about the Women’s Ordination Conference at http://www.womensordination.org/.

Kimberlyn Acevedo mentioned Hollaback! as a source for her senior thesis. You can find more about Hollaback! at http://www.ihollaback.org/.

Angie Young is a filmmaker who made the film: The Coathanger Project.

Feminist Vacation Part 2: Tell Me What a Feminist Looks Like!

Erin Fenner

Erin Fenner, Jackie Reynolds (co-chairs of Feminist Alliance at UI) and Mary Walsh from the University of Southern California

“This is what a feminist looks like” buttons and t-shirts made the participants of the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference easily identifiable.

“A revolution is never permanent unless you make it so,” Congresswoman for the District of Columbia Eleanor Holmes Norton said.

She was the first speaker at the conference, and called on young feminists to take their turn and hold the ground that earlier feminists fought for.

“You come to Washington at a defining moment for women,” Norton said, “The new majority (in the House of Representatives) has not merely focused on those of us who protect and promote feminist policies…they have aimed their attack…on every American woman.”

Feminist Vacation Part 1: In Transit

Either a positive reaction to the metro, or hitchhiking

Erin Fenner

Jackie Reynolds and I got on our first plane at seven in the morning on Friday. We had been planning for our trip to the National Young Feminist Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation since November.

We are co-chairs at the UI Feminist Alliance, and wanted to take part in a conference that would give us a taste of national feminism. We wanted to hear other voices, and bring these voices back to UI’s campus.

On our first plane of the day-long-journey to D.C. I sat next to three seven-year-olds. Yes, there were only two seats for them, but one girl squished in the middle so they could all watch Veggie Tales on a portable DVD player. The blonde girl was most sociable and asked me questions as the plane prepared to land in Minneapolis.

“We’re going to Wisconsin. Where are you going?” she asked.

“Washington D.C.,”

“What for?”

“I’m going to save the world. I’m a superhero,” I said.

Now, the girls were just old enough to not believe me, but young enough to want to believe – or at least to be the ones who could prove me false.