National Organization for Women: National Conference of 2011

     On the downside, the constant deluge prevented us from leaving the hotel for any great length of time, so Sunny Florida might as well have been the rainy five boroughs we left behind. It was just as well, since the 2011 National Conference for NOW was the kind of thing from which it was difficult to disengage.
     Attending the conference last weekend, to say nothing of presenting therein, was an incredible honor, if only to breathe the same air as the countless movers and shakers who have worked so hard to bring gender equality to fruition.
     I took part in two separate panels in the course of my time there.
     The first was part of the Young Feminist Task Force panel. I spoke on the subject of male feminism, and how to recruit men in the struggle for women's rights. Other panelists, including the monumentally inspiring Erin Matson, Action Vice-President of NOW, addressed means of bridging the generational gap between feminists - how to foster mentor/mentee relationships and make the feminist movement a truly ageless machine.
     My other panel also addressed the subject of male feminism, this time in the company of two other men whose commitment to achieving gender equality lent much to admire.
     My presentation began by focusing on my own story of becoming a feminist - what worked for me, what held me back - and then, echoing my focus on the previous panel, how to recruit other men to the cause.
      I was followed by Ben Atherton-Zeman, author of Voices of Men, a one-person play that offers incredibly moving portraits of men and boys making stands against sexism and violence against women. Ben spoke on the stumbling blocks that can arise once men join the movement, including but by no means limited to their tendency to act in a domineering capacity toward fellow female activists.
    Our panel wrapped up with Ken Gruberman, a music copyist, librarian, contractor, orchestrator, score  supervisor, researcher, and six-time winner of the Grammy Award, who in typically humble fashion discussed none of his own accomplishments, but spoke instead to his experience of "living with a powerful woman" - his wife, Ellen Snortland, an astonishing artist and activist in her own right. Ken's presentation also included recordings from his exclusive interview with Dr. Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade, who endorsed the need for all genders to participate in the struggle for equality.      
     Long story short, I felt great about the presentation, and working with Ben and Ken was as much of an honor as any I experienced in the course of the conference.
    Jerin moderated my panel with Ben and Ken. She was also involved with two other workshops, one on the intersection of feminism and the immigrant woman's experience, and the other looking at feminism in the context of Islam.
    As Jerin has frequently brought to my attention, I speak from a certain bias where she's concerned. Nonetheless, I have no reservation saying she was outstanding on both panels, particularly the latter, which attracted a number of people whose attitudes toward Islam were, to put it gently, less than enlightened.
    Those who arrived with an inflexible mindset left with an inflexible mindset, but from my vantage point at the video camera, clumsily trying to capture the discussion on tape, I could see many an attendee who were simply misinformed, whose faces slowly shifted from criticism to curiosity as Jerin and the other panelists discussed the Qur'an's strong declaration of equality between men and women, and the role that women have played through the development of the faith. It was a beautiful thing to see.
     Participating as we did in a total of four different discussions, we had limited opportunities to partake in the rest of the conference, but we made sure to attend the closing plenary. Its speakers included Maya Rockymoore, President and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, who made the outrageously cool suggestion that someone wrap the Capitol Building in saran wrap with the label "misogynists work here." Maya was followed by Patricia Shroeder, a former member of Congress and a lifelong activist, who said, "You know your dreams are big enough when they scare you. They have to scare you." As a testament to the thoroughness with which gender norms have saturated my thinking, I'm halfway embarrassed to admit that the line brought me to tears.
     To round out the experience, and to raise the bar on just how many honors a single weekend can contain, Jerin and I closed out the night by sharing dinner with Sonia Fuentes, one of the founding members of NOW, who was gracious enough to give us her time.
     Alongside her incredible strength of character and her immense capacity for story-telling, I was most struck by her willingness to listen, and her openness to new ideas.
     More and more, I feel as if it's the world's most unsung virtue.

DSK & the credibility factor: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

     News sources have erupted across the world with the purportedly devastating revelation that Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged victim lied on her asylum application and thus, by implication, could have lied about the assault. Coupled with her potential connection to criminal activity, this detail has, as the headlines would have it, led to a sea-change in public perception of the case.
     Never mind that other women have come forward and accused Strauss-Kahn of assaulting them: these "major holes in the maid's credibility" are enough to put the case in jeopardy.
     Even when scenarios don't pit immigrant single-mothers against the world's most powerful men, rapists have an overwhelming tendency to get off free, while the victims are left with the pain of blunted justice to augment the pain of the assault itself. While bloggers, columnists, and commentators go wild with renewed commitment to conspiracy theory, I see this as just another installment in the age-old tradition of victim-blaming.
     The maid has a spotty history, so she must be a liar.
     Strauss-Kahn has a spotty history, but ladies and gentleman of the jury, that has no bearing on the case.
     I read opinions that question why Strauss-Kahn appeared to act so calmly after the alleged assault, how he seemed surprised by his arrest . . . in short, how antithetical his behavior was to that of a guilty man.
        Excuse me: could it be because guilty men are often of the opinion that they've done nothing wrong, that this is in fact a prime characteristic of the criminal? Could it be because he thought himself immune to repercussions, an attitude completely in line with past behavior? And if we want to play the game of logic where people's motives are concerned, why would the maid have fabricated an assault against Strauss-Kahn when she knew the deck was so heavily stacked against her?
      Toying with motives is a slippery slope, but there's nothing ambiguous whatsoever about the reality of power, privilege, and sexual atrocity. While the conspiracy theorists see proof of their positions in the progression of events, I see yet another manifestation of innocence by force and the oppression of the powerless.
      Has the maid lied in the past? Do her phone calls to an incarcerated man indicate that she herself is a criminal?
      Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.  

Some other noteworthy heroes of the Arab Spring

    An impassioned post for the Common Ground News Service, the latter an online initiative aimed at exploring "Muslim-Western relations," contributes to an effort I hold very dear - celebrating the women of the Arab Spring, whose names are largely absent from public discourse.
     In addition to Tawakul Karman, one of the most critical figures in the Yemeni uprising, whom I've committed myself to following, the article celebrates two other women: Aasma Mahfouz of Egypt, who in the early stages of her country's revolution posted a hugely influential video calling for young people to demonstrate en masse, and Munira Fakhro, an organizer and spokesperson for the Pearl Square demonstrations in Bahrain, who stressed that the movement was "not Sunni, not Shia, but Bahraini." I confess that I was not aware of either of the two prior to reading this. You can expect more from me soon!
     The post also reiterated the critical point that the women of the Arab Spring risk being shut out of whatever changes they help to implement.
     Per Dr. Natana J. DeLong-Bas, author of the post:

     "As we look at the Arab spring today, we must remember the lessons of Algeria and Kuwait. Although many courageous women risked their safety and gave their lives in the struggles for  independence, once the conflict was over and independence declared, women were thanked for their contributions – and sent back home to leave the 'real' work to the men. The ruling entities may have changed, but the patriarchal order remained intact."

      It's an observation that can just as readily be applied to the feminist movement here in the U.S., and one that in fact has an interesting resonance for me personally.

      On Saturday, I have the honor of speaking at a panel in Tampa for the NOW National Conference. Our conversation will address men's involvement in feminism, and will include among its topics of discussion the danger women face of having control of the movement wrestled away from them, by men who, often with good intentions, say "thanks for your work, ladies, but we'll take it from here." 

      Just as the experiences of Arab's female revolutionaries are the precise opposite of a vacuum, so is the abuse of power universal: power, its consequence, and the cost it exacts. 

      

An infuriating end to the Wal-Mart sexual harassment suit

     If any of the recent Supreme Court decisions offered up a cause for mourning, it would be yesterday's dismissal of the Wal-Mart sexual harassment suit, the largest employment class action in American history, and a critical development in the depressingly volatile field of women's rights.
     There is nothing short of tragic irony in the Court's rationale for the decision - that the prosecution needed to prove a nationwide policy or practice on the part of Wal-Mart to discriminate against its female employees - when in fact discrimination against women either through hiring, promotion, or inappropriate conduct is not only national but near-universal, and not just by Wal-Mart. The critical factor is the Court's naive assumption (or not so naive) that said discrimination would be blatant and codified, and that the existence of an anti-discrimination policy was enough to preclude it, when of course the abuse of women is overwhelmingly under the radar.
     Needless to say, the decision is not only a blow to women, but also to to ethnic and racial minorities, the LGBT community, persecuted religious groups, and any other routine target of abuse, in that it sends a message to all of the above that even a colossal articulation of resistance won't be enough to sway the tide of big-business.
     That said, I know I'm joined by many in claiming with defiance that this won't be the end of it, though it's most certainly the end of my ever setting foot in a Wal-Mart store again.

Tawakkol Karman - Yemeni Revolutionary

     I've spoken earlier about Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist, human rights activist, member of Yemen’s main opposition party, founder in 2005 of Women Journalists Without Chains, and a mother of three . . . in short, one of those women in the world of whom you really want to keep track. Unfortunately, the news hardly ever manages to land on her, and I have Google Alerts to thank for this outstanding article in The New Yorker, which offers an excellent briefing both on Karman and the turbulent nation whose freedom she's struggling to realize.
     Block out some time on a weekend: it might be a lengthy writeup, but it's shorter than any book you're likely to encounter, while still conveying a volume's worth of information. Now that Yemen has joined the ranks of nations we bomb in secrecy (did you know we're bombing it now?) we owe ourselves, and our so-called enemies, the barest margin of knowledge .

Mona Eltahawy on "The Power of the 'I'"

     Before I follow through on my promise to stop irritating my readers with my fanboy relationship with Mona Eltahawy, I wanted to share a dynamite video of a speech she offered at the Personal Democracy Forum 2011, where she discusses "the power of the I"; that is, the transformation of revolution and war from the abstract to the intensely personal. The latter, she argues, is the most effective means for revolutionary thinking to spread. 

      It's ten minutes long, but very much worth it: 

Happy Birthday, Merrick!

     I wanted to take a moment to wish a happy birthday to my sister Merrick.
     I'm not sure the term "Renaissance Woman" has come into vogue yet, but when it does, she should be first in line to receive it. Without any kind of exaggeration, I can attest to her incredible skill as a painter, sculptor, poet, carver, dancer, and world traveler.  
     Here's to 26 years of astonishing talent, sis. The world can't wait for at least 52 more.