So it has occured to me...

So it has occurred to me that people often don't peg me as a feminist, even though it's one of the main ways I identify myself, and it's also my focus at school. While I hate that people have a preconceived notion of what a feminist should be like, I like the fact that being myself and putting myself out there as a feminist really shatters those notions. I'm an avid blog reader, but haven't had the gumption to put together one for myself-until now. Blogging has always seemed really self-indulgent to me, especially in the days of the livejournal(remember that?), but more and more people are blogging less about themselves and more about their perspectives on issues and current events-which is a little bit more my style than whining about my neurotic-ism. I started this blog to give my perspective-a feminist, working-class perspective-on all kinds of current issues... current events, books, politics, pop culture(the usual fare for feminist bloggers) and also (an apparently controversial) topic in feminism, fashion.

A Google search of terms "feminist fashion" and "feminism and fashion" does not yield many blogs from fashion-friendly feminists-in fact, it brings more criticism of fashion from feminists. I'm not mad about it; I think that it's important for women in general, including feminists, to have some level of solidarity. But there's some discourse that is missing around fashion and feminism, and other "floofy" topics. This is less of a rebuttal to those who criticize the role of fashion in feminism, but more of an open invitation to watch, learn, and discuss. As a third-wave feminist, I know, I'm lax and loopy. I like sappy pop songs and tv shows, I watch basic cable and like it (mostly), I read fashion magazines(not always as a happy reader in agreeance) and sometimes even follow the trends. I like Sex and the City. Yep, I'm one of those feminists.

But the truth is, as bad as these things can be, I do not subscribe to a separatist theory. There's no way for pro-woman ideas to spread in society unless they are the mainstream-and one way to make feminist ideas more mainstream is for these ideas and the women who believe in them to become accessible to anyone and flow into the mainstream. As bell hooks said, feminism is for everybody. As it should be! Sexism is everywhere. Are we gonna just ignore the shit that's going on and retreat to Women's Studies courses and Ani DiFranco songs, or are we going to get out there and be who we are and believe what we believe everywhere we are in the world? And isn't a part of being who we are as feminists calling bullshit on the sexism in popular culture/books/current events/politics etc? Recognizing sexism in our everyday lives is the first step to creating radical social change.

Audre Lorde said that the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. At this point in my life, I tend to disagree. This blog is a manifestation of that idea.