To all women--and men who support women--in FB land, we must be the ones who make the difference(s) in the world. We are the ones who need to know what we are talking about and why. Intellectualizing womens history is fine for the university campus; actualizing what weve learned from this history is what will make the difference--for women, men (before the modern womens movement, who ever heard of a male nurse outside of a battlefield, for example), and especially for women who live in those parts of the world where they are treated worse than the master would treat his livestock. And if you believe I am excluding the US from the latter, think again. There are pieces of legislation pending at all levels of government that would turn women into Stepford Wives without the perks. So, although I am using this quote from the article as the promo for this article, I am also urging women to use their powers--especially those of voting and petitioning--to oust misogynists hiding behind religion out of office, and to take our place as true equals in a democratic society. It is our voice and our experiences that give hope to women living under oppressive and repressive conditions world-wide, and encourage their efforts to be recognized as more than. Lets claim our Womens Power and show the world what American women have the power to do. Yes, womens history is an academic field, one populated with many significant scholars and groundbreaking theorists. But we shouldnt forget that its roots grew out of the modern womens movement and the feminist search for a usable past that would help women find role models, understand their own life experience as part of a larger context, and learn how to enhance their efforts to change the world. In taking up the challenge of womens history, then, our job is not just to learn about womens past, but to engage in womens present, with an eye toward creating a better future -- for all people. In other words, we need to become partners in collecting and spreading womens history. We cant leave this work only to the scholars. We need to democratize it, to own it, to get our hands dirty in the stuff of womens lives.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:46:24 +0000
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