ON DARKNESS, BETRAYAL, AND THE POWER OF SISTERHOOD

By Ann Menasche

This piece contains the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the collective views of Feminists in Struggle.

Many spiritual and religious traditions celebrate the dark, cold time of the year – winter solstice – by lighting candles, stoking a fire, and gathering close with loved ones.  We do so to help us survive this dark time and to remind us that after darkness comes the light.

The sadness for me this year is palpable.  We lost our beloved dog, Jaz, on December 9th.  And I can’t forget the state of the world that haunts me and disturbs my sleep: the relentless slaughter of the women and children in Gaza; the women in Afghanistan prisoners in their homes, denied work or study.  And closer to home, my homeless neighbors including a growing number of women – virtually all survivors of male violence -subsist crammed into government-sanctioned rat-infested camps, tents three feet apart, with no way to stay warm or dry.

And the state of our rights as women in the U.S. is abysmal.  Over 100 years after Alice Paul introduced the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution, we are still considered second class citizens, as first Trump, then Biden refused to register the duly ratified Amendment into the Constitution. This weakens our ability to fight to regain reproductive rights, to end violence against women, and to achieve equal pay and opportunity in the workplace for women. Meanwhile, trans activists are attempting to erase our sex class from existence in law and public policy so it will be impossible to name, measure, or remedy ongoing sexism.

Is it any wonder that so many young girls are attempting to “identify” out of their womanhood?

Then there is the bitterness of betrayal. Over the last several months, FIST joined with Equal Means Equal and became part of a broad coalition of organizations demanding that the Biden administration instruct the archivist to publish the ERA.  We recently learned that behind our backs, leaders of mainstream feminist organizations such as NOW and the Feminist Majority, supposed feminists and ERA supporters, were urging Biden not to publish the ERA.

How do we explain this treachery?  Is it their loyalty to the corporate dominated Democratic Party that while using women’s rights as a campaign slogan to win votes and donations, never had women’s best interests at heart?  Or do they really believe that the best way to fight for our rights is to be “ladylike” and polite, to not rock the boat?

I’m with Frederick Douglass who said in 1857, “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation are people who want crops without ploughing the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning, the want the ocean without the roar of its many waters…Power concedes nothing without a demand.  It never did and it never will.”

I learned a lesson in courage and tenacity watching my sick dog with her back legs failing her, forcing herself up again and again and walking through the house, and up and down stairs.  No matter how many times she fell, she persisted, until she could no longer move at all.

Building movements takes that level of persistence, along with a recognition that when women unite, collectively we have the power to bring in the light, to change everything.  We have that power regardless of who is in the White House.

Like the women in Iran who against incredible odds, led (and will continue to lead) their people in a movement against theocracy proclaiming, “Women, Life, Freedom.”

Like our foremothers, the suffragists.  Women like Alice Paul and the Women’s Party that declared their independence from the patriarchy and its two political parties and were relentless in carrying out their struggle.

It took 100 years to win the vote, but we were not defeated.

 

 

 

 

 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM PLANNED FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 1st: THE TRUTH ABOUT PEDIATRIC “GENDER AFFIRMING CARE” FEATURING WHISTLEBLOWER JAMIE REED

Feminists In Struggle is proud to host JAMIE REED who will be providing an in depth educational presentation on Zoom about so-called “Gender Affirming Care” for minor children and its life-long negative impacts on them.  

The Educational event will take place on Saturday, February 1st at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time/2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/feminist-educational-the-truth-about-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-tickets-1114924201299?aff=oddtdtcreator

Jamie is one of the first public whistleblowers from a pediatric gender clinic in the United States. Her explosive first person account, “I thought I was saving trans kids, Now I am blowing the whistle” was published in The Free Press in February 2023. The story traveled the globe.

Jamie is now the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Courage Coalition, an American based nonprofit of lesbians and gay male adults seeking to reform youth gender medicine. The Courage Coalition seeks to impact culture and medicine to accept and support gender non-conformity in a non-medicalized way. Jamie recently spoke on the steps of the United States Supreme Court at a rally on the day of the US v Skrmetti oral arguments.

Jamie is an accomplished public speaker and has been interviewed and profiled in The New York Times, the podcast Triggernometry, Gender: A Wider Lens, and Transparency. She has spoken at numerous conferences including Genspect: The Bigger Picture in Colorado, at the International Perspectives on Evidence- Based Treatment for Gender-Dysphoric Youth in New York, and Psychotherapeutic Process with Young People Experiencing Gender Dysphoria in Tampere, Finland.

Jamie is a lesbian and foster and adoptive parent of five boys. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Research from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology.

Feminists in Struggle’s forums and educational events are interactive, encouraging questions and participation from the audience. This special event is open to both men and women; however, women will be given priority during the discussion segment of the event.