FEMINISTS IN STRUGGLE’S FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Welcome to

Feminists in Struggle’s
FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Registration Open Now

OUR RADICAL ROOTS:
A Women’s Liberation Organizing Conference

July 5th to 7th 2024

in a beautiful location with gardens, walkways, and swimming pool
approx. one hour from San Diego

FEATURING:

  • Max Dashu (remote, feminist historian & author)
  • Ann Menasche (FIST)
  • Christy Hammer (FIST)
  • Thistle Pettersen (folk musician & founder of WLRN)
  • Hilla Kerner (Vancouver Rape Relief)
  • Carol (de-transitioner)
  • Amie Ichikawa (Woman to Woman, advocacy group for women in prison)
  • Wendy Murphy (remote, ERA activist & attorney)
  • Dr. Suzanne Vierling (FIST)
  • Arianne (LGB Alliance USA)

Schedule still being finalized.

The Conference is Women-only.

Register Now

OUR RADICAL ROOTS: A WOMEN’S LIBERATION ORGANIZING CONFERENCE 7/5 TO 7/7 SAN DIEGO

Tickets will be on sale soon to attend the first national conference of Feminists In Struggle.  The women-only conference entitled “Our Radical Roots: A Women’s Liberation Organizing Conference”  will take place in a beautiful location with gardens, walkways and a swimming pool approximately one hour from San Diego from Friday night 7/5 to Sunday afternoon 7/7.

The conference will feature renown feminist speakers such as Max Dashu (feminist historian & author who will appear remotely), Ann Menasche (FIST), Christy Hammer (FIST),  Thistle Pettersen (folk musician & founder of WLRN) who will be performing her original feminist music, Hilla Kerner (Vancouver Rape relief, Carol  (de-transitioner), Amie Ichikawa (Woman to Woman, advocacy group for women in prison, Wendy Murphy (ERA attorney who will be appearing by video), Dr. Suzanne Vierling (FIST) and Arianne (LGB Alliance USA).

Attendance is relatively low cost with some full and partial scholarships available.

This will be a highly interactive organizing conference with plenty of time to ask questions, and discuss a variety of feminist issues.  A focus will be how to build FIST as a grassroots left-wing democratically-run membership organization dedicated to a renewed multi-issue radical feminist movement.  There will also be plenty of time to socialize, make new friends, and enjoy the surroundings with your sisters in the struggle.

This event is not to be missed!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – REMEMBERING OUR RADICAL ROOTS

International Women’s Day (IWD) this year is the fifth anniversary of the founding of Feminists in Struggle!  It is also the year that we will FINALLY have our national conference, long-delayed due to Covid.  Ticket sales for the July 5th to 7th FIST organizing conference in the San Diego area will be announced in the next couple of weeks. STAY TUNED!

One of our members prepared the article below on the history of IWD, which provides lots of useful information for all of us. The opinions contained herein are her own.

Sisterhood is Powerful! 

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize! We WILL prevail!

 

THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

By Feminist Writer

International Women’s Day (IWD) falls on the 8th day of March every year and Women’s History Month (WHM) spans the month of March. Both of these markers have histories that we need to know about if we are to take on the considerable challenges we face in the present–a time when, although we have come very far and have much to celebrate, critical rights that women have already won are being taken away! These include the right to decide when and if we will bear children (since the overturn of Roe v Wade in 2022) as well as the erasure of the very word for our sex–“woman”. The study of our history and how women and our movements have, time after time, triumphed over every kind of obstacle, can help us find inspiration and lessons that can help us win the struggles we face today.

What follows is a chronology of the histories of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, followed by an overview of our present situation as women.

How International (Working) Women’s Day came to be:

1909–On November 23, 1909, sparked by an impassioned call to strike by a young woman garment worker named Clara Lemlich, an 11-week general strike against the horrific working conditions in New York’s shirtwaist industry was called. It was dubbed the “Uprising of the 20,000″ and started five years of revolt that transformed the garment industry in New York City  into one of the best-organized trades in the United States.

1910—At a meeting in Copenhagen of Socialists from all over the world—The Second Socialist International—socialist Clara Zetkin proposed an annual celebration of “International Working Women’s Day” to commemorate the 1909 labor uprising in New York—the motion was seconded by Lenin himself.

1911–International Working Women’s Day is celebrated for the first time.

March 8, 1917—A women’s uprising in St. Petersburg, Russia, “for bread and land and peace” is the spark that ignites the Russian Revolution, with a Strike that topples the Czar within four days of the women’s protest. Thereafter, around the world, International Working Women’s Day or IWWD is celebrated on March 8.

1947–The last year that there is any record of IWWD being celebrated in the U.S. (until the 1960’s), as after World War II, the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union puts IWWD under suspicion, because people who are seen as in any way participating in groups or events associated with Socialism or Communism are being brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee and are often blacklisted and lose their jobs. This “black list” period puts a chill on events, groups and beliefs associated in any way with Socialism, Communism and International Women’s Day is one of the casualties.

1960’s—In the mid-1960’s, the “Second Wave of Feminism” begins—both the Betty Friedan wing (National Organization for Women)–which fought for pay equity–and the more radical wing, known as the Women’s Liberation Movement, which questioned everything about the position of women and laid the foundation for a wide range of issues we still fight for—the right to abortion, against sexual harassment and rape, available childcare and more. The movement also uncovers the lack of inclusion of women in conventional “history”.

1969–A Berkeley Women’s Liberation group, organizes the first street action to celebrate IWWD in the U.S. since 1947, led largely by a woman known as Laura X. There’s a parade; women dress as female historical figures–and Liberation News Service (a Left movement news service of the day) picks up the story that IWWD is once again being publicly celebrated in the streets of the U.S. and spreads the story to other news services, internationally.

Many around the world are inspired–and the next year, International Women’s Day Celebrations are held in 30 countries!

Women’s History Month chronology

1981— After the Civil Rights Movement and the Feminist Movement have taken off, there is pressure on Congress from women’s groups, such as the National Women’s History Project, which causes Congress to officially institute Women’s History Week, which is inspired by the parallel struggle by Black activists for a Black History Week.

1987–After five more years of pressure, Congress expands Women’s History Week to a full month: Women’s History Month–as happened when Black History Week was expanded to Black History Month. The impetus is the growing awareness that the histories of both groups have been erased and need to be studied and publicized widely.

International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month and our present day reality

Each year women have defined IWD and WHM in terms of how they see the politics of the present moment. Some recent expressions have been regressive, such as calls in 2023 for a celebration of “International Women’s and Non-Binary Day” that removes the focus away from our rights as a sex, and a concentration on the achievements of “famous women”, while ignoring the historical context of their achievement and the need for movements that will move all women forward.

In 2024 we face a landscape that is especially challenging since the overturning of one of the feminist movement’s greatest (though far from perfect) achievements–Roe v Wade, and a right wing determined to take away every reproductive right we have won, including contraception, as they work toward declaring every fetus, zygote and embryo a “person”, thereby making every abortion a ‘murder’!

We also face, from the supposed “Left” the erasure of the very word for our sex–”woman”, along with attacks, including violence, when we try to meet in women-only settings; we’re also facing the erosion of another feminist legislative victory–Title IX–which enabled the growth of women’s sports and is now being threatened by allowing biological men to compete with women.

Aside from these new threats, the old ones persist: the everyday threats of violence, including sexual violence, from male strangers as well as intimates; the the disparities in pay and promotion between women and men (which are even worse for women of color) and sexual harassment on the job as well as the sexist stereotypes women are subject to in every walk of life. So, along with much to celebrate, as our movement has made a huge difference overall in the lives of women, we still have a long way to go. Let’s celebrate what we’ve won for our sex and move ahead together with a vibrant and strengthened feminist movement, drawing sustaining energy from our history and also not forgetting our very great achievements!

 

 

 

 

 

FIST ENDORSES CALIFORNIA’S PROTECT KIDS INITIATIVE

After vigorous discussion and a vote of our members, Feminists in Struggle has endorsed California’s Protect Kids Initiative https://protectkidsca.com/, a voter initiative that is now being circulated for signatures.  The Initiative would protect children and teens under the age of 18 who are lesbian or gay, gender non-conforming, autistic or otherwise “different” from their peers, from sterilization and permanent bodily harms as a result of so-called “gender affirming care.”  It would require that parents be notified should a child publicly adopt a “gender identity”  that denies the physical reality of their sex, leading to a path of life-long medicalization, worsened health and shortened lives.  And it would preserve girls’ changing rooms and girls’ sports programs for junior high and high school students as female-only in the interest of girls’ privacy and equal opportunity.

As radical feminists and Leftists, we reject the idea that children who fail to conform to rigid sex roles and stereotypes are born in the “wrong” body.  We disagree that such children’s heathy bodies need “fixing” by drastic quasi-medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, double mastectomies and genital surgeries.  “Masculine” girls (traditionally referred to as “tomboys”) and “feminine” boys are fine just as they are.  They should be free to dress and express themselves as they like and pursue whatever interests they desire regardless of their sex. Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens should be free to explore their sexual and romantic attractions with their peers just as their heterosexual counterparts do, without discrimination or stigma.

We in FIST name the medicalization of these children as the sexist and homophobic practice that it is, harming overwhelming girls, many of whom would grow up to be lesbians.  This practice is also the biggest medical scandal of the past three quarters of a century, leading to not only sterilization, but early onset osteoporosis, undeveloped brains and respiratory systems, an inability to ever experience sexual pleasure as an adult, and an increased risk of stroke and cancer.

As one of our members, Javiera, explained it, “As a mother to 2 young children, it feels very important to me that we protect children from these harmful practices. These are children’s lives and futures at stake here.  It is important to me that we redirect and correct course. Yes, a lot of work needs to be done…adults need support in supporting their gender non-conforming and/or gay/lesbian children. But I really believe we must come together and stop these institutions and corporations from implanting the ideas of “born in the wrong body,”  protect our children from being “at war” with themselves, and come back to being embodied people working towards loving and accepting ourselves.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS! PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

This is a great time to join or get more active in Feminists in Struggle! We have confirmed that our First National Organizing and Educational Conference will take place in the San Diego area from July 5th to 7th, 2024. Please mark your 2024 calendars and stay tuned for details. 

Also, our first membership meeting of the New Year will take place on zoom on Saturday, January 20, 2024, 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, 2:00 p.m. Eastern. We will get updates on our conference plans and discuss the Protect Kids Initiative being circulated for the November 2024 ballot in California.

Please read up on the initiative:  https://protectkidsca.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Protect-Kids-of-California-Act-of-2024-1.pdf

Whether or not FIST should formally endorse the initiative will be brought to an on-line vote after the membership meeting. All members paid up on their 2023 dues are eligible to vote. You must also be on the Feminist Assembly listserv to vote. Dues for 2024 comes due in March but we appreciate early payment!

We look forward to working together for women’s liberation and growing FIST!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, SISTERS!

NO, Violence Against Women is NOT Progressive!

By Ann Menasche
Many feminists are aware or have personally experienced the verbal threats of violence by mostly males directed against women, labelled “TERFS” for the “crime” of advocating, as feminists have always done, for our rights based on sex. These threats have been made in the name of “transgender rights” and “antifascism.” Violent slogans like “Die in a fire, TERF”, “Punch a TERF”, “A million dead TERFS,” “Decapitate TERFs”, etc. whether scribbled on a sign or posted on social media, are rather unique. Indeed, this should be enough for any honest Leftist to reconsider the nature of this movement. Never in my lifetime has a supposedly “Left” or progressive cause threatened whole groups, even our political opponents, with death. When feminists fight for abortion rights, have we ever called for the deaths of Catholics? Did the lesbian/gay rights struggle of decades ago ever call for the deaths of homophobes? So, even if all the horrid things they said about us were true, which they decidedly are not, such slogans are rather shocking. Nazis and fascist thugs do such things, yes. Racists, yes. Misogynist Incel-types, yes. But progressives?

Now the situation has escalated to acts of physical violence against women by these men. It wasn’t the first time, but what happened on November 19, in Portland, Oregon was perhaps the worst. A small group of women from Women’s Declaration International (WDI) and WoLF held a protest peacefully asserting their sex-based rights as part of a non-violent direct-action movement that WDI is spearheading around the country. Their banner read, “Women=Adult Human Female.” The attack was vicious and premeditated. The women had been vandalized the night before the event at the place they were staying and had their tires slashed. The library where they were planning to speak was also vandalized, broken windows, graffiti and the like, forcing the library to close. The women instead held a protest outside the library. They were denied police protection despite multiple calls to police and then “Antifa” (or “trantifa”) thugs assaulted and beat the women, sprayed them with burning chemicals into their eyes, punched them, stole and broke their phones, and threw women to the ground. The women remained non-violent through the attack. Several women ended up in the Emergency Room. Please see the detailed description of events here. https://womensdeclarationusa.com/wdi-usa-statement-about-nvda-action-in-portland/

For more about this violent group of bullies who fashion themselves as “Leftists”, “anti-fascists”, and even “revolutionaries”, see https://www.newsweek.com/what-trantifa-far-left-movement-transgender-violence-1807032. Also, take a look at the statement released by the Portland chapter of Antifa prior to the assault on the women – https://rosecityantifa.org/articles/WDI-US. The statement reads like a hit piece, full of lies, half-truths, guilt by association, paranoia, hyperbole, and complete dehumanization of the women, the kind of language that is typically used to rile people up to commit all kinds of atrocities. It is not only not progressive, but it is a throw-back to the tactics of the anti-Communist witch-hunt in the mid-twentieth century that similarly demonized communists, socialists, and progressive activists of all stripes. However, this time the targets are feminists.

Feminists in Struggle stands in solidarity with our sisters in Portland and condemns the unprovoked, unjustified and clearly misogynist violence of Antifa against women peacefully asserting their rights. Women will not be silenced by this violence. We call on all Leftists and progressives, whether in agreement with radical feminists on the issue of gender identity or not, to condemn this violence, and completely disassociate themselves from the thuggery being done in their name. Enough is enough! Women must be free to gather, speak our minds, and protest without fear for our safety and lives.

And to the “Antifa” members who think they are conducting their “revolution” this way on the backs of feminists, I have one message: If you want to fight fascism, I suggest you start by not acting like brownshirts yourselves.

FEMINISTS IN STRUGGLE REORGANIZES AND BEGINS PLANNING FOR FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE

FIST’s decision-making body, the Feminist Assembly, has voted to reorganize FIST so that all dues paying members are automatically brought into the Feminist Assembly with full voting rights.  It will take some months as we transition to this new system with one class of members instead of two, but it is a great time to join FIST or pay up on your dues.  We will also begin planning for our long-delayed national conference to take place in the late spring of 2024.

As the only membership-run multi-issue radical feminist organization in the U.S., we are excited to be taking this next step in our grassroots organizing. JOIN US!

FIST Hosts Feminist Author Shannon Thrace on Oct. 7th to discuss her new book, “18 Months: A Marriage Lost to Gender Identity”

Tickets are on sale now for $5.00 for this special event on Saturday, October 7, 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, 2:00 p.m. on zoom, when Shannon will talk about her recently published book, “18 Months: A Memoir of a Marraige Lost to Gender Identity.”

Reserve your tickets below:

FEMINIST BOOK TALK: A MARRIAGE LOST TO GENDER IDENTITY Tickets, Sat, Oct 7, 2023 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite

Shannon is a writer, cultural critic, and IT professional who lives for travel, good food and summer music festivals. Her book tells the story of the dissolution of her    fifteen-year mariage when her partner began to identify as transgender. She is also a member of Feminists in Struggle. Find her Substack at            https://shannonthrace.substack.com

Shannon’s book can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes and Noble. and other sources on the internet.

This is a women-only event.  You won’t want to miss it!  Please join us!

 

KEEP OUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

It is easy to lose track of the ultimate goal of women’s liberation – the end to sex-based oppression of half the human race born female – by focusing exclusively on our defensive battles. There are many such battles taxing our spirits. In the wake of our loss of abortion rights last year, we have seen the passage of one horrific state law after another placing women’s liberty, health, and very lives at risk.

And of course, there is the defensive fight against a pernicious worldwide ideology that denies the existence of sex, allowing males into women’s spaces and programs, and depriving us of privacy, safety, and opportunity and even the language needed to talk about ourselves and assert our rights. We are also seeing the tragedy of a whole generation of girls (future feminists, future lesbians) desperately attempting to escape their womanhood by doing great harm to their female bodies through submitting to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and lopping off healthy body parts.

Despite these challenges, we must maintain our broader vision. We women have still not achieved equality in the workplace, under law or in the rest of society, and winning our current defensive battles will not by themselves get us there.

We are coming upon the 100th centennial of the Equal Rights Amendment, written by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923, that would finally guarantee equality based on sex in the U.S. Constitution. The ERA does not solve all problems but is a vital tool to move us forward once again.

Feminist lawyer Wendy Murphy recently spoke at Seneca Falls in celebration of this centennial in the presence of the great-great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Coline Jenkins:

“For the entirety of women’s 247 years in this country – a country that dares to declare itself the greatest democracy on earth – women have been denied basic legal equality of rights and no laws must be enforced equally when applied to women because without the ERA women are not constitutionally entitled to equal treatment under the law.”

“Neither party truly supports the ERA,” Wendy added. She also extolled the independence of Ms. Paul from both parties. something she claims we need now more than ever, as we have a Democratic President that refuses to instruct the archivist to publish the ERA.

So, no matter how hard things get, sisters, let’s keep our eyes on the prize.

 

JUSTICE FOR ANN CAMPAIGN SEEKS ENDORSEMENTS! DEFEND FEMINISTS FROM FIRING AND WITCHHUNTS!

The Justice for Ann Campaign is seeking organizations as well as individuals to sign on as endorsers. Ann was fired from her job after 20 years based on her sex and sexual orientation. following her assertion that members of the female sex are the people harmed by abortion bans. She has since filed a lawsuit for discrimination in the Superior Court. Her case is similar to Maya Forstater’s in the UK who ultimately was vindicated. Read Ann’s story at https://defendfeminists.net/the-feminists-we-defend/justice-for-ann-menasche/.

Form for organizations to endorse is here: https://greenalliance.sexbasedrights.org/form/justice_for_ann_menasche–organizational_endorsement.

Individuals can sign on as an endorser here: https://greenalliance.sexbasedrights.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=4&reset=1.

All feminists and genuine progressives who care about women’s rights and the rights of workers to be free from discrimination and to not be targeted for their political opinions and outside political activities are welcome to join this campaign.

Stop the witch-hunts against feminists! An injury to one is an injury to all!