by Denice Traina
This piece is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the positions of Feminists In Struggle as an organization.
It was such an immense pleasure to be in the same room with women who have literally been on the front lines, in the streets and the courts defending our sex-based rights as females. Some in the audience had been at it for some time , Donna Hughes and Lauren Leavy, while for others it was their first time participating in a women only conference! Women from all over the states from Montana, TX to NYC and Canada came together to share their knowledge, experiences, and stories and to learn from one another and most of all, to support one another. There were numerous opportunities for structured as well as non structured networking. Ask the karaoke crowd.
Kara Dansky, articulate as usual, opened the weekend with an update on progress made and the need for continued vigilance and push back against local and national policies that remain to be challenged formally in the courts and in the media in order to protect the sex=based rights of women and girls. She also made herself available for a book signing of her second book titled, The Reckoning.
The panels included a number of thought provoking topics, among them, Feminism in the Jewish and Muslim communities in Middle eastern countries involved in conflict, presentations on Desisting, Detransitioners, the seemingly successful fight to save women’s sports, the Effect of pornography on women’s lives and Advocacy Efforts to Protect women in Prison. One speaker presented an historical review and investigation into How to Combat Misogynoir in the Postmodern Era.
It was inspiring to hear from mothers of student athletes, coaches and the athletes themselves about how it felt to be forced to accept rules that might actually be harmful to women and girls and how organizations like ICONS, Independent Council on Women’s Sports, are helping to resist the insanity and support the sex-based rights of our young women.
It wasn’t easy to select which panels to attend, they were all very interesting.
The rally at the NCAA headquarters, Hall of Champions, was the perfect action to end the conference and to leave an otherwise welcoming city behind.