Introduction

To be completely honest, I was terrified to start this blog. I grew up surrounded by amazingly talented, creative writers who were never afraid to speak their minds or post their thoughts, and before beginning this blog, I felt like I could never compare [and, on a (possibly related) side note, the bloggers I've admired have always been male]. After I began my first women's studies class, however, I began finding more feminist 'zines, blogs, and websites than I could even begin to bookmark! Brave, daring, hilarious womyn like:


The Guerilla Girls, whose goal is to "expose sexism, racism, and corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture"




The creative activist One Angry Girl who is honest and angry and intelligent, and not only speaks her mind, but provides excellent research and detailed facts to support all of her claims.



Groups such as Feminist Fury , which is a collective group for womyn to blog about their experience of struggling on a daily basis to have their voices and opinions heard in the patriarchal society in which we live.



It was these womyn and men (yes, men can be feminists too, but we'll save the blog on gender construction for another day!) who inspired me to put myself out there and create this blog. I'm still undecided as to how exactly I want this to work, but it's my ultimate goal to document the ways in which I become involved in activism, share any interesting articles or quotes I may find, and (hopefully!) hear back from any readers.

Most importantly, I don't want to be scared of speaking my mind anymore. I don't want to be embarrassed or ashamed of my opinions, and I'm no longer going to be scared of what others may say. I can no longer stop myself from creating or writing or sharing just because I'm scared that my voice is less than those around me -- because it is most definitely not.

I may have had my doubts about this blog and asked myself if it was worth my time to even start, because, really "what good is a few words?" After reading Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards' "Manifesta," however, I realized how much of an impact words can, and DO, have in this world. The two womyn write,

"Revolutions always start small. Our August 5 dinner party was everyday organizing in action. Yours could be, too. Every time women get together around a table and speak honestly, they are embarking on an education that they aren't getting elsewhere in a patriarchal society. And that's the best reason for a dinner party [or a blog!] a feminist could hope for."