Post AHPLFJ3mbEJeBsUb3Y by Berco@spinster.xyz
(DIR) More posts by Berco@spinster.xyz
(DIR) Post #AHPLFIXsVqnMavZ7KK by Cousin_Isobel@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T13:16:06.735456Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
I keep wondering what it is about JK Rowling that makes her so uniquely willing, among celebrities, to stand up for women. Maybe there really aren't as many wealthy, nearly cancel-proof female celebrities as I would otherwise have thought. Courage might be the key, but it just shows how badly women are doing that so few believe they can afford to speak up.
(DIR) Post #AHPLFJ3mbEJeBsUb3Y by Berco@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T15:27:35.937493Z
2 likes, 0 repeats
@Cousin_Isobel Aside from Rowling's power, wealth and the love of millions of kids, she can speak up because she is part of a wonderful movement of angry UK women who have found their voices. She is supported in the UK and she supports. It is mutual. She also has an activist personality, one which stands for justice, right and humanity, no matter the consequences. In addition, I believe, she is a radical feminist by female experience--once a woman has personally felt the grubby hands of male violence against women, and survived, one gains courage through connections with other courageous women. She has a coven there in Scotland and England.
(DIR) Post #AHPrvJvUxvjfZbhA6C by Cousin_Isobel@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T15:35:13.388625Z
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@Berco So true about the UK movement. We probably have some celebs in the U.S. that would meet some of the other qualifictions, but there's very little visible feminist movement here, other than the fake/professional/"intersectional" one represented by NOW, Ms. Magazine, etc.I wonder, if Oprah spoke out, if she'd somehow be maneuvered out of her own company and have to go work for Fox News (or retire in style).
(DIR) Post #AHPrvKSoy2OHExHm2S by Berco@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T15:41:15.703268Z
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@Cousin_Isobel Our country is so much bigger and more diverse in many ways than the UK. But that doesn't mean celebs couldn't speak out. But JKR is a writer, not a celeb in the same way, she doesn't depend for income on a business like "entertainment", especially now that she is totally established and can always find a publisher or create her own publishing house if necessary. She is uncancellable. Few US celebs have that power, and certainly not females. Oprah, maybe, but sponsors hold sway over her too. And not sure she has ever taken a truly courageous political stand, has she? Feminist? not apparent.Anyway, fuck celebs, we need a 60's feminist rebellion, where women everywhere, particularly the young, feel the anger of injustice and begin to take action and speak out. Real life action, not twittering.
(DIR) Post #AHPrvKxf7N3ombiP6u by Cousin_Isobel@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T17:50:35.017376Z
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@Berco Oprah took that stand against the meat industry one time. It was a free speech issue, too, which is interesting. She won.I can understand some women not being so feminist that they want an all-female government like Kara Dansky called for one time, but it feels like we've gone back past the "zero" mark and people are basically saying, "Sure, go into the locker room with my naked daughter. Take all her trophies, too. Whatever you need to feel safe." I would think that a lot of women would at least want to get back up to zero.Do you know, I honestly don't know how protests were organized before they were done in conjunction with billionaire-backed movements such as BLM. I've been involved in a few over the past couple of years, and we can get about ten women, at most. That's even with women driving for a couple of hours to meet up. Are any of the 1960s people still alive and in good health? Maybe they could give us some tips.
(DIR) Post #AHPrvLQjNIJSElJcQ4 by susansiens@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T19:01:14.391209Z
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@Cousin_Isobel @Berco One reason there were large protests was that people still felt they had something in common with others. Since then neoliberalism is the flavor of the century and it's all about so-called individual attainment. It seemingly never occurs to young women such as the swim team at Penn to just throw in their lot with each other and say we're not going to compete against a man.And what I have seen since the 1960s is not promising. People go to demonstrations mostly to pat themselves on the back for being so righteous, but there is little commitment to sustained effort with clearly stated goals. I wish I could get to the protests you mention, but I live in rural Maine and am severely disabled.I like Kara Dansky very much, but she seems committed to the Democratic Party, the one I refer to as the Pedo Party. An all-female government in the U.S. would be little different to the government we have now, the Pedo Party having purged decent people such as Cynthia McKinney and Dennis Kucinich. I have little support for the current crop of women in Congress: Oh, it feels so much better to be oppressed by men-centering women than by men-centering men!
(DIR) Post #AHPrvLy3NOy3u6uEMK by Berco@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T19:21:29.505448Z
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@susansiens @Cousin_Isobel The women at UPENN have been radicalized. It is simmering. It will erupt at some point. It may take some time, but as this happens more there will be a breaking point. We need to stay positive and look at what is coming out of that horror. Listen to the mother speaking about her daughter on that swim team. The young women know what is going on now. Some will only get bolder, but it takes time and collectivity.
(DIR) Post #AHQAzh40mHuKfOO8Po by grace_hawthorn@spinster.xyz
2022-03-15T00:56:41.133845Z
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@Cousin_Isobel all of that is true and she still didn't have to. she could have continued with Lumos, with her work with kids, with the low-key sustained work she does. I will never ever not love her for being willing to throw herself onto this bonfire for no other reason than she thinks it matters.(there are other women who are in similar positions and they're not doing it. she's the only one)
(DIR) Post #AHQBtttYG5Gag9IUS0 by firebird2110@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T14:06:10.842360Z
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@Cousin_Isobel 1st she has serious FU money, even if she never sold another book she'd still be set for life. 2nd as a writer she's likely not deeply embedded in the whole woke, liberal entertainment culture and if all luvies turn against her, so what? 3rd I think her background and personal experiences means she understands what's at stake and has the strength of character to do what's right, after all she did pen this - “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right. -Albus Dumbledore” it was really the whole basis of the HP story.
(DIR) Post #AHQC0aiZxM4jEIM5Sq by Berco@spinster.xyz
2022-03-14T19:12:37.251952Z
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@Cousin_Isobel That's good you got 10, that's where it starts. What needs to build, and is, is anger in women. It starts slowly but spreads. I have faith that it will burst out, it is simmering, women's anger over what is happening. The silencing of women will backfire, as small groups take courage, more will join.We need to keep going out in the streets with a small courageous few and open up a space for more.I was there in the 60's, and have been an activist since. I've seen how it happens and it will again.And yay to Kara Dansky, she is a treasure for us here in the US. She is out there and an activist on the street. She is visible, it is what we all need to be doing where ever we live if we can just get a few to join us.
(DIR) Post #AHQC0bDQ6gkGlwmiXI by Cousin_Isobel@spinster.xyz
2022-03-15T00:25:02.238759Z
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@Berco My worry is that we look small. It's almost worse than not being there at all. However, if it really is a strong, solid ten, with good signage (sometimes it has been less), that's better than nothing.Did you cultivate feminist (or any activist) groups in a social way in the 1960s? I'm imagining a group of women who live near enough to each other that we could grow by making things a little bit fun - with books, coffee, discussion, and the like. I think people would hear me say that and say, "There's no time for that," but I keep having a feeling that this is how we build solid bonds, so people WANT to be involved.