Anti-Oppression Linkspam: Open Letters to Currently Non-Disabled Feminists

[trouble]

Please pass these links around. Please link others to this post. Please leave comments with other links.

As you may be aware, the latest round of "Feministing: Stop Your Ablism And Take Us Seriously" is gaining traction. Essentially, women with disabilities and their allies have been emailing, commenting, arguing, contacting the Feministing Team for years, asking them to take concerns about disability, about the rights of women with disabilities, and the attacks on them in their comments sections seriously. I wrote a snarky post with links to my own previous attempts on this subject here.

For the first time that I'm aware of, a feminist with a disability, Meloukhia, has received some sort of response to her Open Letter to Feministing. I have no idea what that response is as of yet, but I do know how seriously Meloukhia takes our concerns, as they are also her own. [I'm also really irritated, because Meloukhia isn't the first person to talk about this, or email Feministing, or kick up a fuss. But I'm happy she's received a response.]

I'm gathering together posts about this topic.

Amandaw's Open Letter to Feministing

Annaham's Confessions of Reluctant Young White Feminist

Sasha Feather's Mini-linkspam on Disabling Language Topics

I know this linkspam is very small at the moment, but I'm very busy and unable to go hunting for links. I'll update this post as I have more information.

Edit 1:
Chally's Feminism that doesn't advance women is no feminism at all.

The Trouble Is' Tiny Cuts

Comments

[From: amandaw]

*hughughughug*

[From: trouble]

It's only Monday. How can the week already be this rough?

[From: amandaw]

My understanding of weekdays is all fuxxored because I start work (first time since April) this Wednesday. So tomorrow feels like it's gonna be Sunday.

I think this has been simmering for awhile. As soon as I heard that there was email back from Courtney it all basically came pouring out. It's one of those things you don't really have to think really hard about because it's all been waiting to come out for awhile.

You have a lot on your plate now. I'm sorry this is getting big when you're dealing with so much.

[From: trouble]

I actually started raging when I saw that Courtney had responded privately. WHY NOW? WHY THIS TIME? ARG!!!! Which is not the best response I've ever had to anything, because who cares if THIS TIME it works?

*sigh*
*hugs*

[From: amandaw]

You can be thankful that it happened AT ALL while still damning the universe for throwing this highly stressful shit on top of your already-existing Mount Everest of stressful shit.

[From: were_duck]

*hugs* I'm linking this around.

[From: trouble]

Thank you. <>

[From: (Anonymous)]

(meloukhia here)

Thank you for this linkspammy goodness.

I, too, am dismayed to learn that I am apparently the only person Courtney has responded to. Really, I feel intensely guilty about it. And also intensely angry and WTF about it. Is it because I didn't explicitly identify as a feminist with disabilities in my letter? Is it because I sent it to the general Feministing account? I don't know, but I would *damn well* like some answers.

In her defense, I think that she responded privately because I emailed Feministing privately in addition to posting publicly. So, I want to make it clear that she didn't go out of her way to respond privately. In fact, I strongly suspect that she did not actually follow the link to my open letter (included in the email) to see all of the cosigners.

I am hoping that she will.

I also don't want to build up her response too much; I just reprinted her letter (update on the original post) and you can judge for yourself. It kind of seems like a "well I apologized so it's all ok now" letter, which tells me that she apparently thinks this is over.

This is not over.

[From: trouble]

<3 I respect and admire your dedication, and I wonder if it's also that you didn't self-identify. *sigh* <3

[From: (Anonymous)]

(meloukhia again)

Yeah, I actually added a clause to my "what I would like Feministing to do" asking why I got a response and other people didn't. In addition to pleading with them on your behalf to ask them to email. Because I think it's majorly not cool that I got a response when others didn't.

Especially since some people seem to be thinking "oh, well, it's over now, they got a response." *They* did not get a response, *one person* got a response and that response was not sufficient. So...no, not over.

[From: annaham]

*salutes you*

I will be updating my blog post with a link here ASAP.

[From: trouble]

<3

[From: zeroatthebone.wordpress.com]

Have linked you up in my post (http://zeroatthebone.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/feminism-that-doesnt-advance-women-is-no-feminism-at-all/). :)
-Chally

[From: zeroatthebone.wordpress.com]

... okay I don't know what happened there but anyway.

[From: softestbullet]

(Links do that when you post under OpenID on Dreamwidth and Livejournal. :))

[From: trouble]

Thank you, you continue to be awesome! <3

[From: zeroatthebone.wordpress.com]

:D You also remain splendiferous and fighty!

[From: softestbullet]

That's a great icon. :D Thank you for the links!

[From: trouble]

You can steal my icon! The credit for it is in the keywords. :)

[From: willow]

What blew up, I wonder. I've read but I'm not quite clear on the tipping point of people giving up on Feministing. I considered a linked co-sign, but I really loathe having to do anything with Feministing at all - so am still thinking/digesting.

[From: amandaw]

It's been going on for awhile. I think the tipping point is not people getting angry at Feministing, but Feministing deciding when and to whom to respond. (meloukhia has pointed out that she did not identify as a PWD in her letter, and wondered whether that affected the fact that they responded to her but no one else.)

[From: willow]

Oh that's just [sarcasm]classy[/sarcasm].

Yes, I can see how such an obviously biased and filtered attitude when multiple people are trying to contact them - could lead to networking and organized anger/shunning.

[From: trouble]

I think what finally blew up here was several people at once posting about Feministing being Fail, and a couple of Bigger Name Bloggers (Cara at Feministe/The Curvature) picking it up.

I know for me my Inner Rage is becoming Way Too Much Outer Rage, so this is making me so angry I want to stop all over the internet and make sure EVERYONE hears it. GRRRRRR! (That'll solve all my problems!)

[From: willow]

2009 has been the year of FAIL and PRIVILEGE, both online and in individual people's lives. I swear I can go 'Halifax based - Harding Medical Supplies SUCK' in my sleep!

We've got to be more careful than we usually are though - cause this cripe's exhausting.

[From: (Anonymous)]

(meloukhia again)

Just wanted to alert everyone to the fact that there's new info on my original post, namely, that CM asked for a chat. Anyone who wants to/is willing to participate, please get info about times which work for you to me, so that I can send her a list of possible chat times. Once I get a whole list of everyone participating, maybe we can also have a little strategizing session to make sure that everything (ha!) gets covered in the chat, and that we present unified, non-contradictory requests/suggestions/etc.

[From: thetroubleisme.wordpress.com]

Wow, thanks for the link. Feministing was the first feminist website I found, and it very nearly drove me away from feminism.