The Women’s March on Washington: I’ll Be There in Spirit by Carol P. Christ

Jan17

womens-march-logoThe Women’s March on Washington has released its statement of vision and principles, and what a stunning testimony to intersectional feminism and collaboration it is! The statement is woman-centered, while at the same time addressing a multitude of issues that affect women’s lives: from access to abortion for all, to an equal rights amendment to the constitution, to the rights of  women as domestic and farm workers, to police reform, and so much more.

I was thrilled to read the list of women honored as foremothers to the march:

Bella Abzug*Corazon Aquino*Ella Baker*Grace Lee Boggs*Berta Caceres*Rachel Carson*Shirley Chisholm*Angela Davis*Miss Major Griffin Gracy*LaDonna Harris*Dorothy I. Height *bell hooks*Dolores Huerta*Marsha P. Johnson*Barbara Jordan*Yuri Kochiyama*Winona LaDuke*Audre Lorde*Wilma Mankiller*Diane Nash*Sylvia Rivera*Barbara Smith*Gloria Steinem*Hannah G. Solomon*Harriet Tubman*Edith Windsor*Malala Yousafza

Many of these women have inspired me, particularly (but not only): Bella Abzug, Rachel Carson, Shirley Chisholm, Malala Yousafza. I have taught books by or…

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4 thoughts on “The Women’s March on Washington: I’ll Be There in Spirit by Carol P. Christ”

  1. The problem is they are so intersectional they forgot about “people that aren’t men”. The original idea of that was understanding that women can be discriminated against by racism as well (using employment discrimination where they could not take action for both racism and sexism despite being affected by both). It’s gone so far askew it is not detrimental and means women are running around trying to cater to everything and anything other than their issues.

    It is sad, the original idea and concept of both were good ones, it was and is worth taking a stand for what you believe in, but you just can’t pull in a grab bag of things and claim you are centering women, it has to be about women first and foremost then address the various problems they face, like sexist discrimination and being stuck in low paid jobs.

    Sylvia Rivera that appears on that list is not only no woman, nor our foremother. They have never worked for women, only themselves at best and they have never been an activist of any stripe I can tell. This might sound mean, but that person isn’t fit to wipe the feet of someone like Malala Yousafza or Audre Lorde among others that also appear on there.

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    • I agree but I think, it’s the first step in the Resistance. I have a friend who is Trans who is going and I have to admit it irks me a little when they still act like a guy and tell me to do something instead asking me like another woman would. The LA one is going to be huge and I suspect more diverse than the WA DC one

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