Smarten Up...

A week ago on this day, I was sitting in seat 2A as we touched down from Quebec City to Toronto.
I went to 6 Cities... 7 days... and returned to an upcoming week full of volunteer appreciation activity.

There is the feminist movement, and then there is the post-feminist movement. At least, that's what I gathered after meeting tens of thousands of women across the country. This is always an interesting concept for me because I am the feminist who never really publicly declares herself as a feminist. Sure, I'll say it if it means that I want to talk to stale-cheese breath and activist B.O. (apparently, deoderant is a product of the capitalist to make you feel inadequate about your (un)natural scent), but really, I call myself a "womanist".

The feminist's of yesterday seem to not want to be associated with today's more privileged feminists and womanists. Even the term of womanism makes them want to get out the olive oil and rebuke and exorcise those "anti-solidarity demons". Some say that we take their struggle for granted, others are upset that we won't all chain ourselves and declare a hunger strike because some man in a Dodge f150 with a blue flannel shirt took a moment from his tobacco chewing to call us "sweety".

Let me be the first to say that I'm almost afraid to call myself a feminist. There is a different kind of radicalism that exists with "the struggle". The spectrum of experiences that exist among the feminists is much larger than it was 40 years ago. Not to mention that now that we have our privileges, the feminist movement has shifted to fight the battle that isn't so obvious.

I am treading a fine line. I can't pretend that I'll do the hunger strike or stand in front of bulldozers. I can't afford to struggle the way that some university grads pretend to when they pick up their Che Guevera t-shirt and Bob Marley wristband, sipping on organic Free Trade (is that the word?) tea. There is only so far that I'll go for this solidarity.

Teach me how to lobby, and I'll talk up a storm with any politician, business person, or crowd of 15,000. Ask me to make flyers, help plan a rally (provided that I have the time), or sign a petition... No problemo. But ask me to stop working and debunk the capitalist and patriarchal machine by not buying toothpaste, deoderant or any other basic necessities and my only response will be... smarten up.