Introducing the Carnival of Radical Feminists

 

For some time I’ve been thinking the blogosphere needs a Carnival of Radical Feminists,  so here it is! Let’s do it.  It’s  long overdue.  

The Carnival of Radical Feminists will be held each month on the full moon.  Hosting responsibility will be shared, and at least to begin with, pending additional radfem suggestions and process, our goal will be to foreground posts in the feminist blogosphere which highlight or showcase radical feminist analsis, theorizing, process, events, politics, and ideas, and which celebrate and honor sisterhood as it has been herstorically envisioned by radical feminists.

We hope the Carnival of Radical Feminists will build the profile of radical feminist bloggers, will direct extra traffic to participating bloggers, and particularly newer radical feminist bloggers, and will build radical feminist community worldwide.

All submissions consistent with herstoric radical feminism are welcome, whether they are written by men or women, and even if the blogger does not specifically identify as a radical feminist (yet!).

We define radical feminism as follows:

• We believe that women are oppressed worldwide by patriarchy, the “rule of the fathers”;
• We seek to abolish patriarchy;
• We understand patriarchy to be a system of structures and institutions created by men in order to sustain and recreate male power and female subordination. The structures of patriarchy include, but are not limited to, the law, medicine, religion and the traditional family;
• Women’s oppression is rooted in both the structures of our society and in capitalism and white supremacy.  Patriarchy includes not only male rule but also heterosexual imperialism and sexism (Charlotte Bunch);
• In order to abolish patriarchy, we must challenge its root components and causes which we locate in oppression of females by males;
• We believe that the uprooting of sexism simultaneously inaugurates the uprooting of racism, class hatred, homophobia, lesbophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, competition, hierarchy, ecological disaster, and economic exploitation of all kinds;
• The revolutions, so-called, which the world has known to date, have been coups-d’etat between men which have pruned certain branches but have left the root embedded for the sake of preserving male privilege over all women (Robin Morgan);
• We are a journey of women becoming.  We do not seek reconciliation with the fathers; rather, we affirm our original birth, our original source, movement, surge of living.  We Re-member our Selves (Mary Daly);
• We are woman-identified and woman-centered.  We put women first, not only in our politics but in our personal lives;
• The expression of our politics is concrete:  we oppose pornography, prostitution, the institution of marriage and the traditional family, sadomasochism, compulsory heterosexuality, gender coercion, and dominance hierarchies of all kinds; we endorse, support and work to envision and create peaceful, respectful, noncoercive, relationships, structures and institutions which affirm the importance of all human beings, all creatures, and the earth;
• We affirm lesbianism and lesbian separatism as revolutionary paths for all women who choose them.
• We understand gender as a structure and system of subordination, and as such, we seek its eradication.
• We pursue and celebrate sisterhood.

Volunteers to host the Carnival of Radical Feminists are  welcome.   Please let me know which month you would like to host the Carnival!

Nominations for excellent posts (your own or others’) should be sent to me this month, next month to the host of the next carnival,  and in either case, you can send submissions by going here, but if there is any confusion, or if you have any other queries, you can reach me at cheryllindseyseelhoff@gmail.com.

Hosting Schedule (Carnival of Radical Feminists is Held on the Full Moon)
Year	Month	Day	Hosted by	Submission Deadline
2007	May	2, Wed	Heart,Women’s Space	Wed, April 25
2007	June	5, Tues	Ann Bartow, Feminist Law Professors  and Sivacracy	Wed, May 29
2007	June	30, Sat	Jo, Stanselen	Wed, June 20
2007	Jul	30, Mon	Egarooo	Wed, July 18
2007	Aug	28, Tues	Akkari, Spontaneous Combustion	Wed, Aug 15
2007	Sept	26, Wed	Laurelin	Wed, Sept 12
2007	Oct	26, Fri	Burrow, Angry for a Reason	Wed, Oct 10
2007	Nov	24, Sat	Pippa (One Salford Feminist)	Wed, Nov 14
2007	Dec	24, Mon	LaDoctorita, Unconventional Beauty	Friday, Dec. 21
2008	Jan	8, Tues	April, Femtique	Tues., Jan. 8
			Sign up, you women!

The first Carnival of Feminists will be here, hosted by me, Heart, at Women’s Space, on Wednesday, May 2.  You can use the Blog Carnival submission form (preferred) for this first Carnival and all subsequent carnivals.  Please send your or others’ posts to me by Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

Feel free copy and paste the logo image above freely on your blogs and to spread the word about the Carnival of Feminists.

Listings of other carnivals can be found here.

Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff (Heart)
(Primary blog: Women’s Space)