Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 4
January 30, 2017
Don't Forget Your House Rep!
Today, I decided to try to call my representatives in Congress and just voice my opposition to the Muslim ban. My script even says, "I know that Senator _____ was in Minnesota speaking out against the ban, but...." because both Klobuchar and Franken came over the weekend. I saw some clips of Franken's speech. At any rate, the lines were busy. Like, not even a roll into voice mail. Just the busy signal.
Except for my "lowly" little House Representative, Betty McCullom. I got straight through to a staffer who not only very carefully checked the spelling of my name and asked my zip code, but seemed genuinely pleased to have heard from a constituent.
So, yes, I'll probably keep trying to get through to my senators, but, remember, a lot of this sh*t has to pass through the House first!
Except for my "lowly" little House Representative, Betty McCullom. I got straight through to a staffer who not only very carefully checked the spelling of my name and asked my zip code, but seemed genuinely pleased to have heard from a constituent.
So, yes, I'll probably keep trying to get through to my senators, but, remember, a lot of this sh*t has to pass through the House first!
January 29, 2017
Resisting the Ban
In response to the latest bullish*t, I joined a couple thousand people outside the Brian Coyle Center in Minneapolis today with the Resisting the Muslim Ban folks. Mason really wanted to go and so we ended up meeting his friend Rosemary, with whom he had plans with tonight, at the center. It was both Rosemary and Mason's first protest. There was a discussion indoors at the center, but priority was given to the people who were most affected by this ban. The Center is in the Cedar-Riverside area which is heavily populated by Somali immigrants. Most of the people outside were "allies." We stood around outside the building basically being a presence, shouting chants, and holding signs. My favorite sign this time was a little tiny tot who held up a glittery pink heart on a stick. Pretty much says it all, IMHO.
There were people gathering at the airport, of course, but that protest started at 1 pm and we were expecting a guest (Shawn's friend Liz came for the afternoon.) Plus, Mason really wanted to get his Project Linus blanket dropped off and Treadle Yard Goods and that opened at 1 pm. We were waffling about this one, too, but everything worked out for us to go. I have no idea if bodies on the street count, but this is one of those things that I've determined makes me feel... active, like I'm doing my part.
I ended up Skyping today with a friend of mine who is living in Hong Kong and I found myself basically inarticulate when trying to talk about the current political situation. Like two good former Wisconsinites, we agreed "ah, geez" and talked about the weather. :-) But she told me that she joined a women's march there. There were only 150 people and as she put it, "the police were ready to disperse us."
It's a crazy time we live in, people.
There were people gathering at the airport, of course, but that protest started at 1 pm and we were expecting a guest (Shawn's friend Liz came for the afternoon.) Plus, Mason really wanted to get his Project Linus blanket dropped off and Treadle Yard Goods and that opened at 1 pm. We were waffling about this one, too, but everything worked out for us to go. I have no idea if bodies on the street count, but this is one of those things that I've determined makes me feel... active, like I'm doing my part.
I ended up Skyping today with a friend of mine who is living in Hong Kong and I found myself basically inarticulate when trying to talk about the current political situation. Like two good former Wisconsinites, we agreed "ah, geez" and talked about the weather. :-) But she told me that she joined a women's march there. There were only 150 people and as she put it, "the police were ready to disperse us."
It's a crazy time we live in, people.
January 27, 2017
Friday, a Day of Rest from the Resistance
I went to the laundromat to wash a few of our rag rugs. We have a lot of rugs, which is good, because washing them is a pain in the butt. The cats, meanwhile, LOVE to puke on our rugs, so there are always rugs in need of washing. This morning, Suds America was pretty quiet. Just me, the attendant, and a bearded, middle-aged white guy who very meticulously folded each of his socks.
Mason technically has the day off school today, but his LEGO team decided to meet to work on their various projects. I dropped him off at 8:30 am, and will be picking him up at noon.
Shawn went in late today, too, because she's starting to get migraine-related nausea. Because I guess the migraines and the tingling limbs aren't enough.
So not the BEST Friday, so far.
Despite my burst of productivity at the laundromat, I also feel weirdly wiped out. I woke up and promptly had some kind of allergy attack. Much sneezing and a runny, drippy nose (and one eye teared up). Q Library had wanted me to come in--as did work, but I said no to the one and agreed to tomorrow for the other.
We had a nice get together at the Randall's last night (these are Mason's not-girlfirend's parents). Lisa made a fun slow cooker "stir-fry" with chicken and peanut sauce. We talked politics a little, because she and I are considering starting some kind of Sunday get-together thing where women share resources and energy and ideas for political projects. But, mostly, it was just hanging out and chatting, which was badly needed.
I was telling Shawn this morning that I'm so pleased that both Mason and his not-girlfriend really enjoy listening in and occasionally joining the adult conversation. I was very much the same way at their age, and I think I learned a LOT listening in at my parent's knees, as it were. Both of the kids are very articulate and smart, too.
I'm reading this book right now--a non-fiction book-- about communication in the Digital Age and the author makes a lot out of the fact that most teenagers (in particular, but really, EVERYONE) allows technology to intrude into the natural silences or meanders of conversation.
That didn't happen last night. Everyone was very present, even the kids. I mean, to be fair, there are always conversational gambits that are more engaging than others, but, like, no one checked their email during the downtimes (they might have stared into space, but we all do that as an indication of 'you lost me'). But no one actively pulled out a phone to check out of the conversation, as it were.
At any rate, I'm glad Mason and his friend are more interested in what people are talking about in-person than they are with whatever's happening on their phones.
Gives me hope for the next generation.
Mason technically has the day off school today, but his LEGO team decided to meet to work on their various projects. I dropped him off at 8:30 am, and will be picking him up at noon.
Shawn went in late today, too, because she's starting to get migraine-related nausea. Because I guess the migraines and the tingling limbs aren't enough.
So not the BEST Friday, so far.
Despite my burst of productivity at the laundromat, I also feel weirdly wiped out. I woke up and promptly had some kind of allergy attack. Much sneezing and a runny, drippy nose (and one eye teared up). Q Library had wanted me to come in--as did work, but I said no to the one and agreed to tomorrow for the other.
We had a nice get together at the Randall's last night (these are Mason's not-girlfirend's parents). Lisa made a fun slow cooker "stir-fry" with chicken and peanut sauce. We talked politics a little, because she and I are considering starting some kind of Sunday get-together thing where women share resources and energy and ideas for political projects. But, mostly, it was just hanging out and chatting, which was badly needed.
I was telling Shawn this morning that I'm so pleased that both Mason and his not-girlfriend really enjoy listening in and occasionally joining the adult conversation. I was very much the same way at their age, and I think I learned a LOT listening in at my parent's knees, as it were. Both of the kids are very articulate and smart, too.
I'm reading this book right now--a non-fiction book-- about communication in the Digital Age and the author makes a lot out of the fact that most teenagers (in particular, but really, EVERYONE) allows technology to intrude into the natural silences or meanders of conversation.
That didn't happen last night. Everyone was very present, even the kids. I mean, to be fair, there are always conversational gambits that are more engaging than others, but, like, no one checked their email during the downtimes (they might have stared into space, but we all do that as an indication of 'you lost me'). But no one actively pulled out a phone to check out of the conversation, as it were.
At any rate, I'm glad Mason and his friend are more interested in what people are talking about in-person than they are with whatever's happening on their phones.
Gives me hope for the next generation.
January 26, 2017
Calling Sucks, But I [Bleeping} Did it, Anyway
In my attempt to do this resistance thing, I made one call so far today.
I'm insanely disappointed that my senator, Amy Klobuchar voted to confirm Trump's CIA head, Pompeo. So, I called her DC office this morning and asked what she's doing on Session's confirmation. I realize that there just might not be enough Democrats to stop any of these confirmations, but I want reassurances that they're going to stand together in their "NO." If it's a symbolic vote, anyway, why not go with THE RIGHT F*CKING SYMBOL???
Not that I was this articulate on the phone.
The script I have in front of me is actually about the Dump's short list for Supreme Court Justices. But, I was sitting here, muttering to myself about the whole Pompeo thing, and I thought, "Well, sh*t, Lyda, if you're so wound up, maybe you should just call now and vent to a staffer about the whole thing."
So, I did.
I no longer hesitate to punch in the numbers. That used to be the hard part. Now, I'm pretty good up to the point where I inevitably lose my cool and start babbling incoherently about the end of democracy.
But, okay, so, I think this staffer was a nice, young twenty-something, because after I frothed at the mouth about spineless voting for Pompeo, she just said, "Hey, no worries. I get it."
So, f*ck it, they clearly have to deal with crazier people than me, and if the revolution has to start by flooding the damn phone lines, I can do this thing.
Okay, should I just do Franken now? Probably.
----
Edited to add:
Okay, called Franken.
Right, so even with the right script in front of me, I still suck. I'm finding that asking the question, "Are you the person I should be talking to about 'x' issue?" is a non-starter. They don't want to transfer you and so far both staffers are like, "You can talk to me about that." So, I think I'm going to drop that part of the process.
I've been adding to my script, "So, I guess I'm supposed to be sure to give you my zip code..." and then I give it to them. This part, I'll keep regardless. It does show that I live in an area that votes for Franken/Klobuchar.
So, how did this one go? Well, it's always awkward, but I've just kind of accepted that. I asked the staffer if Franken had plans to filibuster any Supreme Court nominees. She made a vaguely agreeable noise and so I said, "Are you saying he WILL filibuster?" and that seemed to wake her up. She said, "Oh. I don't know." I said, "You don't know if he would?" And she confirmed that she had no idea what his plans were.
So, I went off script.
And I said (only less articulately), "Okay, well, that's how this needs to work. I want Senator Franken to know that I expect him to resist the nominations. One of the things that has made me very proud to be represented by Senator Franken is his willingness to stand up where needed. I want him to join any filibuster efforts. If you can't commit to him doing that, can you at least assure me he will vote against any of Trump's nominees?"
She said she could.
I told her I guessed that was something, and signed off.
About as frustrating as calling Klobuchar's office, but in a different way. I mean, girlfriend, were you checking Facebook as I was talking to you? Second, if Al F*cking Franken isn't sure he's going to stand up and filibuster, we've probably already lost.
So, even though they say this makes zero impact, I sent off an e-mail to both offices telling them I expected a united filibuster of ALL nominations for Supreme Court put up by Trump. They blocked Obama's pick, this is fairsies.
If I make a third or fourth call today, I'll do it after lunch. I really don't want to hit the same staffers in the same day.
I'm insanely disappointed that my senator, Amy Klobuchar voted to confirm Trump's CIA head, Pompeo. So, I called her DC office this morning and asked what she's doing on Session's confirmation. I realize that there just might not be enough Democrats to stop any of these confirmations, but I want reassurances that they're going to stand together in their "NO." If it's a symbolic vote, anyway, why not go with THE RIGHT F*CKING SYMBOL???
Not that I was this articulate on the phone.
The script I have in front of me is actually about the Dump's short list for Supreme Court Justices. But, I was sitting here, muttering to myself about the whole Pompeo thing, and I thought, "Well, sh*t, Lyda, if you're so wound up, maybe you should just call now and vent to a staffer about the whole thing."
So, I did.
I no longer hesitate to punch in the numbers. That used to be the hard part. Now, I'm pretty good up to the point where I inevitably lose my cool and start babbling incoherently about the end of democracy.
But, okay, so, I think this staffer was a nice, young twenty-something, because after I frothed at the mouth about spineless voting for Pompeo, she just said, "Hey, no worries. I get it."
So, f*ck it, they clearly have to deal with crazier people than me, and if the revolution has to start by flooding the damn phone lines, I can do this thing.
Okay, should I just do Franken now? Probably.
----
Edited to add:
Okay, called Franken.
Right, so even with the right script in front of me, I still suck. I'm finding that asking the question, "Are you the person I should be talking to about 'x' issue?" is a non-starter. They don't want to transfer you and so far both staffers are like, "You can talk to me about that." So, I think I'm going to drop that part of the process.
I've been adding to my script, "So, I guess I'm supposed to be sure to give you my zip code..." and then I give it to them. This part, I'll keep regardless. It does show that I live in an area that votes for Franken/Klobuchar.
So, how did this one go? Well, it's always awkward, but I've just kind of accepted that. I asked the staffer if Franken had plans to filibuster any Supreme Court nominees. She made a vaguely agreeable noise and so I said, "Are you saying he WILL filibuster?" and that seemed to wake her up. She said, "Oh. I don't know." I said, "You don't know if he would?" And she confirmed that she had no idea what his plans were.
So, I went off script.
And I said (only less articulately), "Okay, well, that's how this needs to work. I want Senator Franken to know that I expect him to resist the nominations. One of the things that has made me very proud to be represented by Senator Franken is his willingness to stand up where needed. I want him to join any filibuster efforts. If you can't commit to him doing that, can you at least assure me he will vote against any of Trump's nominees?"
She said she could.
I told her I guessed that was something, and signed off.
About as frustrating as calling Klobuchar's office, but in a different way. I mean, girlfriend, were you checking Facebook as I was talking to you? Second, if Al F*cking Franken isn't sure he's going to stand up and filibuster, we've probably already lost.
So, even though they say this makes zero impact, I sent off an e-mail to both offices telling them I expected a united filibuster of ALL nominations for Supreme Court put up by Trump. They blocked Obama's pick, this is fairsies.
If I make a third or fourth call today, I'll do it after lunch. I really don't want to hit the same staffers in the same day.
January 25, 2017
Keeping the Faith
It's so much harder now that the inauguration has happened to not lose... everything: my focus, my hope, my faith... my sh*t.
Plus, the daily horrors keep piling up. There are so many, it kind of scatters your mind. DAPL, Muslim Registry, Nazi/moron cabinet picks and staffers, walls... it's daily, sometimes two, three times a day. This is how they're going to break us. It's just going to be a constant stream of offenses, we won't know where to focus our tremendous efforts on. People keep saying this: pick one or two issues and focus on those.
Easy to say, harder to do.
Especially when everything seems so critical.
Then, stuff gets circulated that puts me in a weird kind of panic mode. My friend Mary Anne Mohanraj had a great link to advice from a high-level staffer at the US Senate. I read it, nodding along until I hit this part:
"1. The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time - if they have town halls, go to them. Go to their local offices. If you're in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the "mobile offices" that their staff hold periodically (all these times are located on each congressperson's website). When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better.
2. But, those in-person events don't happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling. You should make 6 calls a day: 2 each (DC office and your local office) to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative...."
Wait, what? SIX CALLS a DAY???
I'd been feeling pretty great that I managed, um, let's see, three so far since the election. What is that, 1.5 a month?
F*ck.
I think despite this crushing sense of responsibility, what I have to do is *not* try to jump into this whole six calls a day insanity. Maybe I can work up to a call a day... MAYBE. I mean, I'm super out-going, but I kind of have always hated phone calls for some reason. It's ten times more awkward when it's not someone I know on the other end. So... six? A day?? No, but I can try to do one every couple of days. I'll put it on my schedule or something. Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 1:00 pm. If that starts to feel comfortable, I can add more.
Not that there aren't things I could call about every flipping day.
Sheesh.
On my current list to to remind my Senators that can, NOT to confirm DeVos. Apparently, Trump has also made a short list of nominees for the Supreme Court and they're, of course, all awful. So, I have a script ready for that, too. I guess that's four calls...
Cripes. Wish me luck tomorrow.
Plus, the daily horrors keep piling up. There are so many, it kind of scatters your mind. DAPL, Muslim Registry, Nazi/moron cabinet picks and staffers, walls... it's daily, sometimes two, three times a day. This is how they're going to break us. It's just going to be a constant stream of offenses, we won't know where to focus our tremendous efforts on. People keep saying this: pick one or two issues and focus on those.
Easy to say, harder to do.
Especially when everything seems so critical.
Then, stuff gets circulated that puts me in a weird kind of panic mode. My friend Mary Anne Mohanraj had a great link to advice from a high-level staffer at the US Senate. I read it, nodding along until I hit this part:
"1. The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time - if they have town halls, go to them. Go to their local offices. If you're in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the "mobile offices" that their staff hold periodically (all these times are located on each congressperson's website). When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better.
2. But, those in-person events don't happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling. You should make 6 calls a day: 2 each (DC office and your local office) to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative...."
Wait, what? SIX CALLS a DAY???
I'd been feeling pretty great that I managed, um, let's see, three so far since the election. What is that, 1.5 a month?
F*ck.
I think despite this crushing sense of responsibility, what I have to do is *not* try to jump into this whole six calls a day insanity. Maybe I can work up to a call a day... MAYBE. I mean, I'm super out-going, but I kind of have always hated phone calls for some reason. It's ten times more awkward when it's not someone I know on the other end. So... six? A day?? No, but I can try to do one every couple of days. I'll put it on my schedule or something. Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 1:00 pm. If that starts to feel comfortable, I can add more.
Not that there aren't things I could call about every flipping day.
Sheesh.
On my current list to to remind my Senators that can, NOT to confirm DeVos. Apparently, Trump has also made a short list of nominees for the Supreme Court and they're, of course, all awful. So, I have a script ready for that, too. I guess that's four calls...
Cripes. Wish me luck tomorrow.
January 22, 2017
Other News...
The other thing that happened yesterday was that Mason's LEGO League team won the regional competition! He and his team will be going on to state! I would post a picture of Mason with this medallion, but I'm trying to figure out what's up with the pictures. (I thought I had them fixed, because *I* can see them on any device, even not logged into my journal. All our devices, however, are Macs or iThings. I wonder if that's part of it. I'm going to try to do more research, because a journal without ANY pictures, ever, is kind of sad.)
I've also steadily started to get replies from the letters of introduction that I wrote to my various pen pals. Yesterday, I got a reply from my ONE correspondent in the Netherlands. She seems amazing. She's the first one to acknowledge that I wrote to all of my pen friends that I did NOT vote for the current present. Her reply was, "GOOD for you." She also just casually mentioned her daughter's girlfriend. I LIKE this pen pal. It should be very easy to reply to her.
Yay!
I've also steadily started to get replies from the letters of introduction that I wrote to my various pen pals. Yesterday, I got a reply from my ONE correspondent in the Netherlands. She seems amazing. She's the first one to acknowledge that I wrote to all of my pen friends that I did NOT vote for the current present. Her reply was, "GOOD for you." She also just casually mentioned her daughter's girlfriend. I LIKE this pen pal. It should be very easy to reply to her.
Yay!
January 21, 2017
What Does Democracy Look Like?
THIS is what democracy looks like!
(Photo credit: Thaiphy Phan-Quang).
The march today in Saint Paul officially hit 100,000. Somewhere in that crowd was me, my friend Naomi, and her sister Abi.
Like a lot of people, we almost didn't make it. Originally, the plan had been for Naomi to come by about a quarter to 10, so she could park in my neighborhood and we could take the light rail into downtown. That plan would have worked great if only a few thousand people were headed to the march. As it was, the train platform was swathed in pink pussy hats. Trains were passing by filled to the brim, unable to take on more passengers.
We walked back to Naomi's minivan, picked up my neighbor James and a straggler named Adellle, and Naomi managed to find us parking just over a mile from the meet-up point of Saint Paul College. We hoofed it to the march, managing to arrive just as the crowd surged forward with a cheer. We were on the move!
It was amazing. I have never been a crowd, much less a protest, that big. The signs I saw were funny and inspiring and heart-breaking. So many women. So many men. So many children. So many people!
My only hope is that we all take this momentum and run with it!
(Photo credit: Thaiphy Phan-Quang).
The march today in Saint Paul officially hit 100,000. Somewhere in that crowd was me, my friend Naomi, and her sister Abi.
Like a lot of people, we almost didn't make it. Originally, the plan had been for Naomi to come by about a quarter to 10, so she could park in my neighborhood and we could take the light rail into downtown. That plan would have worked great if only a few thousand people were headed to the march. As it was, the train platform was swathed in pink pussy hats. Trains were passing by filled to the brim, unable to take on more passengers.
We walked back to Naomi's minivan, picked up my neighbor James and a straggler named Adellle, and Naomi managed to find us parking just over a mile from the meet-up point of Saint Paul College. We hoofed it to the march, managing to arrive just as the crowd surged forward with a cheer. We were on the move!
It was amazing. I have never been a crowd, much less a protest, that big. The signs I saw were funny and inspiring and heart-breaking. So many women. So many men. So many children. So many people!
My only hope is that we all take this momentum and run with it!
January 19, 2017
Rally at the Capitol
This morning, for some reason, I found myself feeling "politically anxious." (I feel, by the way, like this should be a thing. Like social anxiety, there should be political anxiety.) I paced around and did the dishes, but just couldn't settle. I didn't feel like writing; I couldn't concentrate to read. When it was nicer out, I solved these feelings by doing yard work. There really wasn't much yard work to do, it being winter and all, so I wasn't sure what to do with myself until I went back to my computer and discovered that I'd marked myself as "interested" on an event at the capitol today at 10 am.
I could probably have done some house cleaning, but who wants to do that?
I decided to go.
The rally was being held by [Our] Mnisota/Voices for Racial Justice. It was in the state capitol rotunda and they had speakers and poets in attendance. I wasn't required to do anything, but sit and listen. The rotunda (which is GORGEOUS, by the way,) was filled to the brim. A school (or maybe a couple of schools) brought a high school class, so there was a crowd young people on the upper level, looking down on us. It was not as personally gratifying as marching and shouting, but I learned a lot about progressive issues and various local organizations that fight for peace and justice and the like.
Perhaps most importantly, it worked. I felt a lot better having DONE something, even if it was just attend a sit-down-and-listen rally.
The rest of the day was it's usual busy-ness. I noticed that I'd checked "interested" for another march tomorrow, but the timing is wonky--starting an hour before I need to pick up Mason. So I think I'm going to save my energy for Saturday.
Tomorrow might have to be "aggressive self-care day." I might just have to hide from all the news outlets. I don't know if I can take seeing this nightmare become a reality. Luckily, Q Library asked me to come and help them. Hopefully, they will provide busywork and pleasant chatter in the company of queer folk to keep me sane and functional.
Take care of yourselves!
I could probably have done some house cleaning, but who wants to do that?
I decided to go.
The rally was being held by [Our] Mnisota/Voices for Racial Justice. It was in the state capitol rotunda and they had speakers and poets in attendance. I wasn't required to do anything, but sit and listen. The rotunda (which is GORGEOUS, by the way,) was filled to the brim. A school (or maybe a couple of schools) brought a high school class, so there was a crowd young people on the upper level, looking down on us. It was not as personally gratifying as marching and shouting, but I learned a lot about progressive issues and various local organizations that fight for peace and justice and the like.
Perhaps most importantly, it worked. I felt a lot better having DONE something, even if it was just attend a sit-down-and-listen rally.
The rest of the day was it's usual busy-ness. I noticed that I'd checked "interested" for another march tomorrow, but the timing is wonky--starting an hour before I need to pick up Mason. So I think I'm going to save my energy for Saturday.
Tomorrow might have to be "aggressive self-care day." I might just have to hide from all the news outlets. I don't know if I can take seeing this nightmare become a reality. Luckily, Q Library asked me to come and help them. Hopefully, they will provide busywork and pleasant chatter in the company of queer folk to keep me sane and functional.
Take care of yourselves!
January 18, 2017
The Trouble with Gallery Readings...
...is that you walk away with ART.
I ended up buying $40 worth of blank cards before last night's panel discussion/reading even started at the AZ Gallery. I couldn't help it. For one the cards all featured Saint Paul landmarks, and secondly, they were f*cking gorgeous! My pen pals NEED these, you understand. NEED.
Besides, I figure that supporting my hosting venue is never a bad idea.
The panel itself went well, for the most part. Ironically, we were somewhat hijacked by a guy in the audience ("that guy") who wanted all HIS questions answered. So, I guess we were basically a living example of the whole 'things that happen when you bring up feminism on the internet.' Except not QUITE that egregious.
I always feel a little... awkward on these panels because I read a LOT of women who are publishing currently, and so I tend to baulk when people suggest that there's a huge dearth of female voices or that we somehow didn't 'break in' to SF/F until yesterday. I tried temper my comment by pointing out that it seems pretty clear to me that the issue has to do with how are voices are perceived--the whole idea that if women make up 30% of the discussion, they're perceived as dominating. The percentage of women writing SF/F in the past has always stayed under the radar of that threshold. Now that we're reaching PERCEIVED parity, people are squawking that we're taking over.
Which I hope made my, "Yes, but there *is* a published author who wrote about X" a little less annoying. (If you're curious about the context, it was suggested that in science fiction women rarely worry about menstruation, I pointed out that, ACTUALLY, Monica Byrne wrote about it in GIRL IN THE ROAD, and I could also have brought up that you could have called the main theme of BOOK OF THE UNNAMED MIDWIFE by Meg Elison 'what the f*ck are we going to about our periods in the apocalypse?' TBF, the point of % representation still stands, that's two books I could think of out of how many?)
So, it was a good panel, I'd say. Anything that makes *me* think about how I talk about women writers is well worth it, you know?
The reading went well, too. With luck, I drew a few more people into my work.
I ended up buying $40 worth of blank cards before last night's panel discussion/reading even started at the AZ Gallery. I couldn't help it. For one the cards all featured Saint Paul landmarks, and secondly, they were f*cking gorgeous! My pen pals NEED these, you understand. NEED.
Besides, I figure that supporting my hosting venue is never a bad idea.
The panel itself went well, for the most part. Ironically, we were somewhat hijacked by a guy in the audience ("that guy") who wanted all HIS questions answered. So, I guess we were basically a living example of the whole 'things that happen when you bring up feminism on the internet.' Except not QUITE that egregious.
I always feel a little... awkward on these panels because I read a LOT of women who are publishing currently, and so I tend to baulk when people suggest that there's a huge dearth of female voices or that we somehow didn't 'break in' to SF/F until yesterday. I tried temper my comment by pointing out that it seems pretty clear to me that the issue has to do with how are voices are perceived--the whole idea that if women make up 30% of the discussion, they're perceived as dominating. The percentage of women writing SF/F in the past has always stayed under the radar of that threshold. Now that we're reaching PERCEIVED parity, people are squawking that we're taking over.
Which I hope made my, "Yes, but there *is* a published author who wrote about X" a little less annoying. (If you're curious about the context, it was suggested that in science fiction women rarely worry about menstruation, I pointed out that, ACTUALLY, Monica Byrne wrote about it in GIRL IN THE ROAD, and I could also have brought up that you could have called the main theme of BOOK OF THE UNNAMED MIDWIFE by Meg Elison 'what the f*ck are we going to about our periods in the apocalypse?' TBF, the point of % representation still stands, that's two books I could think of out of how many?)
So, it was a good panel, I'd say. Anything that makes *me* think about how I talk about women writers is well worth it, you know?
The reading went well, too. With luck, I drew a few more people into my work.
January 17, 2017
EVENT: Panel Discussion at AZ Gallery 7-9 pm TONIGHT
Tonight I'm going to be at a panel discussion about "Women in SF and Writing Female Characters" with fellow writers Victorya Crane and Abra Staffin-Wiebe at the AZ Gallery in Lowertown at 7-9 PM TONIGHT (January 17, 2017).
The AZ Gallery is located at: 308 Prince St, Suite 130, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101
For more information check out the event'sFacebook Page
The AZ Gallery is located at: 308 Prince St, Suite 130, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101
For more information check out the event'sFacebook Page
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