Abortion Speak Out Discussion and Film Viewing

Hello Feminists,

I took notes on our discussion of the abortion speak out and The Coat Hanger Project (held on Wednesday, 9/23), and I thought I'd post them here so we can all review them. The ideas about an abortion speak out discussed prior to the meeting on Wednesday include providing drop boxes for women to anonymously share their stories of abortion. The plan was then to have these stories read by others so that the women who wrote them would remain anonymous, but our e-mail address would also be provided on the boxes so that anyone who wanted to share their own stories could. The speak out would be held in an open space (perhaps the quad) so that women's voices, anonymous or not, could be heard. The goal behind this plan was to eliminate the shame associated with abortion; having the stories read out load, out in the open, and not behind closed doors would be empowering.

The responses to this plan included such:

> Would women's thoughts on abortion be shared, or only women's experiences? We discussed the possibility of thoughts detracting from the goal of voicing experiences. We do not want this to become a political debate. And the politics of abortion has a tendency to silence women with abortion experiences.

> With an open forum there is the risk of right-to-life protesters.

> Should we use security? And would the security have the authority to silence protesters?

> We discussed two goals: create a space for women to speak about their experiences and raising awareness about abortion within the outside community.

> Amy Kesselman thought the telling of personal stories would eliminate the shame associated with abortion, but was concerned that telling the stories anonymously would perpetuate that shame.

> Some thought the sequence for the event should include showing the film The Coat Hanger Project, holding the speak out, and then convening indoors, in a safe space, for discussion.

> Some briefly mentioned the need for permission to leave drop boxes in the dorms, and having speakers, other than those of us sharing stories, at the event.

There will be separate meetings with Amy Kesselman for anyone interested in being on the committee for this project.

If I left out anything, or if anything I posted here is incorrect, please comment!

And also, let's use this blog as a venue for further discussion of this project.

Love, Claire

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende is an amazing writer from Chile, one of her more famous novels being The House Of The Spirits. This is a speech she gave to TED, and is definitely one I, at least, refer to a lot as defining my own feminist ideals. I recommend it with the utmost enthusiasm to everyone.



I was also thinking--maybe we can have some sort of reading group? It sounds super cheesy and maybe no one will go for it, but my idea was perhaps we can gather a collection of written pieces and read them together, and discuss what they mean to us as feminists. It's kind of like a book club and it might be more appropriate for a separate meeting altogether, but it's just an idea. Works could include poetry, novels, newspaper clippings, etc. Would anyone be interested in that?

-Lyndsay

Documentary viewings

Here's the intro to the movie I mentioned during the last meeting, Soldiers in the Army of God. It's an HBO documentary about violence carried out by the anti-abortion movement. Take a look, and see if you might want to organize a viewing of it (I have it on DVD):



Also, I found a trailer for The Coat Hanger Project on YouTube, so you can watch that as well to better understand what the film is about.

So feminists, as I promised to myself, I am making the first textual contribution to our blog. (Thank you Sam for creating this and posting all of the pictures!) As I expressed this evening, I am determined to see through the documentation of this collective. I am so glad all of you are behind this and have introduced additional ways in which we can record our experience (ex. taking minutes for each meeting, etc.). While this fervent drive of mine for documentation is fairly recent, I am hooked. I see our videos, blogs, notes, etc. as not only useful to future generations of feminists, but extremely useful to ourselves. To reflect on the evidence of what we've accomplished together will give us a sense of being a part of a movement; and recognizing ourselves as part of something whole will give us personal strength as activists.

I want to say that I have hardly ever been involved in anything "extracurricular" before my involvement with NPFC, partially because no organization has ever quite been so in-line with my values, and mostly because I have never felt like I had a voice. (I believe many of you share the same experience.) As women, and as activists, and simply human beings with ideas and emotions, we all know the importance of speaking up, and I want to thank you all for collectively creating an environment conducive of us all to do so.

I have a really great feeling about this semester. I have a great feeling about our potential as a collective to make change in our communities. And I cannot speak for everyone, but I can say for myself that NPFC has already encouraged change in my personal life. I feel very fortunate to have found a space in which I am surrounded by such bright, compassionate, and driven individuals. And I'd guess we all feel the same.

I am truly excited and inspired by the thought of future women's studies students, feminists, and activists alike, reading this blog and seeing the evidence of a woman's movement, of community, of voices, and finding in our writings the assurance that feminism was never dead. We are not post-feminism. We are feminism. We have the control. And though certainly I wish for all of the oppressions in this world to vanish, I think it will always be important, whether in times of peace and equality, or war and injustice, for women to come together. Because we do have a past that can never be ignored, especially while we're busy creating the future.

So as a last hurrah to this very mushy gushy entry of mine, I'd like to propose a cyber-toast to the 2009 Fall Semester of the New Paltz Feminist Collective. Here's to our brains and our hearts. Here's to our ability to come together in common experience and common passion and common hope. Here's to change in ourselves, in our small spheres, and in the world. Here's to the women who came before us. Here's to the women of the future. Here's to us!

with much love-

Claire