TODAY: Women Occupying Wall Street Reclaim Feminism In Citywide Gathering
Posted 12 years ago on May 17, 2012, 2:08 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Occupy Wall Street reignited a movement for economic justice. Now WOW — Women Occupying Wall Street — aims to do the same for feminism. They’re bringing together a broad range of New York City feminists—and unapologetically using the word—to launch a new, inclusive activism for gender justice and against the War on Women.
The First Feminist General Assembly is Thursday, May 17 at 6:30 in Washington Square Park.
Yes, it’s a meeting—but not just any meeting. The invitation list ranges from SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Center to the Sex Workers Outreach Project, from the Granny Peace Brigade to Hollaback, a group of 20-somethings using cell phone cameras to broadcast the faces of street harassers. The conversation will be personal as well as political.
It’s as if the Suffragists were getting together with the Sixties reproductive rights activists. And feminist drummers. And men (OWS’s Men’s Circle) doing the childcare.
Gender justice is crucial to economic justice, say the organizers. No society is truly democratic without sexual and gender-identity freedom. The Recession and government cutbacks are hurting women and kids most. And all over the world economic and social progress depend on individuals’ control over their own reproductive lives and on freedom from gendered violence. Feminism opposes domination, by anyone of anyone.