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Have just finished #MrsAmerica. Here’s a quick thread on lessons for today’s activists, with some resources that might be interesting, including this piece on what’s wrong with the premise. What did I miss? https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-07-30/steinem-and-smeal-why-mrs-america-is-bad-for-american-women
The feminist movement needs its individual artists, writers and thinkers but it also desperately needs sustainable infrastructure. @we_level_up and @GlitchUK_ are just two of the incredible feminist organisations in need of support.
A magazine is a powerful tool. Just ask the NRA. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_secret_of_scale
LGBT rights and women’s rights are deeply connected struggles. Literally every single episode of @MakingGayHistry is a gem and you’ll find some of the #MrsAmerica characters in the archive (as well as good summaries of movement tensions and debates). https://makinggayhistory.com
Internal racism, Islamophobia, anti-Blackness, antisemitism, sexism and homophobia can destroy movements. I’ve learnt so much from this essay from @BulldogShadow about how pain gets weaponised. https://www.politicalresearch.org/2017/06/29/skin-in-the-game-how-antisemitism-animates-white-nationalism
Calibrating the right relationship to power and politics is always one of toughest things for a movement. “Campaigners make things possible but politicians make things happen” is a good rule of thumb for activists in a democracy. https://futureadvocacy.com/lobbying-meeting-kirsty-mcneill/
Advocacy and strategic public affairs work are critical but so too is grassroots base-building. If you want to know more about community organising I can’t recommend @StephLeonard_’s @actbuildchange training enough. https://actbuildchange.com
Data is power. What controlling a mailing list was to the 1970s, moderating a Facebook group is to the 2020s. The @CCDHate has some superb research on how online norms are shaping offline politics. https://www.counterhate.co.uk
We should honour our pioneers. @HarrietHarman taught us that feminists should “be proud, but never grateful” about changes. She's right - we shouldn't be grateful for rights 'bestowed' but we can be grateful to those who fought for us. So thank you Harriet among so many.
Physical manifestations of concern – whether the torch being passed on the way to the National Women’s Conference in 1977 or the white wristband of #MakePovertyHistory in 2005 – help bind communities and build buzz. https://www.globaldashboard.org/2015/07/08/a-great-generation-make-poverty-history-ten-years-on/
Allies matter. I’ve learnt a lot from this @carysafoko piece about when we should acknowledge men for their contribution. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/feminist-celebrating-international-mens-day
One final thing. I think #MrsAmerica is great in so many ways but it underplays the role of the women who support feminists in our movement work. The sisters, flatmates, neighbours, mothers, colleagues, friends and partners who make it all possible. Here’s to them.
