Some of the MOMocrats are in Washington D.C. today for the Fem 2.0 conference. We've been speaking, blogging, and tweeting about the sessions. There are a wide range of topics being discussed, many of which can be seen on the Fem 2.0 site as well as on the Twitter stream (#fem2 hashtag). There's a lot of talk around women in media and how we're not represented enough, there are statistics about how mothers are paid less and fathers are paid more in the workplace, issues about how to define ourselves as women, feminists, mothers, professionals, activists, etc. and these are not easy questions to answer. However, we have some amazing people here presenting.
The conference began with presentations by the National Women's History Museum, Apps for Democracy and Linkfluence, all of which were captivating and fascinating. Did you know that Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr held a patent on critical technology behind cell phones? We learned that through the first presentation. Another thing that was of great interest was how Linkfluence mapped the "feminist web" in comparison with the political web and the progressive blogosphere. NOW, for example, lies somewhere in the middle.
Opening Plenary included a great panel and went into a lot of discussion about how organizations can use the web to further the feminist goals (and as we discovered watching how Linkfluence mapped the "feminist web", determining what sites qualify for this is not an easy thing). The first breakouts offered five options. MOMocrats were in the "Feminists & the Media: Speaking Out" session. Joanne (PunditMom) and I spoke about how to work with bloggers and other media organizations, how we can all build the community together.
After a fun open lunch, we went back into breakout sessions and Joanne led one entitled "Moms Coming Together for Equality" and the discussion went into feminist organizations, moms' organizations, issues about mothers, how the media reacts to moms, how the media relates to "mommybloggers" (a term that we realize has both positive and negative connotations, depending on its use), and how that translates to making policy changes. Paid family leave being one example of an issue that's not entirely a moms' issue, but one that must be led by mothers provides its own challenges to address. One woman on the panel isn't a mom yet, but she's concerned about the ever-elusive "work-life balance." We still have mountains to climb here.
Our closing plenary will be "From Individual Voice to Law of the Land - Continuum for Change." We'll be returning to the goals of the "feminist movement" which has been defined in many ways and has various connotations, but it encompasses anything relating to equality, equity, opportunities, media relationships, parents' rights, healthcare rights, etc. and how to make positive change through legislation, outreach, public discourse, using the tools of the Internet, thus Fem 2.0.
What's important to note about this conference is that everyone here is involved in multiple ways in this movement - as women, mothers, daughters, activists, lawyers, journalists, organizers, nonprofit executives, and visionaries. Even so, there were still assumptions being made in the room, such as that blogs by moms must always be about moms' issues. MOMocrats is an example that this is not the case (as noted by Stephanie (Lawyermama), but the mere fact that the name of the site might make someone assume that is itself an issue that is part of the challenge of Fem 2.0 and where we must go as a society. I particularly want to give a shout-out to the men who came to Fem 2.0 who are considering what we're discussing here. It's a vast realm where we have a long way to go. Helping train our own eyes and ears for addressing the issues properly is just one step in the process.
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