A Gathering of Feminists

In many ways, feminism to me seems to be a journey. A journey of self-discovery, as an individual, a journey of discovery of woman-hood as a whole (not just as it may be defined in the limiting terms of biology, but in a more inclusive way - woman-hood as embracing "non-traditional" women) and a journey towards a powerful movement of equality and celebration of the qualities that make us different and the qualities that we share.

It is fitting then... to begin this new blog with a tangible journey.

Over the past weekend, I climbed into a car with 6 other college students... and rode in the back of said car down to Washington DC. Yes... about an 11 hour trip. In the back. of. a. car. And I am so glad that I did.

About a month ago, some interesting young women on my campus decided to gather their energy and re-establish a group on campus called AWARE. The purpose of this group is to raise awareness of Women's challenges and capabilities on campus and in the community. (Disclaimer: As a group we are still re-defining our mission statement, and so this purpose may change...) Since part of our purpose is to break down the priviledge roles based in the patriarchal power system, our group has decided to *not* have an executive board - rather we will govern ourselves as a whole. It's an empowering and challenging system and in many ways I am honored to part of it.

7 of us decided to pool our funds and set out to participate in the 2010 National Young Feminist Leadership Conference, hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation at the University of District of Columbia, in Washington, DC. Fast forward back to where I started: Yes. In a car. Ok, so I'm used to roadtrips, and I've done this one before... twice. Or maybe three times. So, it really wasn't that bad. I got some really nifty pictures on the way:

The conference was so influencial and powerful - a gathering of over 200 young women (and men!) to learn more about how they can impact their campus communities. There were so many things I took from this conference, which I hope to share in posts to come.