Yes Means Yes

I did some work recently for Jaclyn Friedman, a woman I really look up to in the world of feminism, media, and writing. She just revamped her website, JaclynFriedman.com, and needed someone to transcribe interviews. Through the magic of Twitter, we were in touch, and she kindly credited me on the site and linked it to this blog.

I first heard of her when I signed up for the WAM! conference in Cambridge. It turned out to be awesome, even though I went by myself and therefore spent lots of time drinking Diet Coke and writing in my journal between sessions. At the conference, I bought her book, "Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape," which she signed for me, and since then, have followed her intermittently on various blogs. "Yes Means Yes" is a collection of essays: some didn't speak to me, some really changed my perspectives on society. The best essays echoed the purpose of the book: "...suppressing female sexual agency is a key element of rape culture, and therefore fostering genuine female sexual autonomy is necessary in fighting back against it."

Essentially it's about changing the conversation from "don't walk home alone in a short skirt" to placing responsibility on men & carving out a space for women to own their bodies and pursue their desires. The pieces come from women of all backgrounds, and I'm grateful that it pushed me to further explore writing by Heather Corrina, Kate Harding, Latoya Peterson, and Cristina Tzintzun.

And on a related note: in an age of shady maybe-deals between Verizon and Google, and a year of living in a country with censored internet, I am more appreciative than ever for the Web. Yes, it's a time-suck. Yes, I love Facebook. But honestly, it has opened up the world for me in ways I'm only now beginning to comprehend. I'm exposed to voices I never would have heard. I read heated debates as they unfold in real-time. I watch this British guy use sign language to share Lady Gaga songs, because sign language helps him with Tourette's and Asperger's. And now, I communicate with people I respect, who use the media to advance the cause of feminism. What a cool era to live in.