I freaking love Twitter. I love that you can randomly type something on your phone and send it out into the ether and strangers read it. (Kind of like how I used to feel when I did a zine! But without a post office or stapling things!) I love that you can keep up with your friends, various pop cultural and political figures, and also keep an eye on trending topics to get a feel for what the online world is chitchatting about. But I especially love it because it provides me such a great feminist network of funny, pointed, smart and strong women and their instant reactions to things in the news, hilarious comments on cultural events. They inspire me every day. Here are a few of the folks I follow.
Bust : Duh
ClinicEscort: A tireless reproductive rights activist who shares frontline stories of facing down angry pro-lifers and standing up for something a lot of us only pay lipservice to: a woman’s right to choose.
Feminist Hulk: Gender Binary SMASH!
Code Pink Alert: The fiercest anti-war group out there.
Feminist Majority Foundation: Headline news
Give a Damn: Well, don’t you? For LGBTQ and their allies.
Rebecca Traister: Salon’s resident feminist genius
Shelby Knox: Don’t follow if you don’t enjoy getting a lot of updates, but if you’re a young feminist in NYC, she’s got the 411.
Maura: Brilliant pop culture insights, with a focus on music
Racialicious: Pop culture and race–necessary.
Feminist Review: Feminist book reviews
Madre Speaks: Global issues from a wonderful organization that connects and empowers grassroots women’s groups.
Not Under the Bus: Originally created by the Women’s Media Center during the health reform debates, Not Under the Bus now covers women’s issues in terms of US politics. They’re currently keeping me up-to-date on the Kagan hearings.
Women’s Funding Network: This organization does just what you’d think–brings together donors and those looking for funding–but their Twitter feed is an invaluable resource for feminists. Want to know what Geena Davis said at the UN? It’s here.
Feminists with Disabilities: The Twitter is just an automated update generated when they put up a new post, but that’s all I need–I head straight to the blog to read about challenges, ableism, and other issues.
Gloria Feldt: Former president of Planned Parenthood, current feminist powerhouse. Who says Second Wavers don’t get the internet?
That’s a partial list–there are others I check in on and don’t follow, and some whose blogs I read, so I skip their Twitter. And of course there’s the critical Feministing and Feministe. I don’t agree with all of these people all (or even most) of the time, but they always make me think, and often make me laugh.
What about you–who are your feminist follows? (Was that the nerdiest sentence ever? You know what I mean.)–Mikki
