A Feminist Blogger?

“No black woman writer in this culture can write 'too much'. Indeed, no woman writer can write 'too much'...No woman has ever written enough.”― bell hooks

This quote was brought up last night at the very interesting panel on blogging as a feminist act, which I attended last night.  I went into the event wondering, am I a feminist blogger?  I don't feel like one, most of the time, I'm just telling stories about my daughter, about myself, and my family.  I didn't see, from the outset, how this simple sharing of stories and photos could count as feminism.

But at the beginning of the evening, the moderator of the panel, the very interesting Historiann, mentioned that blogging could be viewed as a feminist practice because it gives a voice and a space for women to tell their stories.  And we talked about how sometimes people who comment on our blogs use their words to try to silence us, and our right to tell our own stories.  I don't have that problem here because my personal blog is such small peanuts that I have very limited readership, but when I've posted in larger forums, I have definitely seen that kind of comment at work. 

And if valuing and creating space for myself to share my stories is a feminist act, then I am most definitely a feminist blogger.  I felt totally at home last night and loved what all the women had to say.  It was really fascinating to be in a room full of women who blog for so many different purposes and have diverse outcomes, but we were all there because we have given voice to ourselves, online, where everyone can hear, if they choose to.  And that can be a daring thing, even if you think no one is listening.  And the point I believe bel hooks is making is that so many women in history have lived, loved, and died without a voice, without a way to tell their story, so it is up to us to use the voice we have as often as we can, for their sakes and ours.