Texas NOW Blog

The second annual BlogHer Conference was fantastic! What an amazing group of smart, funny, articulate women. I had a great time, met some great women, and learned a lot.

What a thrill to meet Laurie Toby Edison and Debbie Notkin of Body Impolitic, makers of the wonderful book Women En Large. Laurie mentioned that she will be in Austin in October! With some luck we'll be able to bring her to UT to speak. More as things develop on this. And it was wonderful to see Susie Bright speak; I recommend her blog entry, linked above, on the need for the conference and why blogging is a feminist issue.

The panel on identity and obligation was FABULOUS. Panelists Karen Walrond, Dawn Rouse, Marisa Treviño, and Carmen Van Kerckhove, along with moderator Maria Niles, started us off, and the crowd discussion got very lively indeed. It was such a joy to listen to a group of women who were mostly strangers talk thoughtfully, honestly, and wisely about some tough topics. Do we have to disclose marginalized identities? Should we? Does that help us gain allies or not? Fascinating discussion that taught me two new phrases: "racial spy," a person of color whose appearance doesn't immediately make that identification clear and thus has a unique opportunity to observe race and racism in multiple communities, and "sneaky racist," someone who waits for 'safe' territory (read: no people of color around) before starting to disclose racist ideas.

So much fun to see so many amazing women using the web to make themselves heard!