Regrouping: An April Relaunch of Femmes Unafraid

Hi followers and supporters.

It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks, and I literally just finished catching up on the emails associated with the Femmes account. There were stories submitted to the initial iteration of the publication, but as you may or may not know, I fucked up and felt, morally, that I had to shutter it and then re-launch.

So. Where am I? Where are the stories you submitted? I won’t publish any of the previously submitted pieces, unless you choose to resubmit.

I do that because you may or may not approve of, or stand with, the reasons behind my decisions to close and then relaunch Femmes. I did receive a few comments that deserve a response.

Why, some folx wanted to know, 1.) would I not want other (i.e., nonfeminist) voices in FU? 2.) Was I afraid of contrary opinions? 3.) Do I want only opinions and voices that jibe with mine? 4.) Do I enjoy living in an echo chamber? and this, 5.) Can’t someone legitimately ask why there is a Black History month, and no white history month?

In answer the first four questions: Of course I do. I’m a 51 year old, cishetero white chick who grew up kinda poor but who lives a middle class existence in a rich Connecticut suburb. I’m also a mother, a political progressive, an atheist raising a Christian child, and the canvas upon which five tattoos reside. I have been a Zamboni driver, a caretaker, a reporter, a Head Start family educator, a factory worker, and a waitress. I have always identified as and I choose to label myself a feminist. I smoke too much, I’ve been known to drink too much, and I damn sure swear too much (although never gratuitously.) I have depression but that bitch does not have me. So yes, I do want other voices: Women of all ages, nationalities, ethnicities, cultures; Black and Brown women; lesbian, bisexual, transgender and multi or nonbinary women; rural women, urban women, women of faith, women who are mothers or childfree; and yes, even women who identify politically as “conservative.” Although, to be frank, I cannot see someone who holds dear to politically conservative mores would be terribly comfortable here.

Now, to answer No. 5: Can’t someone ask why there is no white history month without being considered a racist?

NO. Fuck all the fucking way to motherfucking Jupiter and back, NO. And I am not apologizing for this.

So, if writing for a publication that doesn’t allow — because it doesn’t respect or even acknowledge the validity of such a stupid question — racist, slightly racist, a hint of racism, a thinly-veiled version of “all lives matter” racism pieces, somehow offends your free speech sensibilities? Mmmk. Start your own publication. Because you’re not going to be in this one.

But must you identify as a feminist to write for FU? No. That is a label that I choose to give myself. And it’s a label many other women reject, not out of some internal misogyny, but because they don’t feel the need to add yet another label to themselves. I know I said in the past that any woman who doesn’t call herself a feminist should have her vagina revoked. That was my opinion, but I would now amend that to say: Any woman who doesn’t call herself a feminist probably has a reason for it, and I’m curious. Because I really am curious about that. I mean, to me, it’s an easy identity, but then? I don’t wear other labels.

What I won’t publish are pieces that attack women for being feminist or non-feminist. I am not interested in works that preach (no pun intended. you may be atheist or agnostic and think this way) against a woman’s right to choose an abortion. To me, it is anti-female to be anti-choice, and that is an unwavering principle.

So. Here is what I would like to do, in terms of scheduling publication. If you want to submit something, email me at femmesunafraid@gmail.com with a link to your page and to your draft. I truly suck at managing my email accounts, so I am going to just start using that account for submissions, until I get a better handle on the editing process. I ask for a link to your Medium account, so I can get a feel for who you are and where you’re coming from. I would also like for you to include a little bio background at the end of your piece, so that if folks read you here, they can visit your page.

In terms of ownership of your contributions: Your writing is yours. If you publish it here, and you want to later remove it and submit it to another publication or just take it out? Please feel free to do that. Just be sure to let the other publication know that it has appeared here; different publications have different rules about the proprietary of submissions, and may not want something that appeared elsewhere. My feeling is: Your work, your words, you own it.

I read in a recent Medium piece that the best days for publishing are Tuesdays and Saturdays, so that is what I will aim for, beginning on or about April 12th. I’d like nothing more than to have some opinion pieces on the current political climate; I’m a Bernie backer, but there are lots of legit reasons to vote for Hillary and I’ve read some fantastic stuff by Mirah Curzer and I’m a huge fan of others (You out there, Liz Lazzara?) who support HRC. I’d like to read think pieces that begin from experience: Here is why this matters; here is how I came to believe this. Write about things that make you passionate about life: art, music, politics, justice, equality. Be passionate, be poetic, be true to you.

Thank you for reading this far, and I do hope you will consider coming along this new journey.

Also: If you have skills in layout and publication navigation, please consider helping. This is an area in which my skill is sorely lacking.

Namaste, Heather