Bluestockings: Holding Fast in a Political Hurricane
By Hannah Halberstam, Sarah Kim and Ishani Raha
The graffiti-tagged door to Bluestockings is stuck; it takes two, three tries before it moves, opening into the cozy bookstore. Near the bright windows, three women are discussing Sister Outsider, their book club’s pick for this month. People disappear among the bookshelves, browsing titles like Full Frontal Feminism, You Can’t Touch My Hair and Against the Fascist Creep. Hayley Kiyoko’s “Girls Like Girls” plays softly in the background: “Girls like girls like boys do, nothing new,” she sings over the speakers.
Bluestockings is a radical feminist bookstore in the Lower East Side named after the Blue Stocking Society, an eighteenth century movement of female intellectuals in Britain. In addition to carrying more than 6,000 titles, it sells zines, journals, vegan baked goods, Diva Cup menstrual products, and pins bearing leftist slogans and pride flags. Since 1999, the store has embraced feminists, members of the LGBTQ+ community and political radicals.. This sanctuary has become more relevant for left-leaning progressives in today’s divisive political environment.
In the words of Hadar Kaly, a 20-year-old Bluestockings volunteer, an essential goal of the store is, “to center and make space for and highlight the voices of people whose voices are often silenced.” Bluestockings’ bookshelves are divided into sections like intersectional feminism, race studies, and LGTBQ+ fiction. Events include a women’s/trans’ open mic poetry night and a radical educators’ book club.
Customers say that finding a haven is especially vital as abortion, immigrant, and gay rights have come under assault during the Trump administration. The looming retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy only adds to customers’ fears for the future.
“[Bluestockings] is a safe space to just kind of exist,” said Kaly, who has volunteered there for four and a half years and goes by the pronoun “they.” Kaly described the bookstore as a second home. “We try to make it so that it’s like a safe space, physically and emotionally, for people who might be harrassed on the street. If it’s difficult out there, we want it to be not difficult in here.”
“We’re not going to tolerate abusive language or behaviors,” explained 32-year-old Corey Farach. “People have to be respectful of others’ identities and their personal space.”
Naturally, Bluestockings has some detractors.
“Occasionally people will imply that spaces like ours are unnecessary, or that we’re excluding people by advertising ourselves as a space for otherwise marginalized voices,” said Farach. As a member of the Bluestockings collective, Farach is part of the group of activists that, in his own words, “Keep the store open and keep the store radical.”
A feminist book club meets monthly on Sundays to discuss works by influential activist writers such as Audre Lorde, Roxane Gay and Maggie Nelson. “The group itself selects the books, but they’re always works that are carried here at Bluestockings,” said Jean Haluska, an artist, activist and book club member.
Founded by a group of friends, Bluestockings began as a community meeting venue for lesbians. The store’s mission has changed since then, incorporating a more diverse set of justice-seeking people. Today, Bluestockings is collectively owned and volunteer run. Nearly all of the profits goes back into the store, which allows Bluestockings to keep its doors open, despite skyrocketing rents.
Once a gritty district for impoverished immigrants and artists, the Lower East Side has evolved into a chic destination for mimosa brunches and boutiques that are replacing bodegas and family-run pizzerias.
Whatever the changes, Bluestockings isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, business has increased over the past 18 or so months, boosted by Trumpian fears. Customers come in and out all day, buying books and baked goods such as vegan green tea cookies with jasmine icing and soy- and nut-free donuts.
When asked about Bluestockings’ future, Kaly has high hopes. “One of our collective members does our accounting, and for the first time in literally years he said that he’s not worried. He’s always worried. We’re actually doing better than we ever have.”
