Our first Blog Tour for Life Choices came to an end today. A big THANK YOU to all the bloggers for their interest and support. Thanks also to Sentient Publications for bringing it all together. You can get to the blogs and their reviews/interviews by clicking on the LINKS in the SIDEBAR on the right side of this or any page of my site.
I am heartened by what most of these bloggers have to say about Life Choices. A good number of them are young and all of them are passionate about feminism and about reproductive freedom; they’re also extremely knowledgeable about the issues. They’ve given me a good feeling about the way blogs and bloggers work and the importance of this form of participation in the social conversation. After all, I’m new to the blog world.
There was one blogger whose review was mostly negative about both the book and me. I feel compelled to comment on some of what she said. I’ll start where she ends. She wrote, “Now is not the time to get in touch with our inner goddess. Now is the time to hurl bricks.”
I can’t imagine a worse idea. Hurl bricks? You could hurt someone, even someone you don’t mean to hurt. Plus, her remark (“inner goddess” being a term of her own making) implies that spirituality and politics are opposed to each other and that you have to choose one or the other. I don’t think that’s true, and it’s not helpful to set up false dichotomies in the interest of sounding militant. It just isn’t necessary. To call meditation or the ancient ceremony of the vision quest “new agey” is ridiculous on the face of it, but you can’t really know that unless you educate yourself about what they are. I invite that reviewer and anyone else to do that.
She also wrote that the stories in Life Choices about the women and their abortions “are touching, but out of place in an increasingly hostile political and social environment.” To me this shows a real lack of understanding with regard to the importance of women’s experiences with abortion. Out of place? Really? I don’t know about you, but the only social movement I want to be part of puts the stories of people in the center of its focus. History shows us that the most successful freedom movements are the ones that keep their eyes on the prize and don’t succumb to the tactics of the opposition.
Last week I had the pleasure of sharing speaking time with a pastor from the Colorado chapter of RCRC (Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice). We were each asked to speak about spiritual issues and abortion at a Women’s Health staff meeting. It was an honor as well as a pleasure to be in such good company.
This is all to be continued of course. The conversation is important and will go on for a long time. We all have to hang in there, take care of ourselves, and stay clear about how we want to move in the world. I’m grateful to anyone who expresses their thoughts about what’s in Life Choices. I’m grateful for it all.
Happy Thanksgiving!
You’re right. You’re in good company–Gandhi comes to mind. Successful freedom movements are those that DON’T hurl bricks no matter how frustrated you feel.