Hey APW,
Next Wednesday is a big day: it’s International Women’s Day, and also is the day of the A Day Without A Woman general strike organized by the team behind January’s Women’s March. And the strike sounds pretty amazing:
In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women’s March, we join together in making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, recognizing the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system—while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression, and political targeting. We believe in gender justice.
The APW team has spent a couple of weeks chatting about what we’re going to do. If we’re being real, it would be pretty easy for all of us to join in the general strike. We have a super feminist boss who is obviously here for it, we work in a small team, and if APW doesn’t publish for one day it won’t sink the site. But… then we started chatting about the other side of the conversation: women who can’t afford to strike because their families rely on their income. Women who can’t strike because if they don’t take care of the kids, no one will. Women who are immigrants, who are already terrified daily and for whom risking a job is just a bit too much to add to their plate. And so on, and so on. For every argument that is pro striking on a Wednesday, in the middle of the week, there’s an argument that says, “I’d like to, but I don’t think I can.”
Luckily, the organizers of the strike wisely anticipated this reality, and offer up three suggestions for how to participate:
- Women take the day off, from paid and unpaid labor
- Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses)
- Wear RED in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman
And those ideas? We’re a hundred percent behind them. So cheers to a general strike, however that plays out for you, and solidarity between sisters.
XO,
Stephanie
Link Round-up
Why you can’t even call an enslaved woman “a mistress.”
Jamie Kilstein, self-proclaimed “male feminist,” has resigned amid assault allegations. Ass.
Harriet Tubman’s path to freedom.
This four-year-old was able to take his first steps thanks to a donation from a stranger.
Brie Larson did not hide her disdain for Casey Affleck, and we love her.
See also: Chrissy Teigen took petty to a new level. LYLAS.
Speaking of, Viola Davis killed it at the Oscars, and we sobbed.
Jeff Sessions. Why.
Trump: Obama Is Making Everyone Hate Me! Fact-Check: TRUE.
Congress may lack technical expertise to properly investigate Russian hacking.
Elizabeth Warren is bringing an Iraqi refugee to Trump’s Congressional Address.
