Yes, cisgendered is a new-ish one. The lingo advances with the consciousness …

I’m not sure I understand your comment about not being ‘sufficiently inclusive of women who don’t share my/the same view’ — who am I leaving out?

Interesting; these are the IDENTICAL issues that consumed us at the “radical feminist” center for women’s studies and services in San Diego circa 1974-75.

Clearly, I haven’t kept up because I don’t know what cisgendered means.

(btw, this is not tmi; this is the heart of the continuation of one of the most important conversations women can have)

The whole “lens” thing is particular to the radical feminist (as opposed to the then-NOW get-a-bigger-piece-of-the-white-man’s-pie) agenda and it’s also leftist politics back in the day when there was still a left left in America.

Down the road a little . . . . I believe in what you’re saying. I also believe that what you’re saying isn’t sufficiently inclusive of women who don’t share that view. It was incredibly divisive in the 70′s and we lost a lot of women to the movement. I’m not saying we should abandon that lens – Lord knows its how I mostly see the world myself. But I also believe that it’s important for me to see through the many lenses of others; lenses that often appear to be completely contrary to mine.

Because, as the poet Galway Kinnell wrote, “if you express your own personal experience deeply enough, your voice becomes simply that of another creature on the planet speaking.”

Many lenses, many frames.

Last question: when you say feminist/inclusive do you mean inclusive of feminists? or do you mean feminists being inclusive of others & if so who?

But genuinely, difficult to have a conversation as meaningful, dimensional and textured as this in blog post comments.

All best,

Vickie

I’m hoping that between June’s comment and my reply (both of which happened as you were commenting, I think) covers most of the questions you’ve raised. My views about what TED did or didn’t do/mean etc. come from the public announcements they’ve shared initially and in some online conversations. if it isn’t public, I’m not using it… so there is obviously more to the story that hasn’t been told.

I have been thinking a lot about what I wish TED had done… although my first reaction to the announcement text itself (which was what I saw first) was more like whaaaat? , if someone had told me “Hey, TED’s having a conference about women’s issues” I’d have been more positively inclined. To me, there are few situations where separating women out without an explicitly feminist / women’s issues agenda would seem kosher. But that’s me, I have a feminist, inclusive agenda.

My dream TED conference about women-centered ideas would be a conference about the global feminist conversation. To me, that’s a “big idea”. I really like your idea of setting up the multilogue with TED and women in the community of ideas who do and don’t feel like the TEDWomen idea gets us further. We are kindof/sortof working on that in this online conversation– but obviously this has too many limitations to really make or be the change we seek.