WUNRN
WHAT'S THE POINT OF REVOLUTION IF WE
CAN'T DANCE?
Direct Link to Full 168-Page Text:
Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human
Rights
Jane Barry with Jelena Dordevic
Putting the Soul Back Into Your Life
and Your Work
"There is a powerful and
growing realisation in women's rights movements that the time has come to make
well-being and sustainability a priority.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi summed this up
beautifully in her eloquent appeal for change:
Addressing the physical, spiritual,
and emotional needs of women has been
a
major shortcoming of our work as feminists. In the very social and
institutional
arenas in which we must work, the compounded effects of the
growing
backlash against the women's movement, media harassment,
cultural
and religious fundamentalisms, the pressures of running
organisations,
and the challenges of balancing family and professional
obligations,
make the task of sustaining individual women's energies very
difficult.
Many
of us are tired, burnt out, depressed and angry; and many of us have
gone
through intense periods of crisis characterised by a breakdown in
relationships,
problems with our families, betrayals of trust, bitterness and
deep
hurt. Increasingly, we are cynical; and we are just 'going through the
motions.'
And while many of us are aware of this, we seldom talk about it.
For a
movement that has thrived on the slogan 'the personal is political,' we
have
not reflected on how much of what we do and with one another is both
'personal'
and 'political.'
We
need to go back to the old feminist strategies of consciousness-
raising
and developing women's self-esteem. We need to teach ourselves
how to feel
pain and how to talk about what we are going through rather
than
denying it or seeking comfort in all the wrong places. We have to
learn
how to like each other, to respect each other, and to love each other,
and most
importantly, how to take great joy in doing that.
We want to
put the soul back into our movement!"