Viva la Feminista

So when we last met, I was furiously debating the pros and cons of who should become Chicago's next mayor. Seems like I was in a wee minority of Chicagoans who were passionate about the election as we barely got over the 40% turnout rate . And now we have Rahm. I watched the results trickle in on my smart phone as I stood in my cousin's kitchen in Bremerton, Washington. I had jetted off to the Seattle area on election day to join my cousin and the rest of her immediate family in mourning the loss of her dad - my uncle and godfather. My godfather was a simple guy. He joined the Navy during the Korean War and was an electrician on aircraft carriers and after retiring from active duty found work in Bremerton dismantling decommissioned ships. He was electrocuted once and contracted Hepatitis C while in Korea - this is what eventually killed him. As my cousin Viki wrote in a statement she asked me to read from at the memorial, he loved and was loved. Despite being a Navy guy, La...

In the end, we, the people of Illinois, will get the political reform we deserve. If we sit back and fail to speak out, we'll get more of the same -- peanuts. And we'll have no one to blame but ourselves. That quote is from an excellent editorial from the Chicago Sun-Times in 2009. A mere two years ago. One that if you read it you think that the Sun-Times is trying to champion citizens. Those of us who watch the political circuses that have made us in Chicago and Illinois a punchline. Those of us who watch politicians collect pensions like Beanie Babies while those of us way lower the ladder get legislated against. So when I read the Sun-Times endorsement of Rahm Emanuel , I kinda threw up in my mouth. Did they really try to sell us on him based on the fact that his career hasn't been in the city? He has built his career in places far removed from the city streets — in corporate boardrooms, the halls of Congress and the Oval Office. This is where he has learned about ...

The one nifty tool that I never added to Viva la Feminista was the subscribe by email option. Honestly, I didn't think people wanted it. That is until someone asked me why it wasn't offered a few months ago. So ta-da! It's now available. Just go over to the sidebar and look for "Connect with Viva la Feminista" and click on the email link. I'll be tweaking with how the email will look, so forgive any ugliness that occurs at first. And back to your regularly scheduled program...

The Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies at Butler has invited me to Butler University for a lecture/talk/hopefully conversation on titled,“I'm a Professional Feminist, Ask Me How!” It will be on March 1st at 6 PM in PB156. I have no idea what that means, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. :) Here is part of the description of my talk: In this talk Arreola tackles the question: “What is a professional feminist, and how does one become one?” She argues that a professional feminist isn't “just a Gloria Steinem or Jessica Valenti,” but rather includes those of us working in a feminist manner in our studies and at our jobs. This is a talk I've been working on for a few years. It's been mostly conversations with students, friends and other interested parties who wonder why I call myself a professional feminist, what one is and how someone becomes one. It will also stem from fears I had as a young feminist about "How the hell am I supposed to get to Glori...