Feminists Give Thanks

So... Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I was supposed to write about what I'm Thankful for and submit it to Danine yesterday so she could add it to this post... but I completely forgot. I knew I had to do it, I forgot that yesterday was when I had to do it.

So, please hop on over to Danine's blog to read for what Feminists Give Thanks, then come back here and read my two cents.

I give thanks for my sisters, all of them -- blood and otherwise. Each one has a strength that has surprised me, and that I envy. I'm thankful they have put up with my pig-headed ways and words, and, when necessary, have proven me wrong.

I'm thankful for my mom, who has taken so much cr@p from me I don't know how she put up with me. Even though her habit of playing Devil's Advocate used to royally get on my nerves, I know she's always been on my side, because every time I needed her to -- even when I didn't know I needed her to -- she bared the bear claws and fought for her cub(ettes) without apology.

I'm thankful for teh Internetz, because it keeps me connected to my family and lets me see photos and video of my precious nephew (and I'm thankful that his mom is so camera-happy). But I'm also thankful for the world it has opened up for me -- it has introduced me to other feminists, and let me realize that, by gum, I am a feminist.

It has also shown me some very serious problems with feminism, but it's given me the voice and resources to do something about it.

It has introduced me to people I would never have met otherwise, people like @nueva_voz and @genderbitch and others, and helped me see worlds, their worlds, which I never would have seen otherwise. I have been quick to call out others on their privilege and the limits of their white picket fences, and yet here I was, reveling in my cis privilege and oblivious to their worlds, because my picket fence, though it covers some nice ground, didn't include their experiences.

(Sometimes it all gets a little overwhelming, but I get by with a little help from my Twitter Lists.)

I'm thankful for all my connections. All these people I now know, or know of, and what I'm learning from them.

I'm thankful that I've lived in upper-middle-class neighborhoods in countries where I had access to education and books and computers and Internet, that I've always had enough food and water and clothing and a place to live and a way to pay for medical (and dental) care. And I'm thankful for the people who are helping me find ways to make sure that others have access to all these things as well.