Why we have mixed feelings about participating in the Women's Strike

By Fusion Staff | March 8, 2017 | 12:00pm

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At Fusion, it’s part of our mission to shine a light on amazing things women do, from guiding pregnant teens through abortion laws to making incredible gifs to setting up a school at the Standing Rock Camp to running for office at age 19 to making sure the Bronx has a bookstore. Today, on International Women’s Day, when it comes to the general strike—an event that is finally getting back to its radical roots—the feelings here are mixed. Why? Read on, and you’ll understand.

Because my work is important

On Wednesday, I will be in an edit booth producing a program on women and sex as part of Fusion TV’s International Women’s Day coverage, so I clearly won’t be striking. But the show is a good demonstration of what a strong team of women can and are doing—and that is my contribution. As a Brit, organizing in the workplace runs in my blood. Striking can be a powerful and disruptive tool, but I am conscious that it should be used as leverage to have specific demands met. I’m not convinced that Wednesday will achieve much beyond raising awareness. —Amy Gardner

Because other people’s voices are valuable

I didn’t enter into journalism because I felt my voice was so valuable, but because I thought others’ were. Today, I choose to work because I want to amplify the voices of the women marching, but also continue to center women of color and undocumented women who may not have the access—or option—to be so seen. —Anne Branigin

Because I have a platform

I’m not going on strike because I recognize what a privileged and unique position I have as the editor in chief of a news site. So many women of color do not have a platform to make themselves heard, and part of my work is to amplify those voices. Being in the office today is my way of uplifting and supporting the women striking. —Dodai Stewart

Because I want to shine a light

As a daughter (of a badass, strong Panamanian immigrant), sister, and (God-willing) one day mother, I will be standing in solidarity with all women across the nation and world, as we fight for many things, but really just one thing: equality. As a journalist and social media editor, I will use our platforms to elevate and shed light on the stories of women of all backgrounds, including but not limited to our struggles, joys, feels, and achievements. I hope that through the work that I, and the other women of Fusion, do today, you find yourself encouraged, and more informed on all things mujer. —Ecleen Caraballo

Because of strength in numbers

I’ll be striking today because I believe in the power of solidarity. Our most vulnerable women are facing terrible obstacles and injustices and the only way to achieve meaningful change is if people from all walks of life fight back. And the only way a strike will work is if everyone or as many people as possible participate. As someone who is privileged enough to have a job, citizenship, and security, I don’t see why I wouldn’t join a movement whose mission I believe in and that can only succeed if it has mass participation. I’m more concerned about adding to that strength in numbers than what striking says about my privilege. —Elisa Rodriguez-Vila

Because it’s not symbolic of all women

I am a Mexican-born woman. Immigrants in particular might feel especially vulnerable risking their jobs, especially if their status depends on their employer. As a symbolic act, the Women’s Strike falls short of feeling inclusive of all women. It’s our responsibility as feminists to be very conscious about the plight of all women. While at Fusion, Akilah Hughes did a great piece on intersectionality and feminism that comes to mind. —Ingrid Ruiz

Because our freedoms are inextricably bound

I stand in solidarity with women all over the world striking for equality. I will be spending my time on March 8 to shine a light on stories about women, but also about race, immigrant rights, and LGBT rights, because our freedoms are inextricably bound together. —Isabelle Niu

Because I care about the vulnerable

As a woman of color, the daughter of immigrants, and a journalist, I have been engaging with several difficult conversations about the best way to wield my voice, my labor, and my privilege on March 8. I am not striking in full, but plan to focus my efforts to covering the Women’s Strike, particularly the stories of women of color, immigrants, queer and trans women, and other more vulnerable women. I want to amplify the voices of our sisters, and stand in solidarity with those striking. —Isha Aran

Because I want stories to be told

I’m privileged to be in a position and profession that has the unique power to showcase and amplify individual voices, and lucky to be at a place that attempts to do so for underrepresented communities who have traditionally not been welcomed into or well-represented in mainstream media. I am showing up at work today to help tell their stories, to support the rest of our staff who are dedicated to telling those stories, and because there is work to be done to that end on this day and every other day. —Joyce Tang

Because I believe in solidarity

Today, I’ll be standing in solidarity with the women of Gizmodo Media Group, New York City, and around the world in going on strike for International Women’s Day.

I’ll stand in solidarity with Irish women, who are on strike today to protest their country’s abortion ban, with the women of Standing Rock, who for months halted the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline through their sacred lands, the thousands of immigrants who flooded the streets to show the country a Day Without Immigrants, the organizers of the Yemeni Bodega Strike, and so many others.

I do so while fully acknowledging the privileges that allow me to do so: a supportive workplace culture with a newsroom run by women, my whiteness, my upper middle class-dom. I am striking to honor the women who withheld their labor when they had everything to lose, putting their bodies on the line to fight for better working conditions, fair pay, and union recognition.

We need to spend purposeful time talking about how women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and people with disabilities are marginalized by a society that values the accumulation of material wealth above all else, and we need to organize around breaking down the frameworks that reinforce those systems of oppression.

As Magally Miranda Alcazar and Kate Griffiths articulated so aptly for The Nation: “Striking is not a privilege. Privilege is not having to strike.”

There is enormous untapped power in organizing across lines of race, gender, and class–and we don’t have any time to waste. —Katherine Krueger

Because women deserve more

I will be spending March 8 striking in solidarity with women in New York City, nationally, and internationally. As a woman of incredible privilege, I know that I go through much of my day untouched by many forms of social and structural violence, but I want to stand with and for a movement that is building power against the conditions of women’s oppression—racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, transphobia and anti-LGTBQ violence, misogyny, the decimation of organized labor, the privatization of public goods, the erosion of reproductive freedom, the pollution of clean air and water, abuse in our homes and workplaces, and injustice however it manifests.

I also strike to stand with other women in journalism, particularly women of color, LGBTQ women, immigrant women, and women with disabilities, who are underrepresented, underestimated, and underpaid across our industry.

Women deserve more, and solidarity is a start. I choose to strike. —Katie McDonough

Because I’m rethinking what taking action means

The strike, the boycott, the refusal to serve, the ability to paralyze the functioning of a complex social structure—these remain potent weapons against the most fearsome state or corporate power. — Howard Zinn

With recognition of the power of strikes and boycotts, I’ll be working on our live coverage of International Women’s Day across the country as a digital producer. I’ll be coordinating coverage from New York to the Bay Area and taking time to rethink how we can uplift voices and perspectives from a feminist angle. I’ll use the day to report from local events in the Bay Area and think about ways to cover lesser-known stories, like the Arkansas ban on books written by Howard Zinn. —Lakshmi Sarah

Because women Get. Shit. Done.

We want to acknowledge the work the women of Fusion do every day across platforms. Our diverse cohort of women keep this media organization operating and bring remarkable expertise and insight to our coverage of complex and under-reported issues. Women’s work in journalism and other industries is systematically undervalued and under-compensated in comparison to our male colleagues.

We recognize the disparities women, particularly women of color, LGBTQ women, and women with disabilities, around the world face on a daily basis, and strive to elevate their stories in our work. —Isha Aran, Nidhi Prakash, Shruti Parekh, Sameen Amin, Katie McDonough, Isabelle Niu, Katherine Krueger, Molly Osberg, Katrine Dermody, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Ecleen Caraballo

This post has been updated to include an additional entry.

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