With this post, I am excited to launch the first ever New Feminism blog.  NewFeminism.co brings together a group of New Feminists – and you – to reflect on daily issues and current concerns. We offer unique, female-centered perspectives on cultural, social, political, medical and health issues affecting women.

Our perspectives as feminists vary significantly, but all of the writers here are fairly called “difference feminists.” Difference feminists believe that the feminine qualities of women offer a different, but profoundly equal, contribution to the human enterprise.  From womb to tomb, every human person needs the female in their lives – the authentic female – not a masculinized or sexualized “hipless, wombless, hard-titted Barbie.” (G. Greer)  Difference feminists also seek social, medical, reproductive and health solutions that strive to respect, not neutralize, the unique characteristics of the female body.

I am well suited to the task of bringing this blog to life. I spent 15 years as a “sameness feminist” – pursuing career objectives and sexual freedoms that mirrored my male counterparts from 1974-1989. I have a law degree from University of Virginia and practiced both criminal defense (with a focus on prostitution) and bankruptcy. I have taught at the law schools at the University of Cincinnati and at the University of the Pacific. I left compensated work in 1996 and have, since, studied Canon Law and written on a freelance basis.

I am a devoted wife and mother of three. My feminism has matured and developed in response to my family and my recognition that family relationships remain central to the lives of women who, too often, struggle with excessive demands to compromise that which they hold most dear. Writers influencing my thinking as a New Feminist include Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Deal Hudson, Kay Hymowitz, Wendy Shalit, Germaine Greer, Blessed John Paul II, Pia de Solenni, Camille Paglia, Susan Will and, perhaps most importantly, Erma Bombeck whose tender love of being a mother and wife restored my sense of humor.

You will notice that the writers featured here tackle issues and problems from a uniquely female perspective. We distinguish ourselves from feminists who tether women’s success and fulfillment to the same measures used by men. Equality, we believe, should not and does not eliminate differences that enrich and benefit all of humankind and contribute to the full realization of every woman’s potential. More, our view of medical and emotional health focuses on the female body and being as we exist, not as a burdened or encumbered variation of the male body.

The charter contributors to NewFeminism.co appear in the right column.  Each writer’s first post will be biographical and, once online, available as a link through the contributor’s name. 

Please do enjoy and participate. Use the comments section to react, opine and comment. Tell the writers and the readership of other issues of interest to you – and direct our attention to projects, writings, events and posts of import and impact. We have a liberal comments policy but ask everyone to be respectful in discussing differences and avoid personal attacks and judgmental language. We seek to set the standard for New Feminism – both in content and tone which reflect our uniquely feminine concern for connecting the whole of humanity in the challenging enterprise of living daily life.