Day in the Life of a Feminist Writer/Activist

I met with some great college students the other day doing a feminist term here in NYC with Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards. It was a great chance to reflect on what it really means–on a daily basis–to be a working feminist writer and activist. Then I saw this great post from Girl with Pen’s Laura Mazer. Now I’m inspired to give you my own day in the life. This was actually last Monday, when I was trying to get a sense of how I was using my time/energy after an interesting discussion about just that at our feministing retreat. It’s not typical of every day. Every day is really different for me. But at least it is one day, one version of the nitty gritty in my world. I’m hoping that others will be motivated to add theirs to the community blog (scientists! social workers! carpenters! whoever!) so we can all learn from one another.
8:30. Kiss boy. Drag my ass out of bed and eat English muffin with peanut butter. Go to yoga. Drop by the bank to deposit some checks that finally came in and grab some fruit at the deli before heading home to put my nose to the grindstone.
11:00. Write a feministing post on the NYT Sunday Magazine piece “What do women want?” Resist the impulse to read what every single other feminist blogger said about it so I can actually respond in a fresh, organic way.
12:10. Read email while eating leftover soba noodle and veggie soup from yesterday’s overpriced sushi order.
12:55. Type up my chicken scratch notes from an interview I did the Friday before with Living Liberally founder Justin Krebs. Part of the book I’m working on profiling people under 35 doing interesting social change work.
1:30. Revise a speech I wrote on for the president of a women’s organization. Ghostwriting is weird. I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the ethics of it, though the pay is nice.
2:00. More email. God damn email black hole.
2:30. Write pitch on an op-ed and send it to the NYT knowing that they will inevitably, as they always do, reject it. Then get it shaped up to pitch to places where I have great relationships with editors.
3:20. Work on a proposal for the National Women’s Studies Association conference on the connection between feminist blogs and women’s studies, send it to the feministing ladies for perusal and additions.
3:45. A producer from Nightline calls about Barbie’s 50th anniversary. I try to sound smart.
4:00. Email. Again. (Young women who want to write email me for advice. My mom emails me about her upcoming knee surgery. My writer’s group emails me about new members. My best friend from home emails me about running into our long lost crush from nerd camp at a bar in Denver. Feministing editors email each other about topics for the week and how much fun our retreat was…)
5:30. Finally step away from the computer and to a friend’s novel–still in galley form–that I’m devouring. Snuggle with Kima (who is not a very helpful worker as you can see from above pic).
6:30. Work on an award application after prompting from friend whose connected to the awarding organization. Feel kinda good about some of the work I’ve been doing when I see it all lined up like that. Dinner.
8:00. Watch stupid TV and try to get both email in boxes to less than 25 each. Boy comes home. Kiss him again.
11:00. Daily Show.
12:00. Snoring.