A Historical Perspective on the Question: Am I a Feminist?

Check out this interesting guest post by artist and yogini Maya Breuer on her own history as it relates to feminism through the generations, a topic we will continue to explore leading up to the conference this fall at the Omega Institute. We will be publishing a series of guest posts as a fun way of initiating some of the speakers–who are generally new to blogging–into our exciting online community. Please make them feel welcome.
Back in the 60’s I did not fit the typical description of a feminist. When Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan founded the Women’s Political Caucus, I was enmeshed in the politics of economic inequality. I attended the ’72 Democratic National Convention, as a representative from the National Welfare Rights Organization, protesting cutbacks in federal assistance to poor families.
Following that convention, I did community action work in equal employment and affirmative action. I was also a young black mother attempting to find my voice, which was becoming tinged with overtones from inspiring women like Angela Davis and Sonya Sanchez.
I was also in an abusive marriage. After one particular beating from my husband, I went to the local police station seeking protection. I registered my complaint. The officer asked, “Isn’t he that news reporter from Channel __?” “Yes, I replied, he is.”
He then asked me to have a seat. When he returned he said, “Mrs.___, we’ll take you home, and have a conversation with him. Then he added, “He’s a good guy, we’ll talk with him.”
The police escorted me home, spoke with my husband, but nothing happened. I was struck with the reality that there was no protection for me or my children. True, I was a black woman, but now I felt the need to align myself with other women, and to figure out how I fit in to the feminist movement. Was there a place for black women in the feminist movement? If I joined would it somehow diminish my commitment to racial equality?
I joined a consciousness raising group. We met regularly, we laughed, we talked, we cried, we pondered and discussed events of the day in the feminist and the civil rights movements. We talked about how restrictive marriage could be, that women had no personal reproductive rights, the need for legal protection and safe haven for women being abused, and sitting on the floor we even looked at our own vaginas with speculum-like mirrors.
I read The Feminine Mystique, lauded Shirley Chisholm’s run for the Presidency and celebrated the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, all the while trying to figure out where I stood. Was I a feminist?
Since the 90’s my work as a yoga instructor and director of the yoga retreat for women of color has led me to recognize the value in an evolving and growing feminist perspective. I have worked primarily with women of all ethnicities, socio economic backgrounds and generations. Our intergenerational dialogues have encouraged many to find their own voice and vision for personal growth. The need to be part of a collective feminist consciousness is as essential today as ever.
This September, women of all colors and generations are coming together at Omega for the Women and Power Conference to dialogue about feminism, health, art, body, mind and spirit. I look forward to sharing my voice and experiencing the collective voices and wisdoms of others. Perhaps our intergenerational dialogues at Omega will begin an evolution into the next wave of global woman spirit and the feminist movement.
See Maya’s full bio after the jump.

Maya Breuer, RYT, is a yogini and jazz and visual artist who began her study of yoga at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. In 1994, she traveled to India to study the traditional and time-honored aspects of yoga with Shri Rajarshi Muni.
A senior Kripalu Yoga teacher, Maya has strived to bring the healing benefits and knowledge of the dharma of yoga and a holistic lifestyle to minority communities. She believes sincerely in soul, spirit, growth, and personal transformation through yoga and daily holistic practices.
Maya is the founder and director of the Santosha School of Yoga, which offers certifications for beginner and advanced curriculums, and creator of the national Yoga Retreat for Women of Color offered throughout the United States. In her lectures and workshops, she combines the classical and ancient traditions of yoga with her soulful life experience to fashion a feminine and sacred approach to teaching this ancient practice.
An active member of the International Association of Black Yoga Teachers and Kripalu Yoga Teacher’s Association, Maya is an affiliate instructor for the American Yoga College and a member of the Kripalu Center Board of Trustees. She is also one of the featured authors in Stephen Cope’s Will Yoga and Meditation Really Change My Life? and recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the International Association of Black Yoga Teachers, 2006.
Raised in the Jewish faith, Maya feels a deep alignment with Tikkun Olam, the work to repair the world. She is currently at work on her first book, Soul Yoga, about how women of color can blend ancestral traditions and Eastern practices to create a healing spiritual life.