an excerpt from "The Lavendar Magazine," San Diego, CA
"Intimate Encounter with Alix Olson: On Feminsim, Humor, Irony, Rage, and No Compromise"
Issue No., 19, August 16, 2002
by Alix Olson
I define myself very clearly as a radical feminist. Yet, I'm not sure what a feminist is. I think it is easy to reduce that simple word to 'equality between women and men', and I long for, shoot for, live for, so much more than that. I believe that a radically different global infrastructure is necessary to equalize women and men, to free up gender expression from its bipolarity, and to allow all people, regardless of gender to live free lives with basic needs met. I hope that feminism maintains its momentum without losing its radical bottom tier. Its easy to lose track of the grassroots tide, when the waves start building, but it's those underpinnings that keep us rooted to the earth. Radical feminism is the most progressive ideology(ies) I have discovered in my life thus far. It is the most tuned in to all aspects of oppression, the most exciting meshing of culture, politics, and caring. The most comprehensive politics, addressing issues of health care, class analysis. We have to remember to keep feminism listening with a critical ear to the needs of women in all communities, to keep theory true to its practical application. As Adrienne Rich says, "if it doesn't smell of the earth, it isn't good for the earth". We cannot let corporations take feminism from us, Nike’s a good example of that. Pictures of strong, lean women in Nike gear. But, where did those sneakers come from? Whose hands made them? Strong, successful North American women built directly at the expense of other women is not feminism. Those are not good stakes.