I'd be a good co-host just because it's still habitual to check out all the posts here. That'd be my reason.

I was host here, and my experience has taught me how to be more... tranquil. I went to a pro-choice protest when I was a teen, and I've seen my share of sexism when my uncle threatened to kill me. They didn't believe me because obviously all girls lie. I also never received a formal education, I taught myself. From age 9 to 18. I had a little college, but I dropped out due to some serious health problems. (Double pneumonia, a lack of immune system, very serious case of B-12 deficiency.) Not anything to brag about, but I guess it explains some things about me.

I've started reading more books about women, and I'm trying to understand more about hidden histories. (I love history.) I'm also more aware of inequality issues than I have ever been before, thanks to DU.

I guess that's about it.

Hello, I'm Starry Messenger! I'd like to nominate myself as a co-host for the Feminists Group. I enjoy the community of DU women and the discussions that have grown here.

I've been a feminist since going to art school, where the deep divisions of male/female representations both in art and in the art world were glaring.

I'm a teacher, a largely feminine profession that is under attack from right-wing corporate forces. I make it part of my mission in the classroom to empower young women to express themselves and to find a way to see the world their own way as artists and women.

I'm Host of Socialist Progressives and I like the idea of crossover between Feminism and left-wing anti-capitalist discussion, since sometimes the latter can be heavily male-dominated and Feminism needs to be part of that conversation too.

I've been co-host of Feminism & Diversity, and was part of the project to propose this group to focus on intersectionality.

I'm also co-host of the Education Group, where all of my interests intersect. I like working for DU, I think it encourages collegiality and communication between members and I've enjoyed this aspect of DU3. Thank you for your time and consideration.

You've got a great resume and offer a lot to the group.

I think everyone here is great, we have an excellent group of folks!

not only on this website but also via your blogs and Facebook. That kind of commitment earns my trust and respect - I definitely second your nomination.

Thank you.

I‘m Obamanut2012, and I’d like to nominate myself as a co-host for the Feminists Group here on DU. I really like the cross-section of feminists we have here, both female and male, and love the exchange of ideas in this group and in other groups and forums. I am always learning something, including learning to appreciate someone else’s experiences.

I have been a feminist since elementary school (even though I didn’t know I was), when the girls were told our field hockey team couldn’t practice on the real field, that was for the boys, because their team was more important for the school. This policy was against federal Law i.e. Title IX. The second event that made me realize things weren’t fair was about the same time, when my father told me I couldn’t do something because I was a girl. I asked if I would be allowed to do it if I was a boy, and he said yes. I told my mother what he said, and she gave me permission to do it. She was as ticked off as I was! I can’t remember what the issue was, and I just texted her, and she can’t either, but it was enough to ignite the flame inside.

In college, some of us lobbied for and got the first women’s studies classes ever held at my university, which in turn caused some local colleges and universities to do the same. This started my real academic study on women’s issues, which continues to this day.

I sincerely believe in social justice, and believe that the main tools for equal civil rights for all is education (not only academic) and eliminating poverty. Having a full belly and dignity should be a right, not a privilege. I have tried to live this as much as I can, including by establishing and helping to coordinate an ESL and a literacy program for the maintenance and custodial staff at my institution, raising a bit of hell so these same workers received the same pay as their male counterparts, and choosing to teach Basic Skills aka GED classes to adults in an impoverished area of North Carolina. I am really maddened by the inequalities existing in our country, inequalities most harshly felt by women and children.

I believe that we are a sum of all of our parts, and every part of us has meaning in our lives. I am a white lesbian, with an excellent education and a thin bank account. I understand that the color of my skin and my education gives me privilege others don’t have. I also know I am judged and often discriminated against because of my gender and my sexual orientation. I understand that a woman of color with my same background is affected by things differently than I am. Basically, I believe in intersectionality. In my own life, women’s rights and LGBT rights are very important to me, and I also often feel that lower-income/less educated women are often left out of the women’s rights equation.

I have moderated several boards over the years, and on DU I am a cohost of Vegetarians & Vegans, and F & D, and was honored by Yardwork and asked to be an interim cohost of the FG. Though this may surprise some of you, I am very fair-mined as a host or juror, and take my responsibilities very seriously, and believe in playing by the rules (or SOP, in this case). As a poster, I very rarely alert, I am not keen on blocking unless it really is the only thing left to do, and I have never had a hidden post. I am tolerant of just about everything but bigotry. If chosen as a cohost, I promise to continue being fair-minded in the FG.

I really apologize this is so long!

More professional than mine.

Kind of like a mad lib?

On the serious side I think you'd make a great host and we'd be lucky to have you.

I should have edited it!

not sure if you ever have seen the Food Network Star...but I see a lot of myself in Marti. Might be why I keep myself so brief with my comments on DU.

I love her, though... genuinely warm, with just a tendency to ramble a bit

I'm REP. Duh. I'm a Host in many Forums, so I get how it works (or I'm the worst thing ever; opinions vary ). I temp Hosted this Group.

I've been a feminist ever since I first heard, "Girls can't do ..." probably somewhere in 1965 (I was born 12/1964). I have read extensively in almost all feminist schools of thought/theory, but the Shavian model is closest to my beliefs, mainly due to its practicality and lack of maudlin sentimentality. I'll be glad to bore anyone to tears about this or simply provide a list of stuff to read

My virtues as a co Host are that I'm retired and keep weird hours. I don't post a whole lot, but I read a lot.

I'm yardwork, and I served as interim host for the Feminism group for a few weeks while we had our election for lead host. I'm very happy that Gormy Cuss was elected, and I'm looking forward to reading and posting here.

To me, feminism means working together to achieve full equality for women. Globally, a shockingly low percent of property is owned by women, for instance. There are very deep inequalities that keep many women and their children in poverty, even though women are responsible for much of the food production - particularly in the developing world - and healthcare decision making.

Feminism became a central reality in my life about seven years ago, when at the age of 45 I realized that I am a lesbian. As a result of this revelation, I changed my life in many ways. I left a 20+ year marriage, found a full-time job and began a new career, and became solely responsible for my own support. My partner and I, while deeply committed to one another, choose not to live together. I co-parent two children from my previous marriage and am paying one-half the costs of sending them to college. I also provide significant care and support to my mother. All of this is possible because women in the United States are legally allowed to have jobs outside the home, and we are legally allowed to live on our own and make our own decisions. In many parts of the world this is not true. Even in the United States, women still make significantly less than men doing the same job with the same experience and qualifications. I have learned the necessity of speaking up for myself at work first hand - and learned the pitfalls that are unique to women, as we always risk sounding too demanding or difficult if we don't "ask nice."

My dream for the Feminism group here on DU is that it be a lively place for conversation among all people on DU who want to discuss feminism and women's equality, and that it be open and welcoming to people of all colors, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities, all sexes and gender identifications, all sexual orientations, and all ages allowed by DU's ToS. I hope to read a wide range of opinions and ideas and learn from the experiences of others. I hope to gain insights, strength, and hope from other people's stories.

In terms of hosting responsibilities, I believe that there won't be much need for intervention but I am prepared to do whatever might become necessary in consultation with our lead host and other co-hosts. I have served as a mod on old DU and on MIRt on DU3. In general, I believe that providing an open atmosphere with a few clear guidelines will keep issues to a minimum.

though the "competition" looks so tough!

I have considered myself a Feminist since I was told at 9 that I could not be an astronaut. To me, Feminism is about choices and the right to make those choices, regardless of gender. If I want to be a stay at home parent and bake cookies with my children, then I should be free to do so without ridicule. If I want to be the President of a Fortune 500 company and cannot see myself having children, I should be free to do so without ridicule.

It's about equal choices and equality for all humans. No one of us is better than another just because of our gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or age (among other things).

I am currently the host of Ancestry and Genealogy (one of my passions) and the Welcome and Help forum. I thought that I would be a good fit for the Welcome and Help forum because I like to be the happy face of DU. I generally do not like conflict and try to avoid it when possible. That doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion, though. As many of you already know, I have a LOT of opinions

While I am throwing my hat in the ring, I would like to also say that any of the wonderful people who have already thrown their hats in the ring would be wonderful co-hosts, as well!

I don't have the credentials that many others here do, tho. Although I do have just a couple or three I would like to mention:

1. I was temp co-host here for a while during the Times of Trouble and appreciated the experience.

2. I have learned soooo much about feminism in these last few months from you fine peoples and expect to learn even more and pass it on to my personal circle.

3. I have taught my daughter how to evaluate how women and girls (and men and boys as well) are portrayed in the media and she is getting really, really good at picking out the bullshit. Yay! She is far more savvy than I ever was at her age and she passes on what she has learned to her friends and they pass it on as well (and so on and so on and so on, like that Prell shampoo commercial from the 70's) and maybe one day, if she decides to have a family, her kids will even be more steps ahead.

Thanks for your consideration.

Whisp

And appear relatively uncharred. You did a great job during that time and I think that you would make a wonderful co-host again.

but was nothin', really. All the really tough work was done before I came on the scene.

but I do read a lot. All of the named would be wonderful co-hosts.

Just an opinion from a lurker--saying that always makes me think of of a peeping tom. ewww.

One in particular went out of their way to make me feel welcomed here.

Good luck to all!

i have been on du for what feels like forever. i am a social scientist and intersectional feminist but i dont consider myself and academic feminist. this is to say, that i dont always keep up with academic feminism. my feminism is shaped by a social science perspective which i think is narrower in scope and more data driven.

i also co-host the WRI forum

If we are going to go forward with it, then I think that justiceischeap, obamanut2012 and Starry Messenger should be the obvious choices for co-hosts, since they are the current hosts of F&D.

Last I had heard, it seemed like there was a chance that all of the posts in F&D would be lost, which is less than desirable, but wasn't sure if any further information was forthcoming.

I agree though that in a merger the hosts of F&D would automatically become hosts here.

My understanding on posts is that they wouldn't be transferred but what is unclear to me is whether they could be accessible through an archive.

We could also all transfer them over here, but I don't know how we would do that.

Last edited Sun Jul 15, 2012, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Nominations will close today. Elections will start tomorrow.

I'm a novice at this feminist stuff/label but I've always been for equal rights for all people regardless of race, gender, sexual preference, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not here to judge others or tell them what they feel or think is wrong, immoral, etc but to try to understand their POV.

I love this group and F&D because I've learned so much and I know I have so much more to learn.

but can they all co host?

What a great group of nominees!

Watch for an election thread later today.