I’ve posted a lot of NOW stories here on InkWell, and Charlotte and I have full conference reports, op-eds, and podcasts over on the IWF main page. I was unable to fit my favorite NOW conference story into one of my articles, so I’d like to share it with you now. It’s my favorite because it was my first “did this really just happen?” moment of the conference:
After the opening ceremony, I proceeded to my first “breakout workshop.” The instructors, Greta and Austin, wore pink “Of course, I’m a feminist” shirts and handed out note cards for an optional exercise. A hand went up in the front row. “Is clothing optional?” I feigned an awkward laugh. She couldn’t be serious, but I’ve never found radical feminists to have much of a sense of humor. Five minutes later the same woman spontaneously announced, “I’m Suzanne, and I’m a feminist!” then encouraged everyone in the room to say “Hi, Suzanne” as if this was a big AA meeting.
Keep in mind all that happened within my first ten or so minutes at the conference. So, that was the ridiculous start to my weekend with NOW. I couldn’t help but think, “What on earth have I gotten myself into?”