E The Magazine For Today's Female Executive August 2018 issue

she said. "Women who have been
erased are drowning."
Brian Martin raises the issue of the
boundaries of what is called activism.
Someone working on a campaign
may spend time listening to the news,
reading and sending e-mails, phoning
others, participating in meetings, and
writing a grant proposal. None of this
is out in public, such as joining a rally
or blockade, but an essential part of
what makes such public events possible.
It is useful to distinguish between
"direct action" or "front-line action,"
which people are putting their
bodies on the line, and doing support
work usually behind the scenes.
Without the support work, the frontline
action would hardly occur. This is
analogous to military forces: only a
few troops are engaged in fighting,
with vastly more personnel involved
in accounting, cooking, maintenance,
and a host of other support activities.
the board), said, "Gender is not the whole
story." American women share common
struggles but different experiences, which is
why "women's rights" remain so divisive and
why its tent is so broad.
Karla Holloway, a professor of English and
Law at Duke University who focuses on African
American cultural studies, said,
“Conversations that fixate on the achievements
of Hillary Clinton come at the expense
of mothers working minimum wage jobs to
keep their families above the federal poverty
line. As some women become more visible,
others disappear. Women who are elevated
are still vulnerable,"
Page 153 E The Magazine for Today’s Female Executive
Those involved in behind-the-scenes
work, in support of a cause, can be called
either activists, supporters or members of
an activist group or movement. This is a
matter of definition but has a wider significance.
For many people, especially in social
movement groups, concerned about
the world's problems, there is status to being
called an activist. This can lead to a valuing
of dramatic and visible direct action
and a corresponding devaluation of routine,
less visible activity such as answering correspondence
or handling accounts. On the
other hand, some people who take action
do not think of themselves as activists. In
their minds, they are simply doing what is
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