[oldboys] Re: [faces] privatepublicpolitical

[Diana McCarty <diana@vifu.de>]

Hi Anna,

Thanks for posting this.. As a non-parent and a dedicated smoker, I fully 
support the request for a child-friendly zone. Activists and groups of any 
kind that are truly committed to being open and inclusive need to recognize 
that we don't all have the same needs and if those social processes are 
going to work for us all, we ALL need to be there. Um, isn't there a 
connection with the ten top artist's all being male? No childcare worries!

Maybe it makes more sense to get in touch with some unimportant people at 
the festival :)) And I'll try to contact so Amsterdam based parents to see 
if they can offer some useful input.


Best wishes,

Diana

>Once upon a time, when I wanted to take part in a Media Activism
>Festival
>=====================================================
>
>
>I have a son. He's 13 months old, very sweet and I like him a lot. I
>want him to be fine.
>
>This is something I need to say before I say anything about the subject
>I want to write about, it seems.
>
>I am going to go to Amsterdam next week to take part in the Next 5
>Minutes, International Festival of Tactical Media -->
>http://www.next5minutes.org/n5m/index.jsp . I'm hoping to meet other
>activists of Indymedia there as well as people I know from other
>occasions and actions. I'm glad to know that some "Faces" will be there,
>women connected through a mailing list on Women and New Media. Also of
>course I'm curious about the program which offers a lot of interesting
>details.
>
>
>********** how playful can conferences get? **
>
>As soon as I had thought of going I sent an email to the organizers
>asking whether it was going to be possible to take part with a child and
>whether they had though yet of providing childcare (via the contact
>email address on the website). The very same day I sent off the email,
>June 20th, I got a reply from one of the organizers whom I happen to
>know from the very beginning of Indymedia activities some years ago. He
>wrote "If we know that more children will be brought along, we could
>organise something. The parents would have to pay a little fee to cover
>the expenses, but this would be more than reasonable, I think." He went
>on saying that he would be happy to see to it that venues would be smoke
>free. Reading this in June I was optimistic that something would be set
>up because I don't remember any kind of conference, activist or not,
>without people participating who need childcare. Also I saw that several
>people were involved in either the organization of the conference or the
>editorial board whom I had collaborated with on several occasions, and
>this made be think that through personal contacts it might be easier to
>have the problem recognized. Obviously I don't like making things move
>by knowing "important people" - in this case I just thought it would be
>easier to not have the problem get lost between other important issues.
>
>My experience with (media) activism combined with parenthood so far is
>that thinking of childcare is usually not one of the first things, as
>parents often get less active after having a child and specifically
>women (who, as we all know, have to take care of children more often)
>are less present in media activism for other reasons. But whenever I
>mention that I will be somewhere and ask about it there will always be
>some people who make provisions so that I can come with my child.
>
>
>********** indymedia and (not) n5m **
>
>My next steps directed me to the Dutch Indymedia people sometime in July
>as I wondered whether there was going to be an Indymedia presence at the
>festival and how. Just passively watching seemed unsatisfying but then
>the local group would have to be the one to organize the framework and
>give us some ideas of how to relate to the festival as they would know
>so much more about it.
>
>Soon after on the European mailing list of Indymedia lively debates
>started
>(http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-europe/2003-August/thread.html). 
>It became clear very soon that the relations between Indymedia and the 
>Next 5 Minutes weren't all that beautiful but nonetheless many people 
>planned to take part. Indymedia NL had some strong reservations which 
>became visible in a proposal to not have Indymedia activities actually at 
>the festival venue but rather outside, also because entry fees were 
>considered too high and therefore to be exclusive to many people 
>affiliated with Indymedia. People from outside the Netherlands didn't all 
>understand what the reservations were about but expressed hope to 
>understand more once they were there and were confident in Indymedia.nl to 
>do anything they could to make it a successful event.
>
>It was then also proposed to meet during the Festival in one evening in
>a squatter bar, the 'Vrankrijk'. I sent an email asking whether it was
>possible to have the social part of the program in a place where I could
>be as well, with my child.
>
>|_________  _________
>
>I don't like to make him stay awake when he's tired. Of course I'd much
>rather see him in bed in the evening. Sometimes when I want to go see
>people in the evenings or have a meeting it's possible to put children
>to sleep in a room next door or meet outside in a bar, a park, anything.
>And this is a good compromise between his need to sleep and my need to
>not always be at home. I really don't think that a depressed mother who
>feels her child is responsible for her having to give up all political
>activity is good to have.
>
>And yes: not being able to join the evening part of politics does mean
>being out. Especially in media activism (which is very male which is
>very informal... . See http://de.indymedia.org/2002/01/13720.shtml).
>_______  ________
>|
>
>My idea was to remind everyone of the different needs that we have and I
>was hoping not having to be at the place where I'll be staying while
>everybody else is having the party in the bar.
>
>The plain and simple answer was: no. No smoking in 'Vrankrijk' is
>impossible [a self-managed activist bar, as far as I know], and
>Amsterdam doesn't offer anything else. We want to have a nice evening,
>accordingly this takes place in a bar and the child shouldn't be there
>in the evening anyway. [This is my summary of a just slightly friendlier
>email, A.]
>I was surprised, to say the least. This communication happened on the
>Dutch editorial list with cc's to some of the people from other
>countries who had said they were going to come. The first reply was sent
>to all of these *except* for me. Unintentionally, I assume. No part of
>this can be found in a public archive or on a public list.
>
>I replied that I thought it can't possibly be intended to *not* exclude
>those who can't pay the N5M fees but instead to exclude those with
>children. And suggested again to have another time and place for a
>meeting for all Indymedia activists to get together. I never got a reply
>to this.
>
>
>********** rumours? **
>
>Apparently a lot of communication happened then within the Dutch IMC,
>some of which was transferred to me through the grapevine. According to
>some of the activists from Amsterdam it's solely the parents'
>responsibility to find a solution to the problem 'children vs.
>activism'. It's actually being considered to be egotistical to bother
>anyone else with problems arising from having children, and definitely
>no children should be taken to meetings since that is boring for the
>children and disturbing for the adults. They shouldn't be anywhere where
>they can be heard, if possible. A female activist went as far as saying
>that it was my decision to have the child - I could just as well have
>had an abortion if I had wanted to stay active. Since she took the
>decision to not have children herself I cannot expect any consideration
>from her side. If I can't join meetings because of my child then this is
>my very own problem [quite true, A.] and not anybody else's.
>
>I also heard that I as a feminist tend to like making a victim of
>myself.
>
>This is a fundamental misunderstanding: I am a feminist to avoid being a
>victim. Actually I hate handing over power for others to decide what I
>might or might not do. Having to beg others to let me have the chance to
>take part in their oh-so-amazing whatever makes me angry. I can't stand
>it. It drains all energy from me, it makes me feel disgust and I have
>more than once by now thought that i'd rather stay at home than go
>through this. I just don't understand how anyone who claims to be
>struggling for a more equal and just world can be so ignorant of people
>with different needs.
>And I'd much rather be arguing for someone else, like most of us would,
>or spend my time with something useful.
>
>
>********** next to nothing **
>
>As long as the Dutch IMC didn't really change its proposals or made
>public what the decisions were or the reasons behind, no more public
>discussion was possible on the issue, e.g. between all other Indymedia
>activists who plan to come. A very diplomatic Update on N5M was sent
>around on the imc-europe list of Indymedia two weeks later by an
>activist from Amsterdam in a attempt to get the discussion going again.
>It took the unresolved problem into consideration saying that it is
>unclear where the Indymedia meeting(s) could take place because no
>suitable place had been found so far; that ASCII (the proposed place for
>a workshop on Indymedia during the day, the local media activist place,
>as an alternative to the evening meeting in the bar) was unsuitable in
>general and not just because of the reservations against children by the
>Indymedia activists; that probably not all activists would be at the
>Vrankrijk in the evening. Nobody reacted to that, instead it seems that
>people from elsewhere think that everyone will be in Vrankrijk. Emails
>now start ending with "See you all in Vrankrijk".
>
>While this was (not) happening an excellent collaboration took place
>between international activists to prepare the Indymedia panel during
>the Festival (see
>http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NextFiveMinutes).
>
>
>********** no more than 5 minutes **
>
>In the meantime I started getting in touch with all the people I knew at
>or close to N5M to see whether they could tell me anything about
>childcare or at least the festival locations being smoke-free, also to
>see whether it might be possible to find an alternative space for
>Indymedia get-togethers.
>
>One organizer told me he had thought I had lost interest in the
>conference and so hadn't pursued the matter. But why don't I try to get
>in touch with other parents to see what we can do? Also there might be
>some childcare at the Festival Campground 30 minutes away from the
>festival, probably only for older children though.
>My impression is that all other parents either stay at home or have
>found a solution that doesn't involve bringing children to Amsterdam. So
>far I have no answer to the question I sent off next: how do I get in
>touch with them?
>
>Another organizer (who had been reminded of the fact that I was coming
>with a baby during at least three real live conversations that I know
>of) replied to my last Email nine days before the Festival starts
>thanking me "for informing me about your problem. The difficulty is that
>it is already Tuesday now and the festival starts in a little more than
>one week from now, so I'm afraid I can't do much for you."
>
>
>********** does Amsterdam have nice playgrounds? and who needs them? **
>
>I'm really thankful to see some Dutch activists (including some of
>Indymedia.nl) offering to help anywhere they can, offering to babysit,
>offering a room for the two of us, offering to take care of organizing a
>baby bed etc.
>
>I'm stunned to see a political event placing all responsibility for
>needs beyong the typical male white european able activist on the people
>in need themselves. If this is what Access for All is all about then I'm
>not too curious about this better world we (!?) all want to achieve.
>
>I'm not sure whether I'll be able to really enjoy innovative topics,
>well constructed debates, colorful installations. Or argue about the use
>of all of this. Maybe I will though.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>P.S.
>Please refrain from telling me what's best for my child. I do care - in
>fact most parents are worrying about that a lot more than you would
>think.
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>faces-l mailing list
>faces-l@lists.servus.at
>http://lists.servus.at/mailman/listinfo/faces-l


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: oldboys-unsubscribe@lists.ccc.de
For additional commands, e-mail: oldboys-help@lists.ccc.de