Instead of chaining themselves to a fence to protest the glass ceiling or vociferously picketing outside the studios of the Miss America pageant, today's feminists are taking a less visible route toward activism.
The Gloria Steinems of today are using the Internet as their virtual picket signs.
While some women in the past may have been reluctant to take such a visible role in the women's movement, today's "armchair activists" have made an impact without leaving the confines of their homes.
"Historically, feminism was a very public movement," said Amy Richards, a columnist for Feminist.com and consulting editor at Ms. Magazine. "The Internet has allowed women and men to come to feminism in a variety of ways."
Instead of meeting over tea or taking to the streets, feminists are going online to learn how to be activists.
Since President Bush's inauguration, feminists have been embracing technology as a means of activism as never before, said Jennifer Pozner, head of the women's desk at Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), the media watchdog group.
Shortly after Bush reinstated the "global gag rule," which prevents government agencies from giving funds to private family planning programs outside the United States, people expressed outrage.
"We received e-mails from women all over the country who said, 'I voted for Bush, and I never thought he would do this. What can I do to help?'" said William Lutz, deputy communications director for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL).
In response, NARAL created the website, Fight4choice.com, which details how people around the globe can gain access to non-restrictive family planning.
Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison wrote a column denouncing the decision, and in honor of President's Day, sent the president a card that read, "President George W. Bush, a donation has been made in your name to Planned Parenthood."
Pozner said people began forwarding the column to friends in e-mail, asking that donations to Planned Parenthood be made in Bush's name.
"The column turned into an e-mail (phenomenon), and Planned Parenthood walked away with $500,000," Pozner said.
Earlier this year, feminist e-mail activism made its way to the Senate's cabinet nomination hearings. When John Ashcroft was nominated for attorney general, his affiliation with the ultra-conservative magazine Southern Partisan sparked many women's rights activists into action.
A media advisory generated by FAIR said "when Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft praised the neo-Confederate magazine Southern Partisan, he was endorsing a publication that defends slavery, white separatism, apartheid and David Duke."
The FAIR advisory stated that the magazine's stance on feminism was that it represented a "revolt against God."
The report was sent to a listserv, distributed to the Senate, and to FAIR's 16,000 members. The advisory eventually was brought up during Ashcroft's confirmation hearings, Pozner said.
One activist said e-mail or listservs may seem to make more of an impact, but they can often be discounted by politicians who think it's "too easy" to send messages electronically.
"It makes it a lot easier to get involved," said Lisa Miya-Jervis, publisher of Bitch: Feminist Response. "But the most important thing that technology can do for feminism is to create broad awareness."
