My experiences with the Occupy Protests are of Edmonton only and attending the General Assemblies on Saturday night at 9pm, Sunday at noon and Monday at 6pm.

I’m sooo proud of the Occupy movement. I am soo excited to see people wanting to challenge corporations and government lobbyists. I’m excited by the movement because it seems to care about the voices of people who are ignored. I am excited by the movement because it’s an opportunity for me to see how I am, and have, participated in systematically ignoring and oppressing others. But I have this growing fear that the revolution is not ready yet. The revolution needs revolutionaries that act revolutionary.

I was in the upswing of romance when I attended the rally and the march on Saturday at noon on Oct. 15^th that had over 1000 people in attendance, but now I am feeling conflicted that I have to warn my feminist friends that if they head down to attend a General Assembly that they need to be prepared to potentially be trigged.

My feminist friends rage will be trigged! Everyday in almost all spaces self-identified women are dismissed and blamed for not speaking up. It’s hard to swallow when you hear that. I DO NOT like talking over people! I was raised with the understanding that a sign of respect is to listen. I was trained to take time to listen, to slowly consider what my friends were saying AND FEELING. Women are often socialized to be aware of how others feel and how our bodies feel. Look at the nurse position which is toted as providing necessary CARE and how many nurses are women gendered.

So I will warn my feminist friends the General Assembly and the Consensus models used will not support your gendered experience. To be heard you will have to shout and talk over people. There is not time in the assemblies to quietly consider what each speaker is saying. When you call out others privilege for dominating space you will be addressed as being disrespectful to the consensus model procedures. To speak at the assembly you will have to deny your bodies’ internal voice.

 The cancer that contributes to patriarchy, sexism, heterosexism, xenophobia, racism, sexual assault are still a normal part of everyone’s cells. They can be cut out when they grow, but they are still normal cells that grow in the right kind of environment. The chemicals in the air or the smoking that has been contributing to the growing tumor are the stresses of proving the movement has a purpose when it’s constantly dismissed, the unknown future of food, bathrooms, and the location. The stress of meeting new people, the cold temperatures, and learning new things in short spans of time.

This movement NEEDS feminist voices, but it’s not a conducive environment to listen to them.