Natalia Fior
Natalia Lucia Fior lives in Seattle, WA. She is the development/event coordinator for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. A graduate of Western Washington University, she also has a Master of Arts in English Literature from Claremont Graduate University in California. Serving her community motivates Natalia in her daily life. She focuses her volunteerism on resolving homelessness, low-income housing advocacy, and recently on an initiative to stop the building of a new jail in Seattle. Other than political activism, Natalia spends time with her family and friends, dances, reads, writes, sings karaoke and laughs a lot.
What is feminism?
I lean toward Andrea Dworkin’s discussion of feminism, and agree it should be considered as a movement to end suffering. I also relate to the ideas of bell hooks, that feminism, in and of itself, is multiple. Feminism, as movement and philosophy, should be vast, unencumbered and defiant of identity. If we merge these ideas, and feminist movement becomes unified by the ultimate goal of ending suffering of all humanity, this would be a beautiful thing. And yet, I have already too easily stepped into the many foils of feminism; feminism seeks not to be defined. Yet without definition how can any idea gel or gain enough notoriety to be considered a movement unto itself? How can an idea or movement take shape when it constantly avoids the mold?
My relationship with feminism is intimate. I also live my life running from the mold. I was once told, “etre en mouvement.” This is French for, keep moving, or roughly, to be always in motion. This phrase sits upon a brightly colored post card that I keep always visible in my room. It reminds me that I must “be.” I must wrap myself in “being” and strive to live in the present. Feminism strives to be the antidote to the identities and dualities thrust upon individual humans by our own civilization; the very civilization we created for ourselves (okay, that’s debatable). But, the lifespan of feminist movement teeters delicately amongst its own hostility toward the need for definition in the dichotomous Western world we feminists find ourselves inhabiting.
Thus, feminism seeks to push boundaries. Feminist movement aims to expand the borders of identity (be it gender, sexuality, race, economy, class, etc) which bind our creative freedoms and opportunities for open-ended access to self-expression and interaction with every being who roams our universe (or, multiverse and Whitehead would contend.) And, it aims to quell the hatred that exists just beyond every “wall” and “boundary” we try to cross.
What is choice?
Choice, defined in legal and political terms, relates entirely to personal freedom, liberty and the individual right to privacy. Choice exists to keep the government and the judiciary out of our bedrooms and our personal lives writ large. Its been said there can be no peace without justice. Likewise, there can be no justice without the legal protection of a person’s right to privacy. For any society to be truly free, every citizen must have ultimate choice over what can be done to their own person.
E-mail Natalia: natalia@feministsforchoice.com
