Abstract

Southern Ms

The author focuses on women's issues in the South and details a conference she attended in Memphis, Tennessee. The First Congregational Church was recently home to the sixth annual Southern Girls Convention, where I had come in search of an endangered species: the Southern feminist. It's hardly a secret that the South is no bastion of women's liberation. When I asked the 100 or so participants, from college students to veteran libbers, what challenges Southern women face that those in other regions may not, the most common response was laughter. "It feels about twenty years behind other parts of the country," said First Congregational's Pastor Cheryl Cornish. As unabashed liberals in the heart of the Bible Belt, they saw their battle as a very long-term, if not romantic, one. Robin Jacks, who co-founded the event with fellow activist Jennifer Sauer, said that when they organize progressive protests, "We get double digits and call it a success." Southern white women are the most conservative in the country--exit polls from this year's election reveal that 68 percent voted for Bush and only 32 percent for Kerry, double the margin in 2000. But Southern women suffer immensely from conservative policies. According to a 2002 report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, seven of the nine worst states for women are in the South--in terms of earnings, access to health and reproductive services, and political participation.