Thanks, Shakers

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who took a moment to let me know in comments and/or by email that the blog means something to them, and to everyone who made a donation to keep Shakesville (and me) going. I don't really like to hold out my hat, but it's true that management of the community has become a full-time job; I usually work on the blog about 10 hours a day, and, if we've got an ad running, I make about 50 cents a day, after monthly expenses. So Mr. Shakes, who supports us to make Shakesville possible, and I are quite genuinely dependent on donations from people who enjoy the site, and I'm not very comfortable asking for them. So enormous thanks to everyone who chipped in yesterday.

It's exceedingly rare that I succumb to genuine feelings of futility, but this week I've just been really despairing about whether this all makes any difference. It's a weird thing—being harassed by a bunch of upright monkeys shitting on feminism, calling me the most unoriginal (and poorly spelled) insults on the planet, and telling me they hope I get raped and killed I can handle. I expect that. (Awful, but true.) But when I saw belligerent sexism emanating from people from whom I expect more, and a stubborn refusal to examine their privilege, it got to me. It made me feel hopeless and overwhelmed. I could see nothing but the ocean and not a sliver of shore.

All of you who remembered and referenced my teaspoon completely made me blub, and I feel embarrassed now that I even needed encouragement to just bloody carry on. But I did—and you provided, and I am immensely grateful to you all.

So here's a Shakesville Silver Teaspoon for Random Acts of Feminism for all the Shakers, for lifting up a crabby old feminist with more love and support than she rightly deserves.



Thanks, Shakers.