Femonomics is here!

Welcome to our new blog, femonomics!  The name isn't because this is a blog about economics (although since two of the contributors are economists you'll be hearing some about that), but rather because this blog is about the business of being a woman.  It's a tricky, maddening, frequently unrewarding, and certainly under-appreciated business.  But too often, the companies who are supposed to be in that business seem to have no idea what it's all about!  They think all we want is to be younger, thinner, better-smelling, and have whiter clothes.  And while many of us do want all those things, there's something else we want more: to be treated like human beings.  That's right, women are people, too.  We have opinions.  We take issue with congress's handling of the healthcare bill (or we don't).  We have a problem with the war in Afghanistan (or we don't).  We voted for Obama (or we didn't).  We want to make money, learn things, travel the world.  And all these things coexist with our desire to shop, read about celebrities, perfect the smoky eye, and cook a delicious meal.  We're tired of women's magazines that speak to only one small part of us--the "female" part--as though that can be separated out from the rest of who we are.

That brings us to the other part of the title, the fem part.  Yes, this is partly a blog about feminism, written by feminists (although not all of our contributors would identify themselves that way). But don't be scared.  Just like women themselves, feminists are far from homogeneous.  To me, being a feminist has always meant embracing just that: supporting that women all across the world will make different choices than me, and defending their right to make those choices.  Our brand of feminism is about embracing women everywhere wholeheartedly, and accepting them for who they are.  Career gal, single mom, single lady on the prowl, femme de foyer--however you choose to label yourself, we'll only call you one thing here: welcome. (And don't worry, guys, we're happy to have you, too!)

The last thing I want to tell you about our blog before we dive in is that our philosophy of recognizing that all women are different means we'd be remiss if we didn't tell you that we're different, too.  We're different from you and different from each other.  Each post will represent the unique point of view of the person who posted it.  We don't claim to be objective observers of the world.  Although we will try to represent a variety of opinions, at the end of the day the one we bring to the table first is our own.  That means you should take what we say with a grain of salt, recognize the distinct personality of each blogger when you read her posts, and add plenty of comments to set us straight when you feel we're being unfair to the other side.  So please, join the conversation!  Help us make femonomics the women's magazine we all wish existed.