Self Care for Activists

We talk a lot about taking action here at Planned Parenthood Action Fund, because we know that focusing on the needs of those around us feels critical right now. But, it’s also incredibly important to make sure that we’re taking care of ourselves. It has been said that “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Think about it like this: if you’re struggling, you can’t most effectively support others in the struggle.

You’re just as valuable as those that you’re helping — remember to treat yourself as such.

We understand it’s important to help people with self-care — which is not self-indulgence or self-pampering, but choosing behaviors that balance the effects of emotional and physical stress. Self-care is an important general practice and a fundamentally feminist idea.

Self-care is more radical than it seems. The act of taking care of oneself as a woman in the world is a movement against misogyny and sexist expectations. Writer and feminist Audre Lord once said that, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." The idea of self-care as a female violates patriarchal norms of the woman as carer of others — and of female emotion and pain as invalid, undeserving, or somehow lesser.

If you're a feminist, taking time to balance out the stressors in your life (many of which are possibly misogynist at root) with a walk, a good book, or a hot bath is not a time-out from being political. It is political. Join us for a night of self-care. We will be making our very own PINK OUT bath bombs. All supplies will be provided. Bring a friend!

Craftivism: Bath Bombs
Tuesday, August 8
6 – 8 p.m.

Babb’s Coffee House
604 Main Avenue
Fargo, ND 5810

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