“Take Back the Fight:” Former RSJ student writes book about reclaiming feminism for the digital age

Nora Loreto, a Ryerson School of Journalism alumni non-graduate who left the program in 2008, has written “Take Back the Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age.” (external link)  The book was released on Oct. 25. 

Loreto, a former Ryerson Students’ Union president, said she wrote “Take Back the Fight” because she was interested in how the Canadian Women’s March was organizing. 

“Looking at all of the attention in English Canada on those Canadian women’s marches, I was asking myself what is the point of these marches,” said Loreto. “Why are Canadian feminists organizing around Donald Trump when we have so much in our own country to organize around?” 

Some politicians felt comfortable attending the Women’s March in Ottawa. These politicians felt comfortable marching because the protests did not take aim at power in the way Loreto would have expected. 

She said she thought writing this book would be a great moment to examine where digital feminism has brought people today. Digital media has allowed people to say they are feminists and mean it, but not have any knowledge of the intense organizing that has happened in Canada for decades. 

“Take Back the Fight” brings together stories of past methods of organizing and the ways these stories can be used for people as they go forward to reconstruct a feminist movement too radical for politicians to feel comfortable participating in their marches. 

Loreto said writing the book was fun. The book is a polemic, so she had to take comments people have said before and examine them. 

She writes in her book that neoliberalism has led to feminists fighting forces they have never had to deal with before. Neoliberalism has led to public services being underfunded, which leads to caregiving duties being downloaded onto families. Women end up having to take care of children and elderly relatives because there are inadequate public services. 

Loreto believes one of the best ways for feminists to take back the fight is to become involved in local issues. People should look around in their communities to see what events are happening, who is organizing, and who they should reach out to if they want to be involved. 

Loreto said people interested in feminist politics should start reading clubs with feminist texts, offering a chance to learn and debate with friends. 

She wants people to look at problems in their communities through a feminist lens that is anti-racist, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist. This lens will make it obvious what needs to be demanded to make change. 

Loreto said taking back feminism is necessary because this movement should not be co-opted by corporate leaders and politicians. 

“Feminism is struggle,” she said. “It is only through struggle, through action, through doing things, fighting power, confronting government, confronting city council, creating new programs, supporting programs that exist already to help mutual aid within our communities. That’s what taking back the fight is.” 

Loreto's publisher, Fernwood Publishing (external link) , is offering a 20% discount for Ryerson community members who would like to purchase "Take Back the Fight." They can use the discount code ryerson20 at https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/take-back-the-fight (external link)  through Jan. 2021.