Marilyn Minter | Making Waves: Modern Aphrodites #1-1 Anne of Carversville

It’s true that Maybelline’s new Popsticks campaign made me search for Marilyn Minter’ images just now. It’s a typical Anne, crazy-quilt route to taking a cleansing breath on the last three months, when I gave myself without conservation or limits to a new organization for women creating April 28 rallies all over America.

Walking Away from UniteWomen.org

Simmering inside me is something more relevant, a confrontation with myself and feminism which I embrace more fervently than ever. My furor over all the internal strife at UniteWomen.org has abated, and I woke up invigorated and ready to rumble.

I adore Marilyn Minter because her images are provocative, strong, raw examples of female sensuality and also beauty abuse — the conflict women experience on the road to authenticity and answers to the question: “Who am I?”

The cause I’ve devoted myself to over the last 90 days plans to construct an organizational structure more repressive and less representative then Komen was before the furor over Planned Parenthood. UniteWomen.org is dead and buried now in my heart, a funeral leaving me with spectacular new connections and relationships that envision a less-patriarchal way of channeling women’s talents.

My sense of self is renewed. This woman Anne — battered and begrudged by other women who are looters of female souls, spirits, emotions and hard work in the name of women’s rights — woke up in such a positive dreamstate.

The incessant organizational battles are over, the closed group spies are gone. My little boat has sailed into harbor with the same calm I experienced sleeping in Ithaca. I am as invigorated and connected as I was dreaming vividly, moored in the Ionian sea.

This is just what the social conservatives what to happen — this conflict among women. But when an organization is as inept as UniteWomen.org and totally willing to squander its precious resources, it’s time to take a hike, just as Nancy Sinatra suggested decades ago in “These Boots Are Made for Walking”.

Marilyn Minter | climber 2005My experience with UniteWomen.org is that they are no different than the Catholic bishops. Karen Teegarden and her co-optimist Anita Doll Fiouris want to create another authoritarian, top-down command center that keeps women in line.

These so-called marketing experts had no plans for elections of leaders, even at a state level. The duo, with three other accomplices, would choose the state leaders. There would be no presentation of talents and portfolios, many of them well-known already.

Perhaps raising our voices in fury will cause them to re-examine their mission and how to implement it in a more democratic fashion.

UniteWomen.org Purge of Members

In a purge of UniteWomen.org members this week, dedicated women like myself woke up Tuesday morning to find ourselves banned from groups. That’s right, a purge of talent and women’s voices was carried out, woman on woman.

True, a high-level member of the national media/pr team walked out Monday night & associated me with her fury. But there was no opportunity to defend myself, explaining that in reality Monday night, I was pitching UniteWomen.org to NOW, not planning the coup.

Didn’t I at least deserve a text message from Karen Teegarden, saying “WTF are you doing, Anne!!!”?

Karen Teegarden and her team didn’t care what they did to my reputation among colleagues. No retraction was circulated to groups, saying that a mistake was made in my case, even after I spoke with Karen Teegarden Tuesday night for nearly an hour.

Like the McCarthy hearings of the 50s, I was exiled without ever having a chance to clear my name.

Once I received a set of the internal documents being imposed on the states and individuals who worked to hard to create the April 28 rally Tuesday night, I understood my colleague’s defection and attempt to take me with her, without my permission or knowledge.

I would never accept this yoke of total top-down control of my behavior, or a Karen Teegarden-Anita Doll Fiouris imposed state director that would tattle every tale to the girls club riding rough shod on us.

How patriarchal is that idea!!

Sorry ladies, but I’ve run a $50 million business unit at Victoria’s Secret, built the first product development unit at then Limited, Inc. I’ve consulted to Fortune 100 companies for 10 years and build a website that gets rave reviews and has 350,000 uniques a month combined with its sister site. I’ve been paid $2000-$3500/day (not saying I’m worth it but the clients think so) for my creative thinking, strategic skills.

My entrepreneurial track record is stellar, being a key executive building the Victoria’s Secret brand and smaller ventures, too. I’ve been passionately writing about women’s rights since 2007. And you two?

I’m a fully-realized woman trying to fight the Catholic bishops and social conservatives who comprise the War on Women. It appears that you are not an ally of women Karen T and Anita DF, but caretakers of your own interests.

When you toss loyal, dedicated women like me overboard, without a hearing, my only interpretation of your actions is that you don’t want talented women on your team. It seems you want to be the only girls at the ball, imho.

Exodus of Talented Women from UniteWomen.org

The good news is that entire states and talented individuals like myself are walking away from the duet of Karen Teegarden and Anita Doll Fiouris.

Pulling away with confidence and fury that we don’t need another master — in this case two mistresses to crack the whip over our hearts, minds, talents and energy — we seek a more horizontal 21st century organiztion.

One look at UniteWomen.org’s proposed organization chart makes their intentions Harvard Business School “Girls Gone Wildly Wrong” case study worthy.

Across America, we will trudge on for women’s rights without you, UniteWomen.org.

Take your shackles to less suspecting victims. This girl is way too smart to buy into your lack of talents, expertise, experience and genuine desire to build a democratic organization supporting women’s rights.

Many of us are saying “Why did we get hoodwinked, when truly great organizations like NOW exist?”

Karen Teegarden lit the match for a rumble millions of American women want in this War on Women. Alas, we must turn to significantly more democratic institutions like NOW, Feminist Majority and others with credentials and the right intentions to lead women forward.

New collaborations are forming focused on REAL NEEDS for in-the-street activism, creative thinking strategies and information gathering about great organizations and women’s rights leaders that already exist. We need to connect the existing network, not create yet another group — unless it’s dedicated to street activism. Another lobbying group should not be your agenda, ladies.

Marilyn Minter ignites repressed libidos with ‘Glamour Gone Awry’. Her images also inflame my will to leave manipulative women like Karen Teegarden and Anita Doll Flouris behind.

Like a used and abused woman, I choose to move forward with creative, highly-professional women who are my own kind — and America has millions of them. Going forward with renewed commitments to feminism, I will choose my partners carefully in a fully-vetted process based on verifiable talent history, credentials as women’s rights activists and a democratic set of good intentions for American women.

Adios, doll babies. ~ Anne Enke

Tuesday emails to Karen Teegarden on the subject of my exile from UniteWomen.org.

Marilyn Minter | Making Waves: Modern Aphrodites #1-2 Anne of Carversville

Marilyn Minter | Wangechi Gold-1 2009