WoLF Relaunches Members Blog: WoLF Tracks
Note: At the time that this blog post was written, WoLF Sisters in Action were called “WoLF Members.” You can learn more about what it means to be a Sister in Action here. This is still an excellent resource on what WoLF Tracks is and the kinds of content we’re looking for!
WoLF’s mission is to restore, protect, and advance the rights of women and girls. Our vision is the total liberation of women and girls from all forms of sex-based oppression, including gender ideology, male violence, commercial sexual exploitation, and reproductive coercion.
As a nonpartisan organization, WoLF advances legal argument, policy advocacy, and public education for all women and girls, regardless of whether or not those women align with a particular set of political principles — even if that only includes one of our four focus areas.
WoLF also offers free membership to radical feminist women (adult human females) who align with all four focus areas and wish to join the worldwide community of like-minded women - learn more about membership here.
There is a lot going on outside of WoLF’s policy and legal work, and our members help to expand upon our radical feminist lens. WoLF members have previously contributed their own expertise — through op-eds, academic essays, book reviews, and investigative article series — running in parallel to our actions as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Now more than ever, we need spaces where women are allowed to speak freely. (For those interested in anonymous contributions to WoLF regardless of membership, Letters from the Front aims to amplify the voices of concerned citizens who would otherwise remain silent.)
WoLF wants to make it easy to find the latest updates on our legal and policy work, while also providing a space for WoLF members and the radical feminist community at large to get involved with WoLF.
That’s why we’re re-launching WoLF Tracks.
What is WoLF Tracks?
There are three main differences between the WoLF News and WoLF Tracks.
The first is content. WoLF News will catalog the actions of WoLF as an organization, such as calls for action, amicus briefs, policy analysis, testimony, public statements, legal filings, case updates, and more. It will also include announcements about WoLF as an organization. News articles are timely and aim to educate someone who wants to learn more about the policy and legal work WoLF has done as a public charity on behalf of our mission.
WoLF Tracks is a collection of written and creative works from WoLF members and volunteers. It will include contributions from WoLF members, including op-eds, op-eds about op-eds, persuasive essays, personal accounts of radical feminist events, book reviews, reviews of scientific articles, journalistic articles, educational resources, and informative article series related to WoLF’s mission. These contributions are not tied to a particular event the same way WoLF news articles are. Collecting them together makes them more accessible for future readers and prospective WoLF members.
Aside from content, WoLF News and WoLF Tracks will be written for different audiences. News about WoLF’s policy and legal work is intended for a general audience, while WoLF Tracks speaks to WoLF members and the radical feminist community at large. That is, WoLF Tracks provide us a way to document our work as a nonprofit and present our contributions factually and neutrally for the world at large while also providing a space for radical feminists to sharpen our ideas and build a diverse movement.
Lastly, because the target audience of WoLF Tracks is smaller, articles published in WoLF Tracks will be given more autonomy on the subject and tone of the content. When presenting information to a general audience, it is important to maintain a neutral writing style so that the facts stand out. However, in WoLF Tracks, women are encouraged to write in their own voices, which makes their messages more engaging and can motivate and empower other women to speak up.
In short, this space allows members to appreciate and learn from each other, parallel to our policy and legal work.
Featured Article Series
Any WoLF member can submit an article to WoLF Tracks. Right now, we have two current ongoing series that the authors have graciously given us permission to promote as we usher in the new glory era of WoLF Tracks, and a third series coming soon.
Culturally Exploited: The Invisible Drivers of Prostitution
“Not one adult woman I worked with wanted to be a prostitute.”
Between 2012 and 2016, Cassandra conducted ethnographic fieldwork with women engaged in street-level prostitution in the South Bronx, NY. In this article series, she recounts the thousands of hours she spent interviewing and observing the circumstances of women between the ages of 15 and 62, tracing their lives as they moved between the streets, jail, court, family homes, hospitals, drug rehabilitation facilities, trap houses where drugs were sold and where prostitution sometimes took place. Cassandra also uses her background as a researcher to put these incidents into the wider context of social issues. Join her as she reveals the heartbreaking reality of the system we live in, and how we can work together to protect these women.
Read more here.
“It’s a man’s world—even behind bars.”
Julia Hing is a writer specializing in women’s issues and the criminal justice system. She writes this series to document the unique issues and challenges incarcerated women face. Diving into a multitude of topics — including the socioeconomic factors driving arrest and detainment, the disparity in sentencing, the devastating effects of family separation, lack of healthcare, sexual abuse behind bars, recidivism, reintegration into civilian life, and more. Julia provides a thoroughly researched overview of the challenges some of the most vulnerable women in our country face every day.
Read more here.
You can write for WoLF Tracks!
Are you a WoLF member with something to contribute?
With the relaunch of WoLF Tracks, there will now be two ways for members to contribute to the WoLF community: WoLF Tracks and Letters from the Front. If you are considering writing a piece for the WoLF blog, this guide will help you determine where it belongs.
If your contribution is:
an essay intended to educate the public about a certain topic; or
written for a radical feminist audience; and
you want to collaborate with WoLF during the editing process;
it will probably belong in WoLF Tracks.
If your contribution is:
a personal account or op-ed; or
written for a general audience; and
you would rather have WoLF publish it as-is;
it will probably belong in Letters from the Front.
Sometimes, there will be contributions that do not fit neatly into these categories. When that happens, WoLF will work with contributors to strategize where their piece will be the most well-received. A persuasive essay that is not part of a larger series and works well with a general audience would be a compelling Letter from the Front. A creative op-ed written for a radical feminist audience would find a home in WoLF Tracks.
What should a WoLF Tracks article sound like?
As a whole, WoLF Tracks should encourage solidarity and drive people to action through hope for the future. It can be disheartening to be aware of—or live through—so many difficult situations. Through WoLF Tracks, we intend to celebrate the diversity of women’s voices in order to address and heal trauma on a societal scale.
What resources does WoLF have available for potential WoLF Tracks authors?
Both content and language help determine an article’s audience. During our tenure as a nonprofit, WoLF has created materials to inspire journalists, lawyers, and lobbyists, which potential volunteer authors may also find helpful.
Resources for WoLF Tracks Writers:
WoLF 2021 Media Style Guide: This guide was written to help journalists avoid using biased language.
Our Work: When writing, keep WoLF’s mission statement in mind. Does it fit within our four focus areas?
WoLF Tracks Content Guidelines: This document outlines ideas to help creative contributors get started.
How do I submit content for WoLF Tracks?
To submit an article for WoLF tracks, email it as a Google Doc, Docx file, or PDF attachment to sisters@womensliberationfront.org.
You may also ask sisters@womensliberationfront.org whether your article belongs in WoLF Tracks or Letters from the Front, or confer with us on the article’s tone and style. If your article has citations, you may either list them at the end in MLA format or, if they are link-based citations in an article with a classic blog format, they may be left in as hyperlinks.