Heather Holdridge, Director of Political Advocacy at Care2 , kicked off yesterday’s Feminist 2.0 conference analogizing the new feminist movement to one of her favorite treats — a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Holdridge makes a very compelling point. Feminism and the Internet have created a new whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Over a hundred women (and a handful of men) who are bloggers, activists, national nonprofit leaders, and more, came together for this one-day conference to discuss women’s voices in society today. Though most of the discussion was looking forward, the first guest speaker, from the National Women’s History Museum, helped the audience to look back. Most importantly, she pointed out the role new technologies and breakthroughs in journalism have played in women’s accomplishments, from the printing press to the Internet.

The next lesson came from the social web research firm Linkfluence when speaker Stanislas Magniant demonstrated through a series of discussion maps that the larger your online footprint and network are, the larger your influence. This led the crowd to wonder ‘how do we get more feminist bloggers out there?’

Liza Sabater of Culture Kitchen proclaimed that Internet tools provided women bloggers the soapbox to give them the voices they now have. As the conversation continues, we should consider the role access to and use of Internet tools has on growing the Feminist 2.0 movement.

Breakout sessions, a networking lunch, and a final panel filled the rest of the day with more insights and inspiration. The conversation will continue on the conference’s website.

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