Jodi Felton

Jodi Felton is a Freelance Social Justice Writer, former Non-Profit Editor, Women’s Studies Alum, Paralegal, Legal Advocate, Legal Analyst and Feminist Consultant. She has worked in Management, Government Law, Nonprofit Law and Private Law. She has a special place in her heart for social justice writing, is submitting articles yearly and was moved when her editor called her, “Bloody Talented”. A non-profit director saw Jodi’s writing and voice on the Black Lives Matter movement, and in 2020 asked Jodi to join the organization’s task force, which took their first, national anti-racist stance in 2020 in their 98 year history. Jodi studies Law, Social Justice, Virtues Science, Ecofeminism, Feminist Epistemologies, Jesuit Theology and Buddhism.

Jodi began her community service and writing career at 11 years old in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in California, where she rose through the ranks as a local reporter, then got appointed to the Editorial staff at age 16 interviewing fascinating people. She was known for her detail-oriented and charismatic writing style. She was then appointed to a state office of Assistant Grand Editor at 17, and Grand Editor at age 18 with an international circulation for a nonprofit newspaper that chronicled young girl’s activism and charity, thus missing most high school parties her senior year. She left rainbow at the age of 20, with college scholarships from nine years of vigorous non-profit activism as well as some proclamations commending a decade of consistent, outstanding volunteerism from her local Mayor, California Governor, Gray Davis & members of Congress including Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

Before graduating college at SDSU, Jodi traveled to Europe with her Women’s Studies professors to study Joan of Arc in France and other female saints across Europe. Jodi has a diverse theological education that grounds her belief system and writing.

Jodi has done years of activism, but one of her most important was workng in college with Planned Parenthood. She was part of the campaign that made Emergency Contraception over the counter: “This felt like a vital proposition to get passed and we succeeded”. She left college with a priceless degree in Women’s Studies, where her phenomenal professors raised the female bar for her and that is the legacy Jodi works to pass on to the world through her writing. She especially enjoyed lectures given by Midge Costanza, who was the first Woman to be a Presidential Advisor (PR) in the White House (to Jimmy Carter). She also left with an immense appreciation for Women’s History.

Jodi’s main loves are Social Justice and Law, and her writing tackles these subjects with detailed insights to understanding human behavior and the human condition on a deeper, mindful level through a lens of many virtues. She views the world through a variety of lenses, and studying the virtues has been one of her favorite and most useful lenses. Assertiveness is Jodi’s favorite virtue and she believes women and men can benefit from it to combat a climate rampant with too much aggression.

Jodi has extensive experience working in the margins for over three decades. This includes non-profit fundraising, non-profit news-writing & editing, being a recreational therapist & fitness instructor to rehabilitate seniors citizens, working in a women’s resource center, participating in women’s marches & CR activism, working with the Jesuits, working in a non-profit law firm for senior citizens & during the pandemic Jodi worked in Oakland, San Francisco & Santa Cruz to help get free phones into the hands of new prison releasees, folks on state benefits, victims of gun violence & the economically poor and homeless via the lifeline program.

Jodi is currently most passionate about writing the F*ckgirl Series on Elephant Journal. We hear these terms F*ckboy and F*ckgirl thrown around social media and pop culture and this narrow and toxic stereotype is created. Jodi believes there’s more to it….that there’s beauty, magic, humanity and precious stories to be told about intimacy, fuckery, and interpersonal relationships in modern, complex and sometimes toxic dating. It doesn’t have to be toxic– you can be a mindful F*ckgirl or a mindful F*ckboy….forget categories– it’s all about how you treat others whether it’s for one night, a few months or a lifetime.

Now you’re probably wondering if Jodi is a F*ckgirl? Imagine on a spectrum there’s a yes girl w/ low self-esteem & she’s basic w/ excessive good girl conditioning. This girl sits at the far left. Then imagine on the far right, a narcissistic socialite that interprets feminism as ‘every body bow down to me’ as she selfishly exploits people…men. Now imagine Jodi, sitting smack dab in the middle, because she OD’d on feminism & self-esteem in her twenties at a time when bf’s called her ‘too independent’– but then she went on to acquire more lenses that balanced her. Our conditioned behaviors & toxic, socially accepted behaviors actually swing between passive & aggressive– between extremes. Jodi wants to teach the world that we can exist in the middle & it looks like chill ‘passive-assertive’ she calls it. Time & pressure creates diamonds & pearls and after a while Jodi evolved into an imperfect but mindful f*ckgirl because what else do you do when you repeatedly turn down proposals due to wanting more than mediocrity or not being ready yet? She’s still keeping her out for that diamond in the rough….

When Jodi isn’t writing or in a law office, you can find her training for a 10k, being a Brand Ambassador, or on a yoga mat, surfing, horse-back riding, doing ballet or tap or hip hop, hiking, sewing, baking, gardening or reading autobiographies & studying everything from constitutional law to criminal law to intersectional activism. Especially meticulously observing & analyzing behavior & interpersonal/social dynamics. Jodi is a keen observer of life & she’ll marinate on an idea for weeks or months before it comes to fruition in an article. In her writing, personal names are never used & when writing honestly Jodi strives to write mindfully to capture the truth with precision, integrity and reverence without sacrificing meaning, sincerity, depth or reputations.

As a parting gift, Jodi would like to recommend you watch 2 Ted talks: 1. Fr. Greg Boyle’s, S.J. a California Jesuit Priest explains how he built the country’s largest gang rehabilitation center, Homeboy Industries in LA through trial and error, witnessing violent losses and many success stories.

The second TED talk is on Safety, Consent & Inclusion by Jeffrey Bucholtz, the first man to earn a M.A. in Women’s Studies at SDSU. He was a vital mentor to Jodi that taught feminism to men when she was an undergrad.

“If you are hardened and weak, allow the virtues to soften and strengthen you” -Jodi Felton

You can catch up with Jodi on: Instagram: BohoBlondeGoddess and on Twitter: @FeltonJodi & linkedin/in/jodimichelefelton