College Feminists Connect!

My Argument regarding "Equality" and Marriage

    This might not be the best week to argue with the terminology "equal rights", considering what is going on within the government. However, it might also be the best week to do so. So I'm going to go ahead and do it.

    When making an argument against "Equal Rights", I want to stress the fact that I am not complaining about the matters and issues that "Equal Rights" is fighting for but, rather, I am critiquing the term "Equal" itself. To me, equal rights is a very westernized idea. It is a concept that does not encompass a universal, global desire. Equal rights is a western construct, an invention birthed from our idealized minds.

    Aside from that, however, Equal Rights does not embody the entirety of the problem. I want a term that gets straight to the point. A term that completely encapsulates the needs of everybody while also being peacefully aggressive. We are not all equal and it is important to remember that. It does not mean we are lesser than one another, it simply allows us to define ourselves personally and individually.

    By adopting the words "Civil" or "Human", we are granting each other the right to be different while also accepting and acknowledging the fact that we have a right to be treated how we deserve. To be treated fairly and with respect. We are acknowledging the fact that we are: Human. 

    I think equality is laced with some issues that I do not necessarily see as progressive, especially since I do not think equality always means justice, and one is not always the same.

Justice gets the job done.

I want justice. I want civil and human rights NOW.

.........

and NOT just for marriage. 

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    As important as marriage is to some folk (and I do NOT want to minimize the significance of the marriage movement), I also wish it didn't overshadow the necessity for attention to be given to other societal issues that ALSO impact the LGBT community. We need to restructure marriage as a whole because, although I want those who WANT to be married to be married, and despite the fact that if I do get married it will most likely be to a woman, I still feel that the institution of marriage is not one that is reflective of my views. Not because I do not want to be recognized as someone who is worth being linked to someone I love, or to be able to help each other out with benefits, or to be respected...

    ...Rather, traditionally, marriage as an institution is problematic for me (from a feminists stance). Marriage as an institution is discriminatory towards single peoples, or, towards couples who do not see the necessity in getting married, yet decide to be committed none-the-less and therefor do not receive the benefits that marriage allows. I do not want to be apart of a body of people who perpetuate discrimination, even if it is as minor as what I just detailed above.

 

Let's take a look at this link to better understand what I am trying to relay: It isn't all about marriage

 

    While the country was focusing so much energy on promoting marriage justice, many other issues became invisible. These issues have just as much importance and impact a large demographic of people. As Black Girl Dangerous states in her above article:

"As someone who doesn't personally or politically feel connected to so-called 'marriage equality' and, frankly, can't fathom so much time and energy and money being poured into getting one more privilege for one group of people-- especially since the people within that group who will benefit the most are mostly very privileged already--at the expense of countless other really important and much more urgent issues facing the queer community and our society as a whole..." 

 

    Let's talk about homelessness, transphobia, bullying in schools, immigration, health issues, sexual violence, the environment, poverty, hunger...etc etc etc. Let's talk about those issues that have been overshadowed and starved by the marriage movement.

    As I remember, back during this most recent election, the Vote No campaign regarding VOTER I.D had very little coverage in comparison to the Marriage "Equality" campaign. My personal self is represented in both, and my passions and energy was dedicated in a balanced way. However, discussing these issues further with my aunt, a die-hard supporter of voting no to both, who expressed great regret in the fact that the VOTE No for the Marriage bill had so many more volunteers, money, energy, etc, because people talked about, people hardly knew what the Voter I.D stood for aside from the fact that they didn't want it. This is dangerous because marriage isn't the only important matter in this world and marriage justice isn't the only thing that is going to impact the Queer community. The Voter I.D would have been just as damaging, and to a wider range of people.

 

    Also, we tend to forget (or, white, cis-gender folks do) the necessity of intersectionality and how movements impact EVERYONE. The marriage issue isn't just about sexual orientation, it's about race, class, age, etcetera, because those are the peoples and lives that it will alter, as well. The significance of inclusion within a human rights cause that strives for inclusivity is so important. I can not stress it enough. By excluding large demographics of people from a social and political movement that works for justice is a regressive contradiction. This is why the feminist movement has been riddled with problems because it didn't follow its own mision statement of respecting and acknowledging all walks of people. The same goes for the LGBT (although transgender folk have endured their fair share of disrespect from the queer brothers and sisters, as well) community. If you want change and progress, start with doing so internally.

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    To get down to it...what I am attempting to say is not that I don't want people to get married, and it isn't that I am without passion for this movement...however, I am without passion for the crazy notion that this is the only thing in this country that is worth our time and it is saddening to me that this is inciting so much energy that is depriving other issues of recognition. I am not going to fight for marriage or "Equal rights" as being the only movements that should yield my attention or my time.

 

I don't believe equality is enough, nor is it solely what I want. 
I believe justice is more necessary. 
I am greater than, I think highly of myself, I want to transcend. 
I am an individual, I am unique. 
I do not want to be JUST "equal" to somebody else because I am DIFFERENT from all other human beings and therefor I want to be my own personal self. 
I want equality... but I also want justice.
I want justice for reproductive rights, I want justice for the homeless, I want justice for the hungry.
I want Equal rights AND Justice NOW.

 

and NOT just for marriage. 

 

-Anna

 

Toward Feminist Accountability

    As I shared in a previous post, I have been reading Colonize This! with fervor and enthusiasm for a couple of weeks now.  In my WGSS Senior Seminar, we have discussed extensively the complications of reading this text as a white-identified person; I am not the intended audience as outlined in the essays, nor as defined in most women of color feminisms.  However, I struggle with my alienation from these texts, because on emotionally real and visceral levels, they resonate with day-to-day experiences I have had as a feminist, as a student, and as a woman.  It is too simple to merely highlight difference or draw a line where my experiences end as a white woman and where theirs begin as women of color; it is also too simple to take advantage of our similarities and shared knowledges as women dealing with similar gender-based oppressions.  My professor, Sonita Sarker, assured us that this messy space between camaraderie and respectful distance is okay – and she urged us to consider that while the text may be provoking our acknowledgment of white privilege, it also might be provoking us to engage in a dialogue about whiteness as it is racialized (not as a neutral default or non-race). 

            So this is my attempt to speak from my position as a white, middle-class, woman, who has to negotiate the everyday experience of these identities while also practicing a feminist perspective.  I want to hold myself accountable by acknowledging my privilege, but I don’t want to assume that my experiences of oppression are therefore invalid.  I want to live in the mess of what it means to be a feminist, who cannot always combat sexist or racist encounters with a cool wit or charisma; who cannot always muster the courage or energy to confront people who have hurt me; who is not an expert, but a careful listener and deeply sensitive being; who makes mistakes, that I can only promise to try and learn from.

     Every week for the past eight months, I have taken the hour-long commute on the 21 westbound bus from Saint Paul to my boyfriend’s house in South Minneapolis.  Most of the time (maybe sixty-percent of the time, when it’s not negative blank degrees outside), I genuinely enjoy the unique solitude I find on the bus, surrounded by strangers and a self-consciousness that feels safe to explore in this setting.  I find myself thinking more about my class and race privilege on the bus than I do in school sometimes, and more about how I can articulate my feminism in a way that can materialize in real-life benefits for people other than myself.  Which sometimes makes getting off the bus, at a stop that is a ten-minute walk from my boyfriend’s home, a rough transition into the depressing realities of my position as a woman.  And this is where I hesitate to say, “as a white woman,” but where I NEED to in order to understand how the racialization and sexualization of my body socially construct my identity – via both privilege and discrimination.

    I have been catcalled or sexually harassed walking down the street more times than are worth counting; this is not something specific to me, but to all women (street/online harassment are not the focus of my musings here, but there is an abundance of scholarship and personal writings about this issue out there that I encourage everyone to explore).  Usually, my tactic for surviving these situations with as much dignity as possible is pure denial; I look ahead, keep a straight face and a quick stride.  But some of the most layered, twisted, and confusing harassment I have experienced is from Black men in South Minneapolis, who call me out on my whiteness while degrading and mocking my sex.

Regarding the Steubenville Rape Case: An Article on Hyper-Masculinity

*****An Article on Hyper-Toxic-Masculinity and how it is played out in our rape culture******

Like with this cover image for Vogue magazine, where we have societal constructs of what Masculinity (angry, muscular, athletic, strong, lacking sensitivity) and Femininity (frail, wispy, porcelain, leaning on Lebron's shoulder, him supporting her) entail. Negative stereotypes, negative because they are the onl things we are allowed to be depending on our sex/gender. Teaching boys and girls that they are only given these characteristics and any other trait outside of these confines is wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Anna

Trans* Awareness Project

"The Trans* Awareness Project is a poster and digital media campaign that attempts to challenge stereotypes and cultivate an environment which celebrates and respects people of all genders. This campaign aims to break down barriers between communities and establish positive social change by showcasing empowering snapshots of local trans* communities and bringing attention to the challenges that many trans* people face in daily life.

The Trans* Awareness Project website has electronic versions of all the campaign's posters as well as biographies for each participant.  The website also has a ton of resources including worksheets, book recommendations, and a streamlined FAQ section, all of which are intended to help us think more critically about gender and it's impact on our lives."

Started by folks at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.Several University of Minnesota-affiliated groups (including the University Libraries, the Office for Equity and Diversity, the GLBTA Programs Office, the Transgender Commission, and the Queer Student Cultural Center) have collaborated to implement the Trans* Awareness Project.

I sent an email to them, and am waiting to hear back with more information! I think it is a wonderful step for Trans inclusivity within our societies and a great outet for individuals to find resources. It is also an informative site for cis-gender folk to learn about how they can be more respectful, less ignorant and promote equalty and justice.

Here is their website: http://www.transawareness.org/

I wonder...is there a way to make it community based/hold events/community outreach? a public blog? What do you all think? Should they expand to make it not just a digital media based project?

-Anna

The Gender Politics of Ballroom Dance

Today I had the interesting and rare opportunity to take an hour social dance lesson at a neighborhood studio,Cinema Ballroom in Saint Paul.  A couple of weeks ago, my professor for my WGSS Senior Seminar revealed that she has been taking dance classes, and that a Macalester professor invited her and our class to join his Behavioral Neuroscience class in a dance lesson; his students were discussing the neuroscience of dance.  We enthusiastically RSVPed YES, thinking it would be a nice break from heavy theory and talking about gender - wow, were we wrong.

Love your girlhood, love your womanhood

I'm all about language, but sometimes language isn't alll about me. Sometimes it can be tricky and sets me off on a weird track. Language is fragile and words hold multiple meanings, intentional or not. 

For instance, "girls" versus "women". Girl: adolescence, Woman: mature, adult.

For instance, Girl: negative, Woman: positive

For instance, Girl: fetishsized , Woman: forgotten, unwanted

For instance, Girl: reclaimed, Woman: abandoned

For instance, Girl: reclaimed, Woman: reclaimed

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What  bothers me most about language is that language is controlled by people, those people being apart of the hegemony. The people who have morphed the language of "girls" and "women" have transformed them into words that combat each other. They have transformed them into words that combat the beauty of both "girlhood" and "womanhood". These words now have negative connotations. These words are now against one another. Girl and Woman cannot be the opposite of one another because they consist of the same spirit, the same individual. Girl and Woman need to work together to make life better for them both, they need to support each other so that patriarchy cannot taint them.

Why do the words "boy" and "man" still yield respect? Oh, just apart of the "old boy's club" or, "that's what a MAN would do". I'm not suggesting that language/people haven't soiled the definitions of the "male"-gender but, alas, there isn't as much of a battle raging for those who wish to reclaim them. What is wrong with society-controlled-language is that language makes "girls" and "women" uncomfortable to call themselves a "girl" or a "woman"...and that is wrong.

What bothers me about society is how much hatred and disgust comes from calling oneself a "girl". I was proud to be a girl, just as I am proud to be a woman. I find nothing juvenile in calling myself a girl. I do not believe it minimizes my personhood. I do not believe it makes myself sparkly, ruffly and surrounded by cupcakes, either. Just like the birth of the riot grrrl scene, the birth of my girlhood was harbouring something rebellious, energetic, feisty and powerful.

I also believe that calling oneself a girl should make one more proud of calling oneself a woman. Do not abandon womanhood just like we shouldn't abandon girlhood. We never stop learning or growing and we should pride our ability to become someone as wonderfully apart of this earth as a woman is.

Do not underestimate girls/grrls/gurlz. Underestimating something that has been, for so long, the brunt of our jokes, our dislike, etc, will only rise stronger and more capable of proving oneself to the world.

GIrls are strong because girls become women and women are fierce and mighty.

 

-Anna Ruhland

Understanding Women of Color Feminisms as a White Reader - Alliance, Difference, and Privilege

This week in my Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Senior Seminar we started reading an anthology of essays called Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism (2002).  The collection is edited by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman, with a foreword by Cherrie Moraga - it is a response to and an expansion of both This Bridge Called my Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981) and Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation (2001).  The essays featured in Colonize This! are all written by women of color, and highlight their individual experiences with white, middle-class feminisms that live in the academy, as well as their experiences negotiating their multiple identities, honoring their mothers and re-defining feminism, and creating new communities around these conflicts and realities.  I have to say that so far, I absolutely love this collection, because it is not only radical and relevant, but utilizes accessible language.

That being said, in my class today, we discussed the complications of being a white reader of a book that is intended for a "women of color" audience.  While there is an immediate emotional connection that I made with these essays (as a woman, as a feminist, as a budding activist), I have to acknowledge and interrogate my position of privilege, and be careful to not consume these real material experiences of women of color.  We talked about the importance of acknowledging one's personal contributions to theories of feminism like this: what genealogies went into making me, as a white feminist? How did these layered histories contribute to/demand the formation of theories of difference and women of color feminisms?  How can I use this text to inform the ways I want to complicate and move away from these histories of colonization, oppression, privilege, and white feminisms?  

My Sheroes Part III

Continued...

 

I am stoked that it is still Women's History Month (and last week was International Women's day, with which I made many rants about intersectionality and appreciating and recognizing women from all over the globe and their tremendous efforts to promote women's roles, etc, as well as to progress all of our respected women's movements, etc). So in this week's "Sheroes" blog post, I'd like to focus on two international women who held significant roles in social justice movements in their communities:

 

Ani Pachen:

Ani Pachen(1933–2002) was a Tibetan Buddhist nun who led her clan in armed rebellion against China. She is known as the Tibetan Joan of Arc due to her peaceful protest and revolution against the Chinese invasion in Tibet. At the age of 17 she took her future into her hands and fled to a monastary after hearing of plans of an arranged marriage. She spent 18 years in the monastery. She inherited the leadership of the Lemdha Clan after he father died (and would also inherit accusations from the Chinese, due to her father's connections, helping to land her in jail). She led her clan in rebellion against the Communist Chinese. She led a guerrilla campaign of 600 fighters on horseback againstChinese tanks until her capture in late 1959. Pachen was released from prison in 1981, having endured many painful years full of torture (starvation, physical torture, etc). She dedicated her the rest of her life to resisting the Chinese in Lhasa and pushing towards Tibetan independence. She fled to the border upon learning that she was to be arrested again and wandered for several days in deep snow. She walked 25 days to Nepal and her lifelong dream to meet the Dalai Lama came true after she was granted a personal audience shortly after her arrival.

Her autobiography Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun is one of my favorite reads. Much like the autobiography of the Dalai Lama, it portrays a young individual not much different than myself and my peers (snobby, selfish, rude) who learned from their mistakes and passions and grew up into one of the greatest heroes of our time. She pioneered the way for many revolutionists and is still a wonderful symbol of peace and justice.

 

 

 

 

Ani Pachen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wangari Maathai:

(1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In the 1970s she founded the Green-Belt Movement, an environmental and non-governmental organization focused on planting trees, conservation and women's rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.". She was an elected member of parliament and served as assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. Furthermore she was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. In 2011, Maathai died of complications from ovarian cancer.

 

I highly recommend reading Unbowed: A Memoir which highlights much of her achievements. Maathai was extremely involved in, not only her government, but globally, as well. In topics such as AIDS awareness, women's health, environmental justice, issues of racism, governmental/politics, etc. A prominent figure of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Wangari Maathai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Anna Ruhland

My Sheroes: Part II

Continuing on with my woman fighters, rebel rousers, top notch scientists, creative minds, goddesses and all the like (women I admire and aspire to be like) from last week (in celebration of Women's History Month), I would like to recognize the awesomeness that is...

Jane Goodall (or, Dame Jane Morris Goodall)

Jane Goodall is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. She is considered the foremost leader and expert on the study and preservation of chimpanzees. Having never had a formal scientific background, she championed her way into the field and research. She is known for her 45 yr study of social behaviours of chimpanzees, as well as being the founder of the Roots and Shoots program, apart of the Jane Goodall Institute. She travels several times a year to give talks all around the world (I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE HER in CHICAGO!!! xoxoxoxo), hardly ever being able to take a break, to advocate for animals and the environment. 

Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold is an African American artist, best known for her painted story quilts. She is professor emeritus in theUniversity of California, San Diego visual art department. She was born and raised in Harlem, NYC. She was greatly influnced by fabric because she lived with her mother who worked as a fashion designer. This interest in fabric and textile arts would transfer into her later years and creations. She is well known for her collage/combination creations that integrate "high-art" and "craft" by telling stories through quilts and painting. She modeled these quilts off of the Buddhist Thangkas. She has also written over 17 children's books and received the Coretta Scott King award or one of them (Tar Beach). She is a prominent individual in the African American/art community. She has also been very active in multiple feminist and anti-racist organizations and movements. She formed the Ad Hoc Women's Art Committee which protested the Whitney Museum and demanded that more woman artists be represented. She also founded/helped form:Women Students and Artists for Black Art Liberation, National Black Feminist Organization & "Where We At" Black Women Artists (a NY based black women's art collective of the Black Arts Movement). She is an awesome woman, artist, activist and individual of this earth who greatly empowers many 

 

 

 

 

 

Faith Ringgold

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Annah Ruhland

The Naked I: Wide Open

This past Thursday night, 20% Theatre Company performed The Naked I: Wide Open at Augsburg College. At its sold-out world premiere in February 2012, these artists offered to the world a unique theatrical experience in which local trans*/gender non-conforming artists and allies created and performed over twenty pieces.  These pieces explore issues such as gender identity, gender expression, self-embodiment, relationships, and love.  The cast at this performance was smaller than in its previous shows, yet nothing about the performance was lost in its smaller number.  The actors make you laugh, make you cry, and leave you with some food for thought.  Regardless of one's own gender identity, this show is not only powerful, but important.  During the talkback, director Claire Avitabile was asked whether or not she knew of other theater companies in the United States who did anything like this, to which she responded "no."  Because theater can create a sort of "utopian space" in which issues that are not usually explored have a defined place, a performance of this kind gives trans* and gender non-conforming individuals and their allies the ability to discuss the way they experience their bodies on their own terms.  When trans*/queer/gender non-conforming individuals are asked questions like "have you had surgery yet?" or "what is your real name?", regardless of the asker's good intention or not, the ability to educate is cheapened. It is not the task of trans* people to educate others, though many often do.  The hurtful nature of these questions, the bombardment of questions about (what really comes down to) genitals, is not, as many of the performers explained during the talkback, on their own terms.  We need more spaces for trans*/gender non-conforming individuals and their allies to talk.  We don't need more silence.

I highly recommend you discover the works of these artists. If you are able to see the show in person, The Naked I: Wide Open has two more performance dates on their current tour:  Tuesday, March 12 at Winona State University and Thursday, March 14 at St. John's Hospital in Maple Grove, MN.  Copies of the full-length play can also be purchased on Amazon.

For more information about 20% Theatre company, visit their website.

 

-Ingrid