feminist debates: fall 2011

Social Media as a Tool for Feminism

2011-12-20T20:03:21Z

Truthfully, I've been throughout the course of this class slightly troubled by the nigh-ubiquitous wholesale veneration of social media as not only a tool with which feminism might be better articulated, but the space within which much current feminist discourse is taking place.

Additionally, I would tend to concur with much of what has been articulated over the course of our class- when we allow for important discourses such as these to be taken up within a space which tends to be inaccessible (the requisite amount of leisure time for actually legitimately engaging with and actually participating in discussions through online mediums being in and of itself a considerable privilege. Similarly, technology to which we have access is not quite as ubiquitous as it may otherwise seem or be portrayed; many even living in the relative comfort of the industrialized West [although that is not to diminish the circumstances of women living in the "third world" who are likewise ill-positioned to even -encounter- these technologies] are plagued by lack of access by way of the considerable Digital Divide).

In spite of these criticisms, I definitely recognize its value within the privileges spaces which have access thereto; I can speak to many who have themselves traced their own earlier or earliest encounters with feminism (academic or otherwise) to social media spaces. Additionally, while the issues mentioned above are certainly problematic and meriting more critical examination, many of the most compelling critiques I've read have been made available to me through the mediums we've been exploring, so there is I suppose potential for the discourse that does take place within these spaces to be very much aware of its place relative to those who exist outside of it, which is if nothing else a step in the right direction? Perhaps I am entirely too optimistic (or very possibly unwilling to give up Twitter now that I've more actively engaged therewith.

This is a Feminist Issue Because... Feminist Ryan Gosling Reaffirms Primacy of Hegemonic Western Feminisms

2011-12-20T19:59:03Z

While I'm reasonably positive that someone has already posted on the subject of our friend Feminist Ryan Gosling (whose exploits in inaccessibly dense and needlessly verbose Western academic feminism can be found at feministryangosling.tumblr.com), it is I think essential to take a step back and more carefully consider precisely what it is we are defining as feminism in this context- I would caution that, with gems such as "Hey girl. Considering how she positions narrative devices as tools used to frame masculinity and translate gender across geopolitical locations, I just can't figure out why Jasbir Puar isn't ruling the entire world right now," "hey girl. We don't need arbitrary beauty archetypes steeped in historically biased ideologies pumped out to use by mediocre, archaic forms of media to define our sexiness," and "hey girl. When he said it was possible to talk about cultural marginalization and borderlands WITHOUT mentioning Gloria Anzaldua I was like 'oh no you didn't'!", it becomes fairly unrelentingly clear that this particular meme is privileging a very specific of feminism (and in addition to this what it means to actually be a feminist or engage in feminist praxis), which is decidedly the hegemonic variant. Additionally, there are likewise ways in which this meme makes some fairly unsavory assumptions about the nature of the reader, such as the ways in which is very ostensibly assumes cis-ness inherent to the reader, as well as some similarly unsavory racial and class assumptions. Very basically, while I can appreciate that this meme might be amusing for those already "in the know" with respect to academic feminism, it is exceptionally alienating to those coming into feminism cold, and very much reaffirms extant criticisms of elitism coming from outside the walls of academia.

Feminist Social Media Assessment

2011-12-20T19:03:23Z

While our presentation was slightly atypical in that it diverged from what we generally today consider to be social media, I remain rather pleased with what we were able to accomplish and (I think successfully) convey through our presentation on Stacey Ann Chin and (more broadly) the capacity of spoken word to act as and/or function similarly to more conventional forms of social media such as Twitter or Facebook.

I actually very much deeply regret that I was unable to conduct myself as adequately as I had hoped during our presentation-proper; I very much choked in the face of our enormous class size, and for this I apologize! In any event, I had been within my own group specifically tasked to explore spoken word's potential as a form of radical pedagogical praxis, and actually found much more in the way of support of this notion and actual evidence than I was able to articulate during the presentation itself. More specifically, spoken word's potential as a form of liberatory pedagogical praxis very much comes from its responsiveness to the community in which it is created; in excess of this, spoken word is very much Responding to a specific group of individuals for whom the artfulness and sophistication of spoken word and hip hop is readily accepted, for whom more "conventional" mediums might be alienating by way of their deliberate resting upon racialized and class-based metrics and understandings. Additionally, it draws a considerable amount of power from its inherent accessibility; contrary to mediums such as social media (as we understand it) exists within the world-proper.

Although I am certainly satisfied with our presentation overall, I would very much tend to concur with Serita's point- while I can certainly see the value in educating students on the business of social media and its growing relationship to social justice movements across the board (more specifically insofar as it relates to the nature of more contemporary progressive discourses), I would have loved to have explored other divergent means of feminist discourse and praxis. More specifically, why not explore folks like Stacey Ann Chin and the potential of spoken word, why not touch down on Boal and Theatre of the Oppressed, or any of the other, myriad forms of expression that can be used to the advantage if contemporary feminists?

Where are the zines at???

Drop the I-Word - Initial Response

2011-12-20T18:52:27Z

While I likewise very much gravitated toward the article centered on the status of Superman not only as an immigrant, but as an individual "illegal" in the sense that it might very likely be problematically found today (indeed, Superman's historical origins as [the functional equivalent of] and immigrant or, if you will, a literal alien, have often found themselves to be fairly integral to the character! Superman has always existed in some capacity as a hyperidealized manifestation of the American dream, of the capacity to enter into this country an immigrant and proceed to do incredible things in spite of those histories, and many Superman stories have been very conscious of this issue; more specifically, prior to the DC Comics universal reboot, Superman officially canonically renounced his citizenship as an American in response to the existing climate for immigrants in the country today.), I likewise found a less light-hearted article to be infinitely more gripping!

More specifically, I found the article detailing the horrific ideologies of the Kennewick, Washington man who publicly and unapologetically advocated for the implementation of an English-only law, demanding "illegal" immigrants to leave town within thirty days, promising tipsters rewards of one thousand dollars for information regarding undocumented workers, and exacting capital punishment against undocumented workers who remained in order to "make an example of them." I don't even know where to begin in terms of processing this. Not only is it horrific that these views are being held at all, but that they can be so openly and safely voiced within this political climate is I think similarly frightening, particularly when coupled with its ubiquity within even more major, mainstream news networks.

On the Business of Writing, Technology, and Defining

2011-12-20T18:03:49Z

Truthfully, while I am a GWSS major (in spite of this, I was and have been very careful throughout the semester to not take this distinction as a sign that I could posture myself as Grand Arbiter of Feminism) and had, prior to entering into this class, very much identified myself as a feminist, I've definitely found this shifting throughout the course of our readings and in-class discussions. The reason for which I've been becoming less and less inclined to identify as a feminist is less (by which I mean not at all) by virtue of the ideas inherent to feminism (indeed, much of my own work outside of the classroom tends to relate specifically back to feminist ideals, if not feminism outright), but infinitely more due to feminism's historical (and appallingly current) inability to meaningfully engage with and account for those beyond the scope of white, upper class cisgender women. I've definitely found the business of womanism, though, to be a fascinating alternative; unfortunately, I've yet to find any more authoritative texts on the subject, nor have I really been able to scrounge up much in the way of blogs posting specifically on said topic, so I've yet to really meaningfully flesh out my own understanding thereof.

I'll only be echoing much of what has already been articulated in terms of the issue of social media and accessibility so I'll pass over that here, but such have likewise been instrumental in my own engagement with feminist discourses as I've tended to know and encounter them- the question of who is written out of the conversation when we confine our discussions to inaccessible spaces is I think an exceptionally important one to continue asking.This isn't, though, to say that social media has been completely fruitless. I still rely on many online sources (such as Racialicious, ColorLines, Feministing, Bitch Magazine, among others) for valuable insights into many of the issues we've been covering, and this is, I imagine, true for many others in and outside of this class.

Final Day of Class! December 13

2011-12-12T21:03:07Z

In "Feminist Education for Critical Consciousness" (in Feminism for Everybody), bell hooks argues for the need to give children access to a feminist education. Is this possible? Necessary? What would it look like? Did you have access to feminist education when you were younger? If so, what were (weren't) you taught?

On our last day, I thought I'd show you my introduction to feminist/feminist values: Free to be...You and Me.

I'm a child of the 1970s (born in 1974). When I was in elementary school in North Carolina, the entire school watched the Free to be...you and me film (Videos/VCRs didn't exist yet...yes, I'm that old) during an assembly. Everyone was really excited because it was a long film--a whole 45 minutes!--and long films meant less class time. Anyway, I don't remember much of what I thought about the film back then (I was probably 6 or so). Yet, I'm sure some of it seeped into my consciousness, helping shape how I experience the world and how I see myself and my relationship to others.

Originally a book/album created by Marlo Thompson, with a little help from Gloria Steinem, Free to be...you and me was turned into a one hour TV special. It first aired March 11th, 1974 (3 months before I was born). You can find out more about the history of the project here. Several years later, it became a popular film to show in schools around the country (like mine in North Carolina. It was also shown in Minnesota).

It stands as one example of feminist mass-based education. Would such a show be possible now? What sorts of feminist (or feminist-friendly) films did you see in elementary school? If we were to create a feminist resource for kids, what would/could/should it look like?

Here's one of my favorite songs from the show:

Note: Rosey Grier was a football player during the 1970s. I really like how "Free to be...you and me" challenges the stereotype of who does cry (girls/women) and who isn't supposed to (boys/men). In addition to having Grier sing the song, they also show a series of images of all sorts of people crying. As I was searching through youtube for this clip, I also found this one from Barney, "It's OK to Cry":

Barney is singing to little Beth about how it's OK for her to cry. Does this song undercut a feminist message to boys (and all children), that its alright for everyone to cry?

This is a Feminist Issue... Boobs for Views??

2011-12-09T16:53:49Z

Laura has many different channels with a large amount of views for all of her channels. Her videos are crappy with mostly youtube responses or poorly done spoofs and parodies. The one reason she has a large amount of views is because in every video she wears a shirt that reveals a large part of her breasts. I personally find issue with this because there are so many better pages that are struggling for views; most notably significant feminist groups that have a youtube page. They are lucky to get a few thousand while this girl gets 100,000+ views for her videos. Maybe I am wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LauraSparkling

"Feminism For Real" diablog group summary

2011-12-08T19:10:44Z

I think the length of our blog entries really reflect how engaging this text was/is, regardless of how we may agree or disagree with some parts of it. The big thing that came up in our diablog was the amount of discomfort experienced while reading it. However, another important point, brought up early, in our diablog is the value in the tensions and contradictions of feminism(s). It's important to recognize why these sites of tension and contradictions emerge because it pays tribute to what Yee points our attention to "....what has led to the existence of "feminism" in the first place, and where feminism exists today" (13, emphasis mine). The book was/is a great way to turn the tables and to force those involved in feminist academia to experience the discomfort that we sometimes unknowingly inflict onto those that we are trying to form alliances with.

Additionally, in "deconstructing" the academic industrial complex of feminism we also have to recognize the possibilities in creating alliances and bridging spaces. There are a myriad of possibilities and the author's in this piece speak well to it when they say the work is not a "slam" on academic feminism, but rather a truth-telling of who and what gets lost in the schism. The authors are also right when they say that minority groups aren't always appreciated in the feminist community, especially because many academic feminists prioritize issues. Latoya Peterson's description of how someone can feel alienated from studying feminism touches on this as well. Having to worry about so many hopes and goals for the movement can take away from what issues are more personal to ourselves. Many academic feminists have different foci than Indigenous feminists, which causes them to feel separated from the movement. Although we should still maintain a connection between feminists, we don't have to "hold hands" and be an all-encompassing sisterhood.

This collection also gave us a good opportunity to revisit some of the themes we've touched on in class--the questions of what is who/ what is a feminist, and if the "feminist" identity exists. Or, "Why should I be shut down because I am an academic feminist? I don't have much experience to draw on, so why can't I try to learn about what other feminists deal with? I acknowledge that I can't fully comprehend the difficulties of oppression, and I don't think I ever will. However, I want to contribute something to the movement, and without any prior experiences, I turn to academia to give me the tools to do so" (laurenw127). During our class presentation it was brought up that motherhood, in relation to academia, was not mentioned. Parenting wasn't talked about specifically in the book and I thought it was something that definitely should have been included more. If I were going to write an essay to be included in "Feminism for Real" I think it would have something to do with how difficult it is for young moms to finish college.

In the end: Are we really listening to the book? We acknowledge our privilege but then we jump back into rationalizing our schooling in academic feminism. So then is this the appropriate reaction? Is this another instance in which the privileged listen to the concerns of minorities but then continue to ultimately do what is best for themselves?

Feminist Social Media

2011-12-08T18:15:15Z

I find that the aspect of social media has been very effective, and furthered my understanding of feminism. Through working and reworking my definition of feminism, I have found that there were so many things we have done in this class that have been added to my current definition. Things like the blog, and twitter have helped my to stay connected to the assignments, and to other people's ideas. I can read as many feminist books by feminist authors that are out there, but I didn't realize how large the movement was online. So many well known authors and activists have a twitter, or a website that they collaborate with, and until I took this class, I had no idea it was out there. Our list of social media tools for this class was long and precise, and I think we may have just covered every single topic listed on there. The one thing that we involved ourselves in a bit was feminist music. A social media group presented on spoken word, but it would have been interesting to delve a little deeper into that subject. What is feminist music? Is there even a thing? How would we define it? These are all questions that spark a certain curiosity into this subject. This is especially rooted in the social media aspect of it, as everything these days is accessible through YouTube or similar music sites. I think one of the biggest benefits of social media for feminist education is that you can make out of it what you want. There are so many ways that you can get involved, that your options of organizations, movements, journals, and magazines is potentially limitless. You can practically tailor make your own education by using only the subjects that interest you, and weed out the ones that don't fall into your own personal definition. One of the biggest limitations to social media is the idea of accessibility. Those dealing with the 3rd world problems that the 1st world feminist are talking about probably don't have access to the internet, nor would they find it beneficial to them. I enjoyed getting to look at several different aspects of social media in this class. I was familiar with blogging before, but things like twitter, and other feminist sites have expanded the scope of what I now have access to.

This is a feminist issue...

2011-12-08T17:19:19Z

Has anyone else seen these out there on the internet? They have showed up quite a bit lately on my Pinterest, and other social media sites. Either way, I think it is a perfect example for this assignment. We all know that the movie the Notebook has (in my opinion, sometimes unfortunately) made its way into the hearts of young girls everywhere. It has also brought the studly Ryan Gosling tons of media attention because of it. A student named Danielle made these flashcard with pictures of Ryan, and concepts from feminist thought and theory. The images were ones she pulled off line, and the statements were to go along with some ideas from her class (you can read an FAQ with her here ) While she doesn't know if he is actually a feminist, they have certainly had some implications. For me, this has brought up the age old argument on if a man can be a feminist or not. While he has made no claims thus far, it is interesting to analyze what kind of backlash, or progress this has made for him and his career. It also speaks to a younger audience who are more susceptible to seeing these images. Thoughts? Do you think this can help further the movement, or does it hinder it by further putting a face to the heteronormative?

My social media Assesment

2011-12-08T16:27:16Z

@GAnatomyLuver
Talycia I'm enlightened and a bit smarterlearning more on issues in this class and blogs likehttp://crunkfeministcollect...#femd2011
Dec 08 via webFavorite RetweetReply

I loved learning and presenting my groups information in the way we did. It's always fun to do something other than a lecture style presentation. I have to say the amount of work and the different ways we showed our work( blog, twitter in class presentation) really kept me on my toes, which is good I can always learn and continue to sharpen my skills. Overall I think this class and the social media tools we used were good in that it kept our attention and gave us other ways to further the discussions to other issues and even to continue them outside of class. Reading all the different takes on certain issues via the blog was a good reminder to keep an open mind and respect peoples point of view. Overall working with my group members on this project was fun we we're all easy going people yet organized and on top of things so even with the little pop up tech problems we still did and exceptional presentation. This ultimately was a growing experience for me and I found a lot of great resources that I can use to keep me updated and on top of my feminist issues. I also found some other feminist out there that are just like me, and who doesn't want to have that feeling of comradery?

This is a Feminist issue because... Our beautiful diamonds and what it takes to get them.

2011-12-08T16:02:14Z

Most valuable diamonds come from troubled areas, where people can be killed if found smuggling them out of the country and then on to sell them. Although this is looked upon as bad for the everyday civilian in these countries most times the government officials are corrupt and have people looking for diamonds and jewels for them to sell illegally. So when we look at our beautiful large diamonds i think we should ask how did it get here... and did someone die because the sell or transportation of this diamond. Unfortunately these stories are true and real and ultimately its easier for us to just not think about the stories of our diamonds. So with that said What's your diamonds story?

This is a Feminist issue because.... Black women portrayed in a positive way!

2011-12-08T15:54:21Z

We have so many examples of the traditional "white" families this is a good of a black family. The amount of good examples that the media portrays black people as is limited... and especially black women in this show not fitting the typical,"angry,bitter black woman" stereotype. What does that say of what they think of us? If no one else is showing us in a good light it's good that BET is.(Although on the same station there are images of us in the total opposite light.)

Social Media Assesment 2

2011-12-08T15:50:38Z

When I first found out that this class involved such heavy online work I was pretty hesitant. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized that this is the reality of the society that we leave in today. We can do so many things online and our generation tends to spend tremendous amounts of time online. I think that it is good practice for us to continuously learn about the online world and explore new sites and online organizations that we have never seen or heard about before. Having all of these sites and online blogs/organizations makes them very easily accessible to read and discuss. I think that it's a great way to get the word out there for those who don't really know about these issues. However, even though all of this is online, there are many people who just haven't come accross them or know where to look to become educated on these issues. How do we change this? Like bell hooks said, there is always tshirts, newspapers, television networks, children's books, etc. Though those forms of media can definitely be effective, the reality of it is that so many people in todays society are not looking in/for those types of media, they are online. That being said, the transition of the feminist movement to go online is a great one. This way all of these people online have the opportunity to easily share their findings or their opinions with their friends, family, online friends, etc. It still always baffles me when a new youtube video comes out thats really funny or meaningful and it can sometimes receive millions of views in just a few days. This is because of online sharing! On the other hand, there is still a problem with certain online sharing. With people sharing videos on Twitter and/or Facebook, they are sharing them with their friends. Their friends are usually mostly also feminist who probably are already educated about these issues/movements. The problem here is that new information isn't getting to unaware people.

Like I said ealier, I was pretty intimidated at the beginning of the semester when I realized how much online work was involved. It was extremely overwhelming for me since I had never used a blog or Twitter before. However, after a few weeks I did get used to the online usage. If I were to change one thing about this course it would be the use of TWO online medias. I think that the onling blog is more than enough for the class and I don't really know if Twitter really helped at all. Don't get me wrong because I do understand why Twitter was chosen and I think that it's a really great media tool for the feminist movement, but it may be better to possible spend a week or two exploring Twitter and seeing Twitters impact without using Twitter the entire semester. Overall, I really enjoyed the class and learned so much more than I expected. I am very happy that I took this feminist debates class. :)

Day Twenty-four: December 8

2011-12-08T15:32:21Z

Check out Jessica Yee's tweets to our class/about our posts:

Thoughts?

Here's some other things that I want us to think about today and next Tuesday:

Your experiences with the process of developing and writing your feminist reflection papers
Your thoughts about social media in the (feminist) classroom
Favorite (and/or particularly compelling) assignments/readings/discussions
Any discussions/readings you'd like to revisit
Your thoughts on how to build community/connections inside/outside of classroom space
Any questions about class/feminism
Any "this is a feminist issue because..." posts that you want to discuss

And another thing: I posted this entry on my trouble blog yesterday about shifts in language that encourage feminist curiosity (taking women's/people's lives seriously). Here's a brief chart:

Any shifts you would like to add? Hmm...just thought of one more:

old word: illegal immigrant more curious word: undocumented worker/immigrant

What do you think?

Finally, one last thing: On gaslighting and mansplaining

gaslighting comes from this tweet: