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Notes from Feministing 2/9 at Haverford College
Hey all, these are the notes I took at the Feministing talk at Haverford College last night. I hope they are useful, or at least amusing.
1st speaker:
- Australian
- "stealth feminism"
- feminism that doesn't call itself feminism
- BAGGAGE --> some is completely deserved
- Doesn't deserve baggage by those who want to see it fail, who don't want to see women have equal pay, etc (right of who to have sex with/how often, right to have children, etc)
- Poverty, democratic representation, sexual assault
- STEP ONE: Pop culture
- The Ugly Truth: "No one wants to fuck comfort and efficiency" (re: clothes that feminists wear"
- View with a critical eye
- Meeting people where they are and using language they understand (re: stealth feminism/how to explain feminism)
- If you need proof that sexism is "alive and well" in America, look at pop culture
- "You take [pop culture] too seriously"
- Pop culture is a gateway drug to feminism
- Start with: Dancing with the Stars, rap songs, romantic comedies (romcoms) --> very clear to see faults
- Then move to: politics, literature, own relationships
- Feminism is alive and well and it needs you
2nd speaker:
- Cuban
- "You think we'd be over this by now" --> Body hatred (losing weight, dieting)
- Queer and genderqueer --> let go of a lot of the norms around female presentation
- Men's clothing as more comfortable/covering for own body
- Mom -->hated her own body. Peers too
- Dad expressed fear that ze would be like hir aunt. Aunt is large, but no health problems. Successful, happy (but dieting)
- The weight always comes back, and then some
- Dieting [almost] always makes people fatter
- This view (anti-dieting, pro-body image) is unsupported by medical references, the media, mom
- We need feminism and social justice
- [Body hatred] keeps marginalized groups more marginalized
- Skin lightening
- Plastic surgery
- Hair straightening
- Internalized view --> always hated body
- "When justice has a body"
- Do you ever find it difficult to live the things you espouse?
- Major step --> getting to see what real bodies look like (sometimes hard if you aren't naked all the time or having sex all the time)
- The power of simply being seen
3rd speaker:
- Indian/South Asian
- "And through my journey I ended up writing about loooove and shit"
- Idea of arranged marriage --> Someone's going to go to jail and someone to the hospital
- Madonna --> first intro to feminism
- RIOT GRRL
- Kathleen Hanna
- "When you're an outspoken woman, people respond to you in really weird ways" --> yearbook comments, "I know I'm a lowly white guy..."
- "I was like the feminist mean girl, but all my friends were queer so it was ok, I was defending them" (laughter)
- Hip-hop as entry into racial politics (when hip-hop was good)
- "Am I affiliated with my race or my gender?
- Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, Kimberle Crenshaw
- Re: race: "If there are no stories about you, do you exist?"
- "How do you create a space [to exist in]?"
- Feminist publishing houses [?! --> look into]
- Consistent, similar themes of dating books for women.
- Sexist dating myths:
- Women are fragile, passive flowers
- All dating situations should lead to marriage/is a step towards finding a dude to marry (even casual sex)
- Don't be a pushover, but don't be a bitch
- Men are simple, women are complicated
- Men are vagina-hungry manbeasts: pizza, beer, vagina
- "I don't know what's worse in dating books--the caricatures of women or the caricatures of men"
- "I don't want to be an anti-romantic but...is this serious?"
- Media hinges itself on antiquated ideas of gender, sexuality, etc.
- The most radical thing you can do for yourself is not take any advice
- Tumblr --> Occupy Valentine's Day
- Truly make it about love
- Push ourselves out of this idea of heteronormative romance
Q&A
- There needs to be accountability for men as well
- Crisis in masculinity is that we can't let go of antiquated notions of masculinity
- Identity representation in internet-based activism
- More recently, people are being pushed to be themselves online (not just an avatar)
- Multiple shortcomings of identity politics
- Even if you identify with a community, it doesn't mean you get to represent one (implications for us?)
- Paralyzes people with privilege from talking about certain issues --> you can't talk about race if you're white, etc.
- Just acknowledge your privilege!
Groups: