Feminism

I really wish we had more time, because I wish I were able to write the International Feminism and spend more time on the topic in general. I would have liked to go over Mohanty's peice and Persepolis a little more because there was a lot there that we didn't cover, and I think we could have gotten a lot more out of it. If I were to write a paper I would continue my tajectory of writing about Nicki Minaj, but focus on her collaboration with Beyonce for 'Flawless.' I think I would redefine what Nicki does as nego-feminism instead of reclaiming. I would focus more on her Trinidadian identity, and what it means in Trinidad and what it means to in the US. I would also write about the part of her rap where she comments on weaves.

For my Camphill portrait project I worked with Gaby. She is a 44 year old villager at Camphill, she has been there since she was 21 years old. Gaby works in the bakery, weavery, and in the afternoon she manages the recycling of several households. Gaby loves to read and play softball. When I visited Gaby's room she proudly showed me her softball trophies and I included one of them in our portrait. Due to my extremely limited artistic skills Riva suggested that Gaby and I work together on her portrait. I came up with the idea to draw Gaby's lyre and let Gaby draw herself. Gaby also drew some of her favorite things like fall leaves and I traced over them. After we left Camphill I added rainbow strings to the lyre like the strings that Gaby has on her real lyre.

I found the unit on international feminism particularly interesting. Though Marilyn Waring’s writing was dense I feel like I finally got some answers about feminism and economics. Last semester @Sunshine and I took a class titled “Fixing Inequality” taught by Professor Robert Fairbanks. Towards the end of the course we did some readings by Ananya Roy about Microfinance and it’s effect on the global markets. Roy specializes in international development and global urbanism.

We (All) Belong Here

Kate Hinchey ’16, McBride

***Any text in quotations is the actual words/experience of a current or former McBride Scholar. These opinions are individualized and do not claim to represent the experience of all MBs***

I think the concept that has intrigued me the most throughout our discussions of international feminism is that to be feminist means you must be anti-capitalist. This is a bold, yet simple statement that has provoked so much dialogue both in the classroom and in my own mind. As self-proclaimed feminist and undeniable contributor to capitalism, I am unsettled by this as it confirms the hipocrisy of my consumerist lifestyle. However, I wonder how I can strive to be anti-capitalist and feminist while living and working in a majorly capitalist society. 

If I were to write a paper on international feminism, I would like to focus on sentiments around abortion, and the different circumstances in various nations that shift women's perceptions of the topic. In the United States, the ability to abort if necessary is considered by many on the Left as a way of women claiming their own bodies and autonomy over their lives. However, this issue is much more complicated in other countries, where population control is (or has been) in effect. For example, studies conducted in China in 2000 revealed that, if a family already had one female child and the second was found, in utero, to be female as well, 92% of these pregnancies were aborted (Junhong, Chu. 2000).

It was our final afternoon at Camphill and I was seated in Rose Hall adding some last minute details to my portrait of Johannah. Only I and a couple others from the 360 were in the Hall working. After a long week’s attempt at representing a woman who I had just met, I finally was starting to feel alright about the way Johannah came across on the page.