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Transnational Feminist Theory

In today’s modern world, it is very hard to believe that women are still not treated better than they were years ago. As a black woman, I know the struggles of dealing with my own issues and then having to handle the pressure society puts on you to survive and be successful. I can sympathize with the women in the writings.” The rise of religious fundamentalism with their deeply masculinist and often racist rhetoric poses a huge challenge for similar struggles around the world. Finally the profoundly unequal “information highway”, as well as the increasing militarization (and masculinization) of the globe accompanied by the growth of the prison industrial complex in the United States, pose profound contradictions in the lives and communities of women and men in most parts of the world (Mohanty). The New York Times had a story titled Pope says church should acknowledge history of male dominance, abuse of women. The Pope said “A church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stop listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum”. And while he said the church should be “attentive to the legitimate claims of those women who seek greater justice and equality” and that young people had complained of a “lack of leading female role models”, he offered no new ideas (Reuters, 2019). While that was good of him to say, but without resolution, the problem remains.

The girl effect is a good concept that plans to empower woman by giving them a more positive outlook on life. Rather then young girls becoming mothers and being sexual objects (making them disposable), the girl effect strives to help them stay in school and gain a secondary education this way they can become prominent members of society (durable). It gives the girls the power to determine their future and set goals for themselves at a pace comfortable for them. The video “I dare you too see I am the answer” stated “when an educated girl earns income, she reinvests 90% of it in to her family, compared to 35% for a boy”. Meaning if girls get an education and career, they will more than likely be the one who set future generations up for success, thus repeating the cycle. “Invest in a girl and she will do the rest” (Switzer). I do believe this statement for I have seen it more than once. That all it takes is for us to help one another and show each other the way. More of us can and will shape those young women into future role models. It’s just a matter of having the patience to listen and then to show them and teach by example. It is up to us women to save the world from those destructive men and to break the curse of durable and disposable women. To say we are more than just baby-makers who then afterwards become useless. We must rise and say we can have it all ... the fame, the glory and the babies. Like Beyoncé said who run the world?

Cross cultural connections made me feel that the comparing of two cultures was just not justifiable. The fact that women in the US have many options available to them and Indian women have very little is upsetting to say the least. The reading was a tad confusing because I did not know if Indian women who were abused were committing suicide by setting themselves on fire in their kitchens or if their husbands were doing it because they knew it was highly likely for them to get away with murdering their wives. In the US most of the abusers know they will end up in jail especially if the abuse resulted in murder. “ Battered women home in the west... seem to act as useful types of short term intervention because of (a) The existence of a welfare system, which includes some, even though inadequately Provisions for public assistance, unemployment, benefits, subsidized housing, and free schooling for children; (b) The overall employment situation being very different from there in India; (c) The lower stigma on women living on their own and moving around on their own and (d) The existence of certain avenues of employment that are not considered permissible for middle-class women here” (Kishwar). This brings me to what is happening at the US-Mexico border. As females begin to speak out about the injustices they have faced in different outlets, their stories of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment cannot begin to compare to the horrors the woman at the border face. Just the very thought of looking forward to freedom and opportunity only to have it snatched away by a sadistic, racist, misogynistic predator who is supposed to help you but instead does the unthinkable to poor, frightened, brown women and girls. In the New York Times there is an article called You Have to Pay with Your Body: the Hidden Nightmare of Sexual Violence on the Border, which explains the treachery of the victimization of females. ”On America’s southern border, migrant women and girls are the victims of sexual assault that most often go unreported, uninvestigated, and unprosecuted. Even as women around the world are speaking against sexual misconduct, migrant women on the border live in the shadows of the #MeTooMovement (Fernandez, 2019).

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Theorizing the Borders of Nation-State (🇺🇸 vs 🌎)

In our contemporary world there are numerous differences among people and nations that tear humans apart rather than bring them closer together. Instead of embracing individuality and supporting one another, we are forced to live in a world where being different gets you treated the same as a criminal. We are told that anything not white is bad and anything not American is even worse. This mentality created a deep-rooted division focused around “us vs them”, “good vs evil”, “America vs the world”. It places people in a box where you must choose one destiny over another and where some do not have a choice. It creates borders and in this unit we explore the different type of borders people around the world face and the conflicts they cause.

In “La Conciencia de la Mestiza”, Anzaldua discusses her fight against separation from physical, mental and imaginary borders. The physical border she faces is the US-Mexico border as she lives in the area between Mexico and Texas. This cause conflict with the lifestyle she should be living. Anzaldua is an Indian in Mexican culture and a Mexican from an anglos point of view. Should she act like an American, an Indian or a Mexican? This question creates the psychological borders she must also face. Due to being apart of multiple cultures at once and not being able to satisfy all the requirements of each culture. She calls her self Mestiza, which is an Aztec word meaning torn between ways. She feels she must stay in between cultures rather than to distinguish which one she belongs too and this causes her to not really be a part of any culture. This choice also causes her other identities to become invisible; which would be bad, but claiming herself as mestiza is a way to bring the identities back, because she is saying she is every culture all wrapped up in one. She says, “because I, a mestiza, continually walk out of one culture and into another, because I am in all cultures at the same time”. Meaning she will never lose apart of her identity or her sense of self.

In “Navigating Our Own Sea of Islands: Remapping a Theoretical Space for Hawaiian Women and Indigenous Feminism, Hall discusses Hawaii and how even though it is apart of the United States, it (along with other places) is often forgotten, because they are not apart of the outline that borders the US. When you look at a map you see the United States is outlined in North America, but rarely does that outline show the State of Hawaii or Alaska. The US is seen as the land of opportunity, where people come to achieve the “American Dream”, but Hawaii is seen as a vacation spot rather than a wholesome place full of proud and resourceful people. This causes conflicts about the culture of the island as the women become sexualized as objects for entertainment (hula girls). “Objects such the dashboard hula dolls, coconut shell bras, and plastic grass skirts turn a cultural form with sacred, political and sexual dimensions into a kitsch spectacle”. The women are seen as promiscuous in nature and are probably often harassed by tourist as a result. Also, by not being apart of the physical North American Border, Hawaii faces erasure from the US. Erasure is defined as “the removal of writing, recorded material or data” or “the removal of all traces of something; obliteration”. Hall talks about how most "Americans are not educated about Hawaii or it’s history and how the military and intelligence seem to be the only US institutions that demonstrate consistent recognition of the existence of other US territories and possessions". Hawaii is apart of American, so why do we not learn about it when learning about the rest of America’s history? We learned about slavery, Christopher Columbus ... but nothing about Hawaiians/ Pacific Islanders. I find this odd. Is it because the US really does only see Hawaii as a vacation spot and not apart of the so-called great nation? This only isolates the island further from the US.

In Look, Mohammad the terrorist is coming! Cultural racism, nation-based racism, and the Intersectionality of oppressions after 9/11, Naber describes the challenges (borders) that Islamic people faced after the plane crashed into the twin towers in New York. George w. Bush enacted the “War on Terror”, which was originally only suppose to affect only the small # of Islamic extremists and not Islam itself. But, all Muslims where treated like terrorist and discriminated against since that day. They were seen as enemies of the US and were not to be trusted. Even the Muslims who lived in the US where criminalized and subjected to violence or harassment. Naber talks about how boys who had an Islamic name such as Mohammad or Osama were more likely to be teased or harassed at school. In one instance, the children taunted a little boy by saying “look, Mohammad the terrorist is coming!”. The parents of these children often changed their child’s name to more anglicized ones (Osama to Sam & Fouad to Freddy). They did not want their children to be subjected to these harsh ways. Nader also spoke about how the men and women where singled out. Muslim men were associated with violence against American women and children. They were profiled by there long black beards, dark skin, white robes and turbans. Muslim women who wear head scarfs (hijabs) we’re targets because there culture was more visible. They would be fired from jobs, and forced to decide whether or not to continue to wear the hijabs. If they didn’t remove them, they were then objectified as nothin more than the daughters of Osama; if they did remove them they could be trusted as allies. This is the “us vs them” culture America is famous for.

Even though a lot of Muslims are harmless and deserve to be treated like any other (white) human being ... they are still the subjects of a lot of violence. Recently, there was a terrorist attacks at two mosques in New Zealand, which left 50 people dead and many more injured. Mosques are a traditional place of worship for Muslims. Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the shooter, is a white supremacist whose main goal is to eliminate Muslim immigration. He shows no remorse for his crimes and had originally planned to kill many more people with the bomb he planted outside of the Prime Minsters Office. Many celebrities have sent out messages of support and prayers to New Zealand and the people harmed/suffering. Tracey Ellis Ross has posted several messages on her Instagram account advocating to end violence and treat everyone like the human beings they are.

Spread Love and Positivity to Every Soul ❤

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Theorizing Intersectionality❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤

“Intersectionality is a theory of interlocking oppressions that states that those who are most marginalized in society are those who fall under multiple forms of minority social stratification, such as class, race, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, disability, and gender” (Wikipedia). This term was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw and is important when trying to understand the multiple ways in which someone may be a “victim” of society. In Demarginalizing the Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politic, Crenshaw discusses the struggles of being both black and a woman. “The boundaries of sex and racial discrimination are defined respectively by white women’s and black men’s experiences. Under this view, black women are protected only to the extent that their experiences coincide with those of either of the two groups”. Meaning that you can either face the issue as a black person or as a woman, but never as both. A good example of this was when Crenshaw’s used a piece written by Sojourner Truth called “Ain’t I a Woman”, where Truth speaks about being treated different from other women, simply because she is a black. Truth overhears a man saying, “women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere”, but no one gives her these things, even though she is a woman. She gave birth, something only a woman can do, yet she is still not treated the same as the white woman are. This is because the men compare her to a black person, someone who (to them) is of less value than everyone else rather than a woman who deserves the same treatment as all the other women. See the conflict?

Crenshaw was not the first to point out all these overlapping problems that black woman face. In 1863, there was a group formed called the Combahee River Collective which was led by Harriet Tubman. During its six years of existence, members worked on a variety of issues affecting black women, including sterilization abuse, reproductive freedom, and violence against women. The author of this piece stated that “we also often find it difficult to separate race from class from sex oppression because in our lives they are most often experienced simultaneously” (Smith & Smith). This reminds of a TED talk I watched called, 3 ways to speak English. The speaker uses almost a free flow, rap style, spoken word piece to prove a point that she (as a black person) is tri-tongued orator”. She try to say that depending on who she is talking to, whether it be her friends, her classmates, or her parents the language changes a little. 

Black people are taught to change their dialect at a young age to sound “whiter”, because that is what is considered professional. I personally have been accused of “talking like a white girl” and I’ve always taken offense to this because of what it is insinuating. Just because I’m black doesn’t mean that I must speak improperly or act “rachet”. This is separating race and class, because an upper-class white person sounds more proper than a lower class one; just like an upper-class black may sound more like an upper class white then a lower class one.

The final problem I am going to discuss comes about in Vivyan Adair’: Branded with Infamy: Inscriptions of Poverty and Class in the United States, that affected both black women and white men. This reading talks about the fact “that the systems of power produce and patrol poverty through the reproduction of both social and bodily makers”. This mean this that if you are poor, you will look the part and be deemed a “bad”/” unfit” person. One quote from an African American woman who grow up in public housing said “poor was all over our faces. My glasses were taped and too weak. My big brother had missing teeth. My mom was dull and ashy. It was like a story of how poor we were that anyone could see. My sister Evie’s lip was bit by a dog and we just had a dime store stuff to put on it. Her lip was a big scar. Then she never smiled, and no one smiled at her cause she never smiled. Kids call(ed) her “Scarface”. Teachers never smiled at her. The principle put her in detention all the time because she was mean and bad (they said)”. It’s sad that this family was demonized for simply not being somewhat wealthy and the saddest part is even though they were fed, had clothes, and a roof over their head, their mother was still probably shamed by society for living in public housing and being somewhat dependent upon the government. This problem goes beyond mothers; homeless people are looked down on in society as well. They are treated like the scum of the earth and often go to jail for made up crimes like staying in the same spot for too long. Instead of helping people in poverty we tend to turn a blind eye towards them, because society has us believe that it is their fault they are in that situation, when in reality they are just victims of their circumstances.

 References:

Adair, V. C. (2002). Branded with Infamy: Inscriptions of Poverty and Class in the United States. Signs, 27(2), 451-471.

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Policies. The University of Chicago Legal Forum, 139-168.

Frazier, D., Smith, B., & Smith, B. (1977). Combahee River Collective: A Black Feminist Statement. Off Our Backs, 9(6), 6-8.

“Intersectionality.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality.

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Theorizing Sex and Gender

This unit focused on the different between Sex and Gender. I’ve come to understand that sex is what you are assigned at birth and has to do with your genetic make-up. If you are a male you will posses the XY chromosomes and you will have a penis; a female on the other hand, will possess the XX chromosome and have a vagina. Your sex can also be changed if you decide to become a transsexual. Sex is very different from gender which is a social concept created by society. Gender involves the roles associated with the sex you have been assigned. It is a way for society to control how its members act and it starts from birth. If you are in the hospital after a baby is born you may notice that if it is a boy, he will be wrapped in a blue towel and a girl will be wrapped in a pink one. This to not only separate the two, but to tell what is expected of them as they age. Boy are expected to be dominant and tough; blue is the color normally associated with these traits … where girls are expected to be submissive and weak thus given the color pink. Gender determines whether you are the bread winner (usually the man) or if you stay home with the kids (usually the woman)

Judith Butler made an interesting point about gender in “Performative Acts & Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology & Feminist Theory”. She stated that, “Gender is not a fact, the various acts of gender created the idea of gender, and without all those facts, there would be no gender at all”. Essentially, she is saying that if there were not roles assigned to each sex telling them what they must do, because of their sex … gender would not exist. Everyone could do whatever they wanted without fear of repercussion from society for not conforming to the norms, because there would be NO NORMS. The perfect example of someone who doesn’t fit in a gender role is a transgender. In “Mutilating Gender” Dean Spade shares various stories of people who have been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and want Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS) and the discrimination that transgenders must face. The problem is that what they were assigned at birth (sex) does not match the gender roles they want to conform to, which can create a mental problem when being harshly judged by society. As Butler states, “if someone doesn’t perform their gender in a socially approved way, then they must have GID and their body is no longer only theirs, but it becomes medicalized and studied and they have to prove who they are to multitudes of professionals”. Only after successful convincing them that they are not crazy or tricking them to changing them like the women in the first story, will these individuals ever feel normal. Then after they received the sex changed, they conform to the role of their new sex and are accepted by society. A quote from the Spade piece stated,  “I always had a feminine gender, yet I became a women not because I changed my driver’s license, took estrogen, applied makeup, grew long hair or had genital surgery, but because on July 1st, 1974 a man opened the door for me as I entered my 8:00 am class … society must see a woman; otherwise sex-change surgery or not, one can’t be a woman”.

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Feminist Theory

"This theory emerges from the concrete, from my efforts to make sense of everyday life experiences, from my efforts to critically intervene in my life and the lives of others. This to me is what makes feminist transformation possible; personal testimony, personal experience, is such a fertile ground for the production of liberating feminist theory because usually it forms the basis of our theory making. While we work to resolve those issues (our need for loteracy, for an end to voilence against women and children, women's health and reproduction right, our need for housing, for sexual freedom, etc. to name a few) that are most pressing in daily life, we engage in critical process of theorizing that enables and empowers" (Hooks).

This powerful statement says so much about all of our lives, if we really stop and think about what is important and what we can do to improve ourselves and others. There are a lot of problems going back generations that have yet to 've resolved. I feel that more Feminist Killjoys need to go throughout our society and spread their theories so that more people will follow in their footsteps, creating a better way of life. I feel now it is better than before and there are more of us popping up and defending our sisters and brothers from the injustices that plague our lives. Racism and Sexism needs to be eradicated. The only way that can happen is by talking about it and using theories to stop theze destructive lifestyles from hurting people.

Lauren Berlant describes a situation thus "A state of things in which something that will perhaps matter is unfolding admist the usual activity of life. If a sitaution is how we are thrown by things, then how we make sense of this also unfolds from 'usual activity of life'" (Ahmed)

We deal with our problems by talking them out and seeking advice from people who we feel can relate to the sitauation. The theories shows us that our experiences and ideas are important to share and learn from each other to stand up for what we believe in. To show up and be there for one another, to put a voice behind the concept of not taking anymore bull from anyone.

The Red Table Talk is a series that features Jada Pinkett-Smith, her daughter Willow, and her mother Adrienne. This three generation of women open their home for a series of candid conversations with family and feiends. The discussions are about the realities of what is happening in our world today. The topics include racial divide, facing addiction, domestic violence, surviving divorce, learning to forgive, confronting mental illness, and body confessions. Some topics which both Bellhooks and Ahmed spoke of in the readings. I like that these three women tell the truth through their stories and lives. They really give you a sense of what feminist theory truly is. The great thing is their guests give very helpful insight on some of the problems most of us face everyday. I have a clip of their latest discussion about sexism and how so many men have gotten away with preying on women and young girls. It focused on the R.Kelly movement to finally silence him once and for all. We heard from the victims and we realized that we had been ignoring his behavior because we loved his music. As a society we let him get away with this psychologically disturbing behavior and now that more women are speaking out, it is time for him to pay for his crime against females.