Essay
One Sky, Many Voices
Published August 27, 2009 @ 08:46PM PT
I got so many great responses to the post, "Lets Talk About Race", that I wanted to highlight some of the comments and continue the conversation.
L.S. Hope sees that classifying groups through an identity such as race or gender actually limits us more than it works to expand the conversation:
I think Affirmative Action has contributed to racism/gender bias, more than it has built an even foundation for fairness and equality. I'm not suggesting to disregard it completely, it does have some good points, but I think it needs to be refined. Classifying by race and gender makes an easy target for hate groups. It also validates detrimental racial/gender stereotypes. We can change our hair color, eye color, even gender, but race isn't optional. The feminist movement is a good place to start; reaching out, educating ourselves, looking at struggles all women face. If we can't identify with racial views, we can identify with each other as mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters.
Juan Portillo asks us to be dynamic in our approach to this conversation, not looking at it in just two dimensions:
First off, maybe you should approach the issue by thinking about the intersection of race and GENDER, not race and feminism. This is because feminism is not just the invention of white, upper middle class women (though they are the strongest voice in the US). Asking how race fits into feminism belittles and somewhat alienates women of minority groups, but asking them about how race and gender intersect then you invite them to be part of the movement and enrich it.
PunditMom wants us to look beyond skin color and appreciate each person's individual voice:
That's certainly what some in the audience seemed to be suggesting, but I really disagree with that. And as someone who lives in a family with cultural, racial and religious diversity (and as the mother of a daughter of color), I'd like to think that the fact that my skin is white is only one aspect, not the defining aspect, I bring to the conversation.
Julie Pippert sees how limiting the feminist movement can be, even when it professes to open minds and achieve equality:
I have recently found a distressing amount of bigotry and prejudice in feminism, so I absolutely think we need to discuss race. If the purpose of feminism is to advance women, and we think like this: money and influence = power and decision-making, and white women already get short-shrift, and we know racial minority women get even shorter shrift, then one of the first things we may need to address is parity across women and then how we can make that parity across our culture. That means talking about the instituitionalized racism and being painfully honest about it.
Tina Lee asks for those with privilege to take accountability, stop making excuses and reach out to communities of color in an honest way:
Don’t get me wrong: it can’t be easy for anyone of privilege to own up to benefits that are conferred to them – automatically and systematically – because of their race or gender. But if white progressives want to work with communities of color to build a strong, long-lasting movement for change, owning up to white privilege will go a long way in moving us toward a peaceful, socially just, economically prosperous, and post-racial America. And if my white feminists sisters want to find me, I’ll be down the hall with those fighting for economic and environmental justice, education equity and immigrant rights, healthcare and fair labor practices. For in these spaces where folks still struggle for basic human rights, my feminist values are inherently embedded into the fabric of the movement.
Faith Dow says it simply:
If you really want to open this space you're going to have to do more than make a statement. You'll actually have to ENGAGE some non-white women.
And then there's me. I am going to share my opinion with a story.
One summer in high school, I went on a community service trip to Tijuana, Mexico. I spent two weeks paving cement playgrounds, visiting the elderly, learning about the border community and then finally staying in a migrant shelter. The hardest thing for me was coming back to the United States and asking myself: Why me? Why did I get to go home to a comfortable bed, a refrigerator, food on the table, a loving family and a nice home? I was in awe of how random and meaningless it all was - our existence, that is. I could have been born to anyone, anywhere, but there I was - white and privileged - and I had no idea what to do about it. I felt like I had learned more than I had given and what was the point of that?
I grew up wanting to be a writer and I knew that telling stories would be the way I could do something. It wouldn't be everything, but it would be something. I knew that as a writer I could ask questions and propose discussions - such as the one about race - and get a few answers. Not all of them, but some, and help progress the conversation that is so important for all of us to have.
At the end of the day, while race, age, class, sexual orientation and gender may divide us - the things that unify us, as women and as humans, are so much greater than that which separates us. Realizing that while we have many different perspectives, we are all on the same team and seek a similar goal: a loving, respectful, fair opportunity at fulfilling our human existence. We can try to put up physical borders between each other, but at the end of the day, we all share the same sky.
So thanks to all those who speak out here at Change.org and contribute to the conversation; you're not only fulfilling a life long dream for me, but also making the world a better, more understanding, kind place for us all.
Let's Talk About Race
Published August 19, 2009 @ 10:00PM PT
One of the big conversations I had at Netroots Nation was about feminism and race - actually it came up while on my panel about "Building A Conversation Across Generations of Women".
As soon as we finished our remarks, one member of the audience asked, "How can we even have this conversation about the future of feminism if this panel is all white?"
I had to admit, I agreed with her. The panel went on, but it did feel like we had left out an important voice.
Additionally, I don't feel that I have had a direct, confrontational conversation about the divergence of race and feminism here on this blog. I've talked about race and feminism indirectly, danced around it and let other women talk about it - but now it is my turn.
So, it's time to discuss how gender and race interact and then how race influences feminism.
I have my own ideas on the subject, but I want to hear yours. I don't want this blog to be about the "white woman's version of feminist thought." I want it to share diversity of thought - so please share with me:
What do you think about the intersection of race and feminism? What issues matter to you? What else should we be talking about?
In the Name of Equality: Jimmy Carter Leaves Southern Baptist Convention
Published July 21, 2009 @ 07:28AM PT
Jimmy Carter released a profound statement last week titled "Losing My Religion for Equality" about how he has chosen to leave his church, the Southern Baptist Convention due to the discriminatory practices toward women. Read through what he says below - it will certainly challenge anyone, of any faith, to reconsider how women are viewed in the eyes of the Church, and the eyes of God:
So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths.
Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.
I was raised Catholic. And, on occasion, I still go to church because it is a place where I can connect with my spirituality. I was lucky that I learned about religion in a very tolerant place - in San Francisco - where I really connected with religion through the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius and was shielded from the type of language described by Carter above. I participated in a very progressive church - one that welcomed all people and didn't preach the marginalization of women or homosexuals. Clearly, this is the exception to the rule. Knowing the blatant discrimination toward women by religious institutions elsewhere always bothered me and I too have questioned from time to time whether I should separate from the Catholic Church based on the experience that Carter describes. It cannot be denied that there are many faiths that use religion as a "justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority" and he is right - it is truly unacceptable.
However, there are also many religious communities - even the Catholics - that do a lot of good in the world. I wouldn't be the crusader for equality that I am today had it not been for the teachings of social justice I learned while at Catholic school. And therefore, I have a hard time cutting out religion from my life even if I do disagree with some of it's policies - the fact that women can't be priests, the pro-life language, the rhetoric against gay marriage. For me, religion has generally been a way for me to have a sense of faith rather than a sense of indoctrination. In my experiences with the Church, i have learned far more good than bad; far more tolerance than intolerance; far more about how to love than hate. However, I imagine that if I witnessed the type of language that Carter faced in a church I was part of - I too would decide that it was time to separate from my religion.
What about you? What place does religion hold in your life? Would you ever lose your religion for the sake of equality?
The Audacity of Spirit: Lessons from a New Modern Woman
Published July 06, 2009 @ 09:40PM PT
After a college degree and several months of working in the political capitol of the Western world, I know a bit about power. Daily, I experience the power of crisp black suits, sleek cars, and boldly colored heels clicking their own new rhythms into the echo of marble halls.
However, Washingtonians may encounter an affront to this idea of power, through the advertisements of CARE, a nongovernmental refugee organization. In its trademark public campaign, CARE portrays a refugee woman, very young or very old, dressed in the tradition of her country and looking deep into the camera's eye. The universal caption: "I Am Powerful." In the midst of Washington, D.C., this may seem more a wistful ideal than reality. Reality teaches that even the most educated and top-earning women only make 72 cents on a man's dollar, and that women around the world are most vulnerable to illiteracy, poverty, domestic abuse, and a lack of access to the handbag of characteristics which we call "power." Yet these women stare out evenly from photographs and billboards to silently declare that they, even in a displaced state, are powerful.
A refugee woman may actually be the most powerful being you will ever meet. Whether she walked in tatters or designers, reality tells that she likely walked past dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people whom she left behind. People who didn't make it out, and yet people exactly like her. She may recall their stunted journeys with every step. And yet she continues to walk. You might be unaware of the expression on her face. She may not disclose how many different lives she led, from fear to hope to indifference to ferocity. Reality provoked her to emotions of such nuance and contradiction that one would think humanity had not discovered them, before inhuman circumstances broadened the capacity of her human face. What you may see is blind faith, or a steeled persistence. You may have never seen what power it took to keep eyes so willing to remain open to new sights, a mouth so willing to continue to speak and engage and a face turned toward a new, possibly terrifying reality.
You may not see all this. Or you may equally see it in the faces of fellow American women who struggled for their power. But take a moment to look deeply into the power of these women. They may not have the traditional trappings of wealth or fame. And they may not vie to be recognized among the masses, nor do they wield their strength like a sword to bring others beneath them as they rise. Instead, consider their power as a catalyst, with which we all regard one another and ourselves with more clarity and humanity. This is a power of faith, hope, and resilience despite the most dire of circumstances. These women are not unbreakable, but they never allow brokenness to be a permanent state. They teach others the power to learn, to forgive, to accept and adapt.
As a friend and family member to such women, I often visualize their faces when I want to embody that power. What we all in Washington could learn from these women is not just the power to win the war or survive the battle. We already know this. They teach us the power to thrive, with an audacity of spirit, in the face of reality.
You can read more writing by Ihotu Jennifer Ali here: http://beautifulstruggle-ija.blogspot.com/
Self-Evident? "All Men and Women Are Created Equal"
Published July 04, 2009 @ 06:49AM PT
We all know that Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain. While Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies - I am going to pose a more provocative question for the readers of Change.org:
What does Independence Day mean for women? Historically and then in the present?
It's no secret that the Declaration of Independence was written and signed by men. And while the document has been translated to apply to both women and men and has become a statement of motivation for all marginalized groups - the original language seems to imply gender bias:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
I challenge those who celebrate the 4th of July today to really think about our "founding fathers" and how they built a nation where women have been struggling to find their sense of independence ever since the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Personally, I wish we nationally celebrated the 20th of July of 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton created The Declaration of Sentiments, a document signed by 68 women and 32 men, 100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention, in Seneca Falls, New York.
Now take a read at this language, it suits me a little better:
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they were accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design despotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand the equal station to which they are entitled.
The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
I would hope that as we praise those who brought the United States to Independence from Britain today, we also think about those who brought women into independence from the patriarchy as well.
Any good feminist knows that it is important to maintain a critical eye toward tradition. Often those traditions carried misogynistic sentiments in the beginning when women were left out. Just as Betty Friedan asked all women to re-assess the alleged joys of housewifery because "The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive" - I am asking those who are celebrating their own patriotism today to re-assess the role of the patriarchy in United States. It's important, in the quest for true independence - both as a country and a society - to make sure that all men and women are allowed to be independent human beings, not buried by the false expectations of what freedom is supposed to mean.
This post is dedicated to the female veterans. For more information on the plight of women in the military go see: http://www.graceafterfire.org/
Do Men Need A Movement Of Their Own?
Published June 01, 2009 @ 12:45PM PT
Last week I read this amusing story from the Chicago Tribune:
'Power' move by male students ruffles U. of C.
A group of University of Chicago students think it's time the campus focused more on its men.
A third-year student from Lake Bluff has formed Men in Power, a student organization that promises to help men get ahead professionally. But the group's emergence has been controversial, with some critics charging that its premise is misogynistic.
Others say it's about time men are championed, noting that recent job losses hit men harder and that women earn far more bachelor's and master's degrees than do men.
"It's an enormous disparity now," said Warren Farrell, author of "The Myth of Male Power" and former board member of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women. He noted, among other things, an imbalance in government and private initiatives that advance the interests of women and girls.
And then this one at Open Salon:
There are many, many ways I can think of that women are not yet equal to men. We still only make a fraction of what men do on a per-dollar basis. (76 cents I believe?) We are not allowed into full combat in the military. We are judged on our ability to be mothers and housekeepers before our ability to do our jobs. All of that is real and I am the last person to say there aren't a million other reasons that women have not yet attained equal status with men.
However, I have a bone to pick with my female counterparts. Feminism is all about each woman having the right to choose her own path. We should be allowed to do whatever we want in this life and not be judged by society's arbitrary sex roles, right? Absolutely.
What about men? Do they enjoy this right?
While each article speaks to something very different, they both suggest that there is a lack of attention being paid to the evolution of the male role in society. To some this may seem atrocious - men run the patriarchy, right?! But articles like these bring up an important question I've asked myself before:
If women have the feminist movement as a means to reinvent themselves, what do men have in order to evolve and reevaluate their role in society in a collective fashion?
While there is such as thing as the "Men's movement" and the "Masculism" movement- I would hardly say it's mainstream. And I'm not sure that a full blown revolution is necessary, but I do think that if more men actively thought about how they also want to evolve their gender role they wouldn't be relying on the bizarre out-dated archetypes such as the "Men In Power" group that was created at University of Chicago.
In writing for Change.org, I've found that for many men, the feminist movement is one of the only supportive venues for a man to enter and shake off the bindings of the patriarchy that not only stifle women, but also men. Evolving modern gender roles requires an evaluation by everyone - not just women. If we want a more equal society we have to be taking on the fight from every side - and make sure that men feel like an ally to the feminist movement, not the enemy.
When The Political Is Personal
Published May 07, 2009 @ 09:56PM PT
As a woman's rights blogger, it is often very hard to separate that which is the political from the personal. This is something I don't usually write about, but it is what often defines women's rights advocacy from other causes. Almost every woman can identify with some issue in some way. This makes any issue difficult to cover - not only as a blogger, but also as a woman.
For example, today I received my second round of the Gardasil vaccine. I share this, not to be voyeuristic, but rather to exemplify how I am dealing with the prospect of cervical cancer. My mother, grandmother and cousins have all had breast cancer, thus f there is one cancer I can prevent - I am going to try and do so. But, beyond this, the Gardasil vaccine, also protects against the future infection of four types of human papillomavirus (HPV): two of which are known to cause 70% of cervical cancer cases, and two more types that cause 90% of genital warts cases.
But then, suddenly, in my decision to try and avoid cancer, I realized that in talking about the shot, I had thrust myself into a conversation about female sexuality and STDs.
By publicizing this information, I opened myself up to criticism, questioning and suspicion. Some immediately thought of sex: is she that sexually active that she needs to worry about HPV? (Not so much, but thanks for the thought). Some responded about the larger consequences: what a good way to prevent a deadly disease such as cancer! (Well, thanks - and I hope you do the same!). And some, well, just thought of themselves: thanks for getting vaccinated! Your decision makes us all safer! (So you're afraid I'm going to pass something onto you? Give a girl a little more credit. Sheesh.)
I decided to get this vaccine because cancer is scary. And I've dealt with far too much cancer in my short life.
And whatever your reason for receiving or rejecting the Gardasil vaccine - or making any other personal decision in your life that carries a pubic profile - I just hope that your decisions are based on your personal judgment and not the judgment of others.
Often times, this is what makes it really hard to do - to be an advocate for women's rights - is that the political is often personal, and there's just no way to escape it.
But it is my hope, that you don't shy away from living your life. Being authentic to who you are and the realities you face is the only way to reduce the stigma around what it really means to be a female - with all the messy, complicated, political and personal details intact.
