Activism, for me, is defined by efforts of individuals and groups to create and advocate for change−mostly related to the social, economic, and political climates of a society/of the world. As it comes to Women and Gender Studies, I have noticed a lack of information on/about activism for the efforts of this field. It is not so much that there is not activism but I have noticed division between different groups and individuals who would fall under the field of WGS, mostly with division based on lack of working for intersecting identities. For instance, I am on tumblr a lot and have noticed that within search tags and blogs related to ‘feminism ’ and ‘gender issues, ’ there is a sense of division between what has been labeled as ‘white ’/ ’able-bodied ’/ ’cisgendered ’ feminism and ‘intersectional feminism. ’ The concerns I see and, to a degree, relate to are rooted in transphobia/transmisogyny, lack of support for individuals who ‘fit into stereotypes ’ of sexuality/gender identity which is quite ironic as there is also a lack of support for individuals who don ’t fit very specific models of identity (i.e. femme lesbians and masculine gay men), & persons with disabilities (including physical and mental) across the gender/sexuality spectrum/s are left out.
Within Gender: A Useful Category for Analysis, Joan W. Scott talks about how ‘gender ’ has been made to be synonymous with ‘woman ’ in its most recent usage by American Feminists. I believe that it is important to use gender and womanhood as a heuristic to better understand how our society has shifted over time but I also believe that when we say ‘women, ’ when saying ‘gender, ’ we are apt to neglect not only the nuances in female/woman identities but also intersecting identities across lines of race, class, physical/mental ability, and varied gender-queer expression. For example, when we look at efforts for woman ’s suffrage, there was a lot of exclusion towards women of color as they were essentially left behind by the feminist movement in order to preserve ability to actually make change (as in, there was a fear that inclusion of WoC would lead to a stage of inertia within the movement. Some might argue that a society is not ‘ready ’ for certain change, especially as it relates to inclusion of intersectionality, but I say to that, rhetorically, “If not now, then when?” because is there really a time better suited for radical change?
Within Anti-Mini Militants…, Andrew V. Ivaska talks about how mini-skirts were banned in Tanzania, 1968. Women became targets to be attacked, raped, and named as sexually as well as socially deviant. Women argued that not only did they have the right to wear what they wanted, but they also claimed that mini-skirts made getting around easy while still expressing the sense of professionalism they desired. These women were associated with being prostitutes, having the stigma of that title, and they did not have the political agency to stand up for themselves but they did continue to dress as they pleased, defying the ban, which is inherently an act of activism. It is necessary to see that activism on these matters exists outside of the US and it is also necessary to debunk ethnocentricity in how we view other world cultures. Within Politics of The Womb, Lynn M. Thomas talks about reproductive rites and rights of women in Kenya as well as how the womb, itself, becomes a political symbol, therein being political as well as politicized. Much of the focus is on Female excision (known to the Western world as Female Genital Mutilation) and with colonialism imposing ideals about what is and isn ’t acceptable, excision became challenged and named as oppressive. Some Kenyan women did not like this and would perform excision on themselves, not necessarily in a traditional manner but in such a way to make the political statement that genital cutting was related to the rite/right of entering womanhood. Something important to problematize is how we, in the Western world, neglect to be empathetic of the tradition in cultural practices, playing into how ethnocentricity as well as exclusion of individuals of certain societies who participate in activities/behaviors named as ‘oppressive ’ (from being a housewife to wearing a hijab to female excision) perpetuates division within the WGS field, naming specific beliefs and perspectives as ‘true feminism. ’ I mean to say, what if there was a safe way, in a hospital with actions to diminish pain/problems in female excision? Would that not still maintain the tradition of the practice while making it safer? Why is the focus on ending practices? Because we view these things are problematic, which, in itself, is problematic. Male circumcision is normalized for us, although completely unnecessary and elective but we do not view it with the same criticism. Wearing a Burqa, being a stay at home mom, choosing−in your own agency−to go through excision; these things are political, these things are activism simply by asserting identity and aiming to shift ideas about culture.
Also by Lynn M. Thomas, The Modern Girl… addresses how race does not often enough play a role in scholarship on gender studies, naming how vital intersectionality is for understanding the varied experiences of women. There is the well known statistic that women make 77 cents per every dollar a man makes on average, but it is important to note that this statistic does not acknowledge the nuances in this matter when looking at race; Bryce Covert reveals that Black women make 66 cents and Latinas make 60 cents for every dollar made by a white man. In The Way We Weren ’t… Stephanie Coontz goes over how there is this effort to return to a traditional, nuclear, 1950s ideals of family and proceeds to problematize that but this source, for me, was an example of including intersecting identities, to a degrees, as she mentioned how this model has never been suited for families of color. However, I wish she had gone more into the complexities of this as opposed to leaving the issues to be implied in contrast to the white, middle class experience. Still, this does lead into a discourse on who should speak for whom, as in, is it okay for white women to speak on the experiences of Black women? Some might say yes and some might say no but ultimately, we must perpetuate the variations in the experience of being a woman in order to have comprehensive scholarship.
I ’ve noticed that we ’ve reached a point in our society where gender roles are being challenged, as girls are being taught that it ’s okay to be masculine, however, femininity is frowned upon still for boys (& in general, really) and how gender-queer individuals fit into all of this is overlooked in so many ways. In Doing Gender, Candace West talks about how gender has become routine, how gender expectations have developed, with the aim to problematize this system. Personally, I would love to see more work on gender, not as just synonymous with women, including identities across the spectrum, especially as it concerns Trans/Trans* women and Trans/Trans* men as well; I think that the attack on/stigma of femininity is what needs to be focused on. We use terms associated with femininity to degrade people of any/every gender, we see scrutiny for Trans/Trans* individuals who don ’t fit into neat little boxes of identity and we pressure them to fit stereotypes of one particular gender, ignoring diverse identity. I think there could and should be more work in the WGS field on
There is this organization in Seattle, Washington, called Powerful Voices that focuses on mentorship for adolescent girls, in middle school and juvenile delinquent centers. I recently applied for a job there since after I did some research, I found that it fits exactly with the work I am to do after college. Their activism is community based; they are improving the community by working in the community. I love subtle activism−blogging, vlogging, tweeting, sharing links on social media, etc.−but I want to do on the ground work in order to help young people be uplifted and find security in their skin. The vision of this place is to foster critical thinking, leadership skills, and promote Girl Justice.This sort of activism is pivotal in creating change, by helping shape avenues of upward mobility and self-actualization for young girls and I ’d specifically love to work with Queer youth and youth of color to do intersectional work.
, Defining Activism www.ozeldersin.com bitirme tezi,ödev,proje dönem ödevi