Extremely Delayed Last Post

This subject matter may seem rather unoriginal given that the majority of my blog posts have been about something having to do with foot binding, but I have been thinking a lot about societies views effect how women alter themselves. This kind of stems off of my other blog posts about how society somewhat controls how women value their appearance and others opinions on their appearance. However, this blog will be focused on the aspect of size and how size has been and is becoming more and more important to women. Foot binding is of course what made me think of this. Japanese women bound their feet because smaller feet were thought to be more delicate and beautiful than normal sized feet. I was reading through Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and came to the now quite obvious realization that this size obsessed, "small is better" phenomenon has continued through time to play a major role in most 21st century societies today. Women are constantly going to the gym to lose weight, watching their carbs because they'd like to lose ten pounds, eating only salads for a weeks so that they can fit into those size 00 jeans. According to todays societal standards, women are supposed to have small legs, small waist, big breasts and a big butt. Where these exact standards came from, no one knows, but they somehow came into existence and now they have stuck.

Somehow, a woman's personality has somehow become irrelevant in comparison to her looks. While yes it is natural to analyze someones appearance first when never having met them before, this appearance focused judgment continues even if one is acquainted previously. While the world is has improved in great strides in these modern times, some values have been sorely lost, like the appreciation of someones true beauty under the skin surface, no matter the size.

Kaleidoscopic Connections on "Sex Trafficking" - MUST READ

The following articles from _Indian Country_ bring the kaleidoscopic: Prisms, Patterns and Possibilities we explored in WGS 201 into poignant and painful view.


I hope to use what I know about kaleidoscopes, prisms, institutions, and social construction of patterns and possibilities to work for transformation of the world. How about you? 


http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/16/native-girls-are-being-exploited-and-destroyed-at-an-alarming-rate-113249 


http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/17/that-beautiful-oglala-lakota-girl-in-the-live-girls-booth-113246

Violence Against Women Act "race & gender meet - politics and culture collide"

Check out this piece from The Nation entitled The Fake Violence Against Women Act http://www.thenation.com/blog/167937/fake-violence-against-women-act 
Tillet's blog post raises and addresses the type of kaleidoscopic disproportional impact issues we explored in WGS 201 this spring. 

Biology vs Culture & Modern Motherhood

To be or not to be, that is the question; to strive to be the perfect mother, or to have a prosperous career;. Finding balance between juggling a career and a family is a reality many women face. 

Although I am not a mother, I already anticipate struggling through the same internal battle I see mothers facing daily. As women, we are biologically programed to care and provide for our offspring, and to form an inevitable level of attachment with our child. If the excitement of having your own child isn't enough, nature has provided new mothers with an abundance of the feel good hormone oxytocin. Functional magnetic resonance imaging shows the presence of oxytocin in mothers brains, when the child is present, and when pictures of the child are shown. 

All of this motherly bonding is great, but what about that career you worked so hard for? Taking maternal leave can threaten advancement and pay promotions in corporate institutions. The pressure to be an empowered woman with a career is ever present, but attachment to the child is tugging at the working mother to be at home with her child. While many women avoid being labeled the stigmatized "housewife", I think society should understand and support a woman as a mother and as a career woman-whether she is one or the other, or both. 

teff

     So I’ve been thinking about my place in the general state of things. Selfish, right?

     I suppose I could say this contrasts with the archaic fe/male stereotype of where a woman’s place is in other states of things (I, in fact, see my domestic role as being in the kitchen: it’s too much fun to pass up). I see it as, “Where do I, as a male-by-genetics, fit into feminist and social equity movements?” I’m not supposed to be caring. It is easy for me to not care. It was expected of me to subscribe to the patriarchy speaking through my employer when she said, “Xander, I don’t think your 23% statistic is applicable to Alaskans. If I were a man applying to the Sustainable Village, I would feel cheated.” Certainly, I’m not supposed to shut down with awkwardness at my own social privilege of being male, able, ethnically of-the-majority, financially-stable, and educated. But in terms of dispensing information that many people don’t want to hear, how do I help?

     I suspect I can and do simply act as a force of social justice than nobody was expecting: a male-by-genetics actively trying to destabilize the labyrinth of inequity keeping partiarchical systems intact; a discontented citizen otherwise encouraged to be content with my social status. At the same time, I sense that reminding men of their social privilege often makes them feel guilty, followed by angrily insecure, which is either unavoidable or problematic. I encountered this with one of my coworkers after I had finished explaining to them that women do not, after all, actively seek out lower-paying positions than men, which made me wonder how they would then mention this to their spouse.

     To further confuse what I am making into an issue is the academic nature and settings of what we’ve been learning. Empathy is the bridge between a deplorable circumstance and a desire to help, for example. This concept is easily understood by the well-educated audiences present at that professor’s symposiums. They, like him, are either from ethnic backgrounds which laid the groundwork for their encouragement of his ideals, or, through uncertain and negative circumstances, have realized that his conclusions can/have changed their lives for the better. To apply his empathy project to a psychologically-bereaved population, say, of impoverished Latinas in New York city, might not work, however. For one thing, they may hold his appearance, his whiteness, against him (sorry, I forget his name), since they might not know any better. His attempt at assistance may simply pass as an intrusion. There is also the problem that the patriarchical oppression speaking to our professor through these women is very difficult to extract: they are just as damaged by oppression as their male oppressors. Think of Lily’s mother from SFSF: could a citizen of the 21^st century tell her that her mutilation of her daughter’s feet was a product of the male self-importance agenda? She would assume that the act simply guaranteed a more prosperous future for her daughter, not weakened her morally, as well as physically.

     At the same time, all is not lost. What is learned in an academic institution isn’t supposed to stay academic. White savior complex is only a problem if social workers insist on doing things their way. Empathy, even in cultures where it isn’t seen as a virtue, can be easily retranslated into something universally understood, like non-aggression, or the desire to help. Men aren’t always as bad as I make them seem.

     So goodbye semester, and goodbye to all you amazing people in it. It’s been my best so far.

     P.S.: I've decided to incentivize people coming to the final (I hope that's okay, Dr. Sunwood): since I’ve been forgetting to make cookies for everyone after International Women’s Day, I’ve decided to make a ton and bring them in for anyone who decides to show up. We could have a little breakfast party? Tell me what you think.

     Have fun in the meantime. Good luck with everything.

Islamist Feminism

Recognizing that feminist movements are happening globally is empowering within itself. For western and european civilizations, feminism, although it may often be stigmatized, is recognized as a supported movement. The middle east however, has made moves to join in on feminist empowerment. After reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Nomad", I thought it highly unlikely feminism would ever sweep the streets of her radical Islam. Taking a step outside of an often highly empasized radical Islam, in Tunisia feminist female activists chose to enter into politics from their experiences facing job discriminations and arrests based on their attire. Instead of adhering to society's determined norms, these women joined membership of Enhahda's Executive Council, it is representative of intellectual and empowered women. 

Part of the initiative of the council is to bring to life a revolutionary movement similar to Turkeys governing justice and development party, the A.K.P. The Enhada's activists with to yield the same results the A.K.P. when they successfully involved women as equal political partners. Another part of the movement included eliminating corruption, and producing astonishing economic growth rates. The activists present an accessible form of Islamic feminism to rural and socially conservative Tunisian women. The link to the article in New York Times is cited below. After reading this piece on feminism becoming accepted to some degree and possible in the middle east, it made me think so much more can and should be urged into attention by feminists in a western society who have more recognition and acceptance then in Israel. Every tiny step taken for empowerment and equality is a step forward. This also tied into our rally for international women's day, when one of the guest speakers spoke about the importance of women's right to vote, and how we need to execute what our ancestors worked so hard to make possible. We have the opportunity to be active as women in politics, even through the simple act of voting. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/opinion/can-islamism-and-feminism-mix.html?_r=1

Violence is Violence is Violence

I read an article from Jezebel (I’m not sure if some of you are familiar with that site or not), about a North Carolina pastor who is encouraging violence to “knock the gay out of them”.  Pastor Sean Harris of Berean Baptist church in Fayetteville has been saying awful things, such as:  

“Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok?  “You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male."

“And when your daughter starts acting too butch you reign her in. And you say, "Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up."

The main point that I am attacking is not religion, but the advocation of violence against children (or anyone, really).  Another facet of this story I’d like to point out is the difference in how to deal with boys and girls and this “issue”.  Why is it okay to “beat the gay” out of little boys and not girls?  Please don’t misconstrue this as me being equal-opportunity pro-violence, because I’m anti-violence, but what makes it okay to hit boys and not girls?  

I’ve pondered this many times while out at a bar.  I’ve seen people get into physical fights often and it’s almost always between men (I recognize this isn’t always the case, but it appears to be the majority of the time).  I have spent time with men who have gotten into such fights (unfortunately often) and all it takes for some of them to hit a man back is one push from the offending party.  In one case, the girlfriend of the offending party started punching my friend, and he tried to use words to get her to stop.  It took several punches before he felt it was necessary to push her off (using physical force to get her to stop punching him).  

This “violence code” that states that it is acceptable to punch and fight is you’re a male, but never a female, is interesting and it makes me wonder why it is that the overwhelming majority of people I associate with seem to hold to it.  

Now I started this post focused on the particular incident regarding violence against LGBTQ individuals from a particular man of faith, and it’s expanded to the double-standard of violence against men and women.  The violence that I think most women may experience is likely to come behind closed doors of domestic abuse, rather than the perhaps more male experience of violence out in the open.  Both are terrible (in my opinion) and are just another aspect of life that is experienced differently because of the particular prisms of gender.  

http://jezebel.com/5906907/horrible-pastor-advocates-beating-the-gay-out-of-young-kids

Rebellious Acts

I am Red-Streak-Running-Through-the-Water (Ta’chii’nii) clan and I am born for the Bitter Water (To’dichiinii) clan.  In Dine' (Navajo), you are your mother’s clan and most of our clan names are tied to the earth.  The land that I am from in northern eastern Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation, is female.  

Black Mesa's Northern most face on the Navajo Reservation

From my home I can look out over a sagebrush covered valley and I can see pinion and juniper trees covering the hills and the mesas.  Across the valley from my home is Black Mesa, a long flat topped rise stretching many miles across.  I see the stark northern face of Black Mesa from my home and I know it extends many many miles south where it slowly tappers off, becoming the mesas that are home to the Hopi villages.  

We are taught that Black Mesa is a female and her head is Navajo Mountain, just north of my house.  Dine' creation stories echo the power and the beauty of this land; as women we learn that each of us is a reflection of this land - the female. 

A small section of Peabody Western Coal Company's Black Mesa mine operations

Yet on Black Mesa there exists one of the largest coal mining operations in North America.  As Dine' we say that this coal is the female's liver - an organ that helps to cleanse the body.  Peabody Coal Company has been mining her liver for over 40 years now, and they have been pumping up her life's blood - the ground water - to mix with the coal for transportation purposes.  

The destruction that this mine has caused has no doubt been both social and environmental. Yet the pain of this mine has also been cultural and physical; it has represented for decades the tearing apart of our women.  

As I participated in the "Indigenous Women's 2nd Symposium on the Environment and Reproductive Health" this past weekend in Chickaloon Village, Alaska, I was reminded of just how much this concept is real for Indigenous PeopleS today and in particular for Indigenous women.  As Indigenous women from throughout the world we sat together for 3 days and shared with one another the traumas our communities have survived and the fights we are still waging today.   Whether the assault on Indigenous women be through uninformed sterilization or domestic violence from our own men or the poisoning and degradation of our lands, the effects on our people as a whole have been strikingly the same.

During the weekend in Chickaloon the children from the tribal school performed for our group, singing songs and telling the stories of their people.  These children reminded us all that the continuation of our cultural knowledge is largely in the hands of Indigenous women.  The weight of our collective battle is made all the more severe in the United States by the imposed "blood quantum" regulations - an effective tool for "legally" decreasing our populations.  Without being said it rang clear throughout the gathering that the continued survival of our endangered populations is balancing on the reproductive health of Indigenous women. 

Non-Violent Direct Action Training in a community on Black Mesa - getting ready to protest in Denver, CO against the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and the Dept. of Interior

Therefore, it is no surprise that in Indigenous communities throughout the world we find women at the forefront of organizing grassroots campaigns to protect their communities.

Navajo and Hopi people protest in Denver, 2008

Yet, just as important in the process of seeking justice is the process of seeking healing.  While the destruction of the earth has in so many ways torn at the physical, mental and cultural being of Indigenous women, we must continue to emulate the path toward wellness by our everyday grounding in the land.  It is with this relationship in mind that come every spring I engage in rebellious acts: I plant.

 

Friends of mine planting corn in our community field

Women in Power

 Something we have talked about so much in class is that action needs to be taken somewhere at some point for anything to happen. For woman suffrage to be legal, women had to stand up and fight for it. We all see that this is something that needs to happen in the business sector as well, esp thanks to the recent 2012 Equal Pay Day posters. Many of the people running businesses and corporations are white privileged males and unfortunately employ other white privileged males for other higher up positions. Its that constant cycle of oppression we often talk about. My partner is the General Manager of two successful stores and the owner is of course, one of these white privileged men. Luckily she is extrememly good at her job and was able to work up the chain of command that way. However, now that she is here she finds it very hard to fight for women in the company, for wages in particular. What is even more upsetting to her is that the men who are being paid more, are doing even less.
When I started learning more and more about women oppression in business, I started reading some of the facts and data to her. One night we got into a conversation and I mentioned, I understand these facts upset you but you have the ability to do something about it. You are in the position to promote and give people raises, you need to act on what level you can for any change in these statistics to occur. She of course had already realized this and fought where she could, but I don't think she fully realized that she has the power to talk directly and matter to one of these white privileged males and hopefully make a difference. She thought about it and did say she would try to fight harder for women's wages and to bring up to the owner why its not okay for them to be getting paid less.
This makes me think of what Enei mentioned about one of the topics at her conference, that we need to help and teach the men. There is constant cycle of oppression that society is used to, where we have the power, we need to take action. The cycle cannot be broken unless we step up, inform, and act. 

Women's Role in Community Organizing

Women have been getting together to organize in one way or another for ages.  Weather it is The National Women's Suffrage League, NOW(National Organization of Women), Girls Scouts or small private groups; women know how to get together and get things done.  But does this mean that women stereotypically feel more so they are apt to trying to better their communities, or does it mean that these groups stick out because women have been a minority for so damn long? 

Around the turn of the 20th century in parts of America, more and more "women's associations" started to pop up.  These groups, made up of predominately white middle-class women, were formed to address specific issues that concerned their families and their community.  This was one of the first ways that women used what little power they had in the public sphere to organize.  One of the more well known associations of that time was of course the National Women's Suffrage League, which we saw examples of in "Ironed Jawed Angels".  

While men have been organizing communities for eons, women organizing is a fairly new idea in the context of American history.  As the 20th century chugged along, it became a normal thing for women, mainly home-makers, to get involved in all matter of organizations, something to keep the poor things busy.  Throughout history, women have been seen as the "moral" side of the population, always considering their families in the changing world.  Maybe this "moral" part of women is what got them involved in organizing, maybe its that mothering instinct in many women, or maybe its that women are actually better at organizing. 

I started thinking about this when I was considering who would show up at meetings, fundraisers and work days for the group I work with called Angry, Young & Poor.  (I won't get into the story behind the name, it is a long one)  I found it surprising that at most of these events we have pretty equal numbers of men and women coming to help out.  However, when it comes to the logistics and organizing ends, it is always mainly women who put things together.  This fact got me thinking about how many countless non-profits I've worked for where there was at most 2 men on staff.  What is it about the humanities, community organizing and social change that attracts women?  Will we see more power within groups of women around the world?  I guess we'll just have to keep organizing for the betterment of our communities and see!