#gws350

“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.

Better late than never, I suppose... I have clearly lost all concept of time.

So I think what I enjoyed most about this course was the discussions while they lasted in person. I always appreciate classes wherein we discuss complex issues; I feel like it gives both students and teachers a better understanding on gaps in material and a greater understanding of the over all topics. 

This was no fault of anyone’s but fate... I have been a complete disaster since we were forced out of the classroom. I am absolutely terrible at online courses, and this learning environment is awful for me. I very much disliked the discussion boards, as the replies always felt token and insubstantial both on my part and on the part of everyone else. There was no substantive discussion.

I would have liked to have focused on gender identities more. I have yet to see an actual course at UK that is on gender identity specifically. Also, as a side note I would have liked to have seen your research presented. I absolutely love it when my professors share their research; I find it as a unique opportunity to really learn a lot from someone who is an expert in their field. 

The term that I think stood out the most in this unit was blacktransfeminist, or blacktransfeminist thought (BTFT). We see this term in the article called The Shape of Angels’ Teeth written by Marquis Bey. In this article Marquis Bey identifies blacktransfeminist thought as “black feminism imbricated with trans feminism.” She also says that blacktransfeminist thought maintains that “‘Every breath a [black trans woman] takes is an act of revolution’” (p. 35). What Bey is talking about here is how black trans women are left out of things such as Black Lives Matter, because they are considered “non-conforming” to the purpose of Black Lives Matter. Not only this, but while Bey was writing the article, The Shape of Angels’ Teeth, they talk about how “writing this article and being edified by the black trans voices included here… unhinged [their] privileged assumptions and modes of thinking.” This is an example of blacktransfeminist thought because they are trying to help include black trans women experiences instead of excluding them like a lot of groups do - intentionally or unintentionally.

Bey then goes on to talk about how much black trans women struggle because of this exclusion. She talks about how black trans women are being killed for “simply existing” as well as how queer and trans black people have the skills and opportunities needed to create liberation for all Blacks (p. 40). This is part of blacktransfeminist thought because it’s a perfect way of looking at how black feminism and trans feminism meet. Black feminism is black women trying to rise and become equal to others who are of different race, sex, and class. Trans feminism is nearly the same except it’s transgender women who are trying to reach equality. When you bring the two together, you get blacktransfeminism which is something that is rarely talked about, but needs to gain more attention.

Word Count: 310

           The word that I feel best sums up Unit 6’s readings is “normative,” in this case referring to our society’s perceived “normative” categories of identity. “Normative” is an adjective defined in the dictionary as, “establishing, relating to, or deriving from a standard or norm, especially of behavior.” In our society, the “normative” or standard for being is a male who is cis, straight, white, able-bodied, Christian, and financially well off. The major thread that I saw between each reading in the unit was the perceived difference from this societal “normative.” Susan Stryker’s, “(De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies,” addresses transgender studies, “transgender” being the category of identity that differs from the normative cisgender. Marquis Bey’s, “The Shape of Angels’ Teeth: Toward a Blacktransfeminist Thought Through a Mattering of Black(Trans)Lives,” brings up multiple categories of identity differing from the “normative,” including both black and trans identities which differ from the normative categories of white and cis. Both Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s, “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory,” and Eli Clare’s, “Body Shame, Body Pride: Lessons from the Disability Rights Movement,” address the category of “disabled” which differs from the normative category of “able-bodied.” Each of the four pieces read for Unit 6 address categories of identity differing from what is considered the “normative” of our society, but, each piece tackles this in a unique way, whether from a more standard journalistic perspective or from a more personal perspective. We, of course, know that the whole concept of what is “normative” is an oppressive social construct, so, reading pieces like this that address what it is to be outside of that perceived “normative” is all the more important.

1.     Susan Stryker, “(De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies.” In The Transgender Studies Reader.

2.     Marquis Bey. 2016. “The Shape of Angels’ Teeth: Toward a Blacktransfeminist Thought Through a Mattering of Black(Trans)Lives.” Departures in Critical Qualitative Research 5 (3): 33-54.

3.     Rosemarie Garland-Thomson. 2002.“Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory,” National Women’s Studies Association Journal14 (3): 1-32.

“Western feminist” is a new term that I learned for Unit 5. I’ve heard of westernization,but hearing the term related to feminism is simply interesting. You hear this term in the first reading of the unit: “’Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles” by Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Mohanty defines “western feminist” as the opposite of “Third World” feminism with there being no way of them crossing paths in definition (502). Western feminism is western women searching for equality through women’s struggles - excluding non-white, non-western women, reinforcing homophobia, and excluding social classes. Mohanty called western feminism “mainstream” because it’s basically white women looking for equality. Heather Switzer also uses the term in her article called “(Post)Feminist development fables: The Girl Effect and the production of sexual subjects.” Switzer identifies western feminism as white, liberal, and characterized by “the ‘will to improve’ the self and the Other” (351).

An example of western feminism would be a white woman explaining her struggles as simply a woman. She has no other struggles because she is not a woman of color. She is straight. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s the perfect image of what a woman should be, yet she is oppressed because she is a woman and is ranked lower than men. 

Western feminism excludes literally everything except gender. Even though it includes gender, it is still excluding parts of gender. Transgenders, intersex people, aliens, etc. are all being excluded here because they are not in the eyes of westernized people. They basically should not even exist in most cases. Western feminism is dangerous because of how much it excludes. Is it even really feminism? If you look up the definition of feminism on Google, you get the basic definition, “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” Yet, everyone has different definitions of feminism that includes way more than Google’s definition, who uses the Oxford Dictionary. Including the word westernized just seems a bit redundant in this case.

Word Count: 338

Sources:

Mohanty, C. T. (2003). "Under Western Eyes" Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles. Signs, 28(2), 499–535.

Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.). feminism. Google. Lexico.