A few months ago, this Buzzfeed quiz called "Are You A Feminist?" came out, and I guess the point of it was to illustrate that feminism isn't this extremist Kill All Men ideology and that, as bell hooks said in more words, feminism is for everybody. Which is kind of cool and I can get behind. It's refreshing to begin to see positive examples of feminism in popular culture and to see more of my peers begin to come around to this way of thinking.
But I also think that this definition of feminism is lacking. The "Are You A Feminist" Buzzfeed quiz maintains that, as long as you believe in the complete equality of women, you are, in fact, a feminist. And this is a pretty great start, don't get me wrong, but it glosses over a lot of the important parts, namely that while #YesAllWomen are unequal to men as a whole, some women (and non-binary individuals) are even less equal due to their race, gender identity, sexuality, socioeconomic status, immigration status, ability, and lots of other identities. Taking these identities into account when developing your feminism is called intersectionality, and without it, in my opinion at least, your feminism is bullshit.
I'm not here to tell anyone that they're not allowed to be a feminist, but if I'm going to consider you my ally and my comrade in this fight, your feminism has to apply to all women and not just expect that because #LeaningIn works for corporate cis white women, that it works for everyone. Your feminism has to understand that sexism, racism, poverty, transphobia, and other forms of oppression aren't failures of individuals to be decent human beings, but actually the successes of systems to keep marginalized people from ever escaping their circumstances.
So yes, it's cool that you read The Second Sex and some Tumblr articles about the wage gap and that they ~spoke to you~ and that you want to be part of this movement. But if your idea of this movement doesn't include my interests as a woman of color or the interests of any other marginalized people, don't consider me your ally. Because I'm not.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Why South Brunswick Can't Have Nice Things, v. 2.0
So I haven't written anything in a while and I know that I normally wait till the "optimal" time of day to post or write something (at least, according to social media analysts), but it would be irresponsible of me not to take this opportunity to talk about misogyny and slut-shaming in the place where I grew up and experienced it for myself.
A friend of mine brought to my attention the following Instagram account:
Whoever the creator of this account may be, they want people to send them pictures (presumably sexually explicit pictures) of "hoes" in South Brunswick. I'm not 100% sure that this account was made by/for high school students, but I think it's a fair assumption to make considering that the majority of Instagram users are under 30 and there's no strong college demographic in South Brunswick, save for the few people who commute to school. This phenomenon of sending or publishing sexually explicit pictures that someone else has sent to you and trusted you with is known as "revenge porn", and when it involves people under the age of 18, it's child porn and is ILLEGAL.
Legalities aside, the entire premise of this Instagram account is incredibly misogynistic (not that I expect its creator to be well versed in feminism or social justice). This account takes advantage of young women in one of their most vulnerable places, when they have entrusted someone else with their bodies, and has the audacity to call them "hoes" and demands that they be "exposed" so that everyone can know how horrible they are for expressing their sexuality in what they thought would be a safe and healthy way. Revenge porn vilifies those who have the level of trust and confidence to send nudes while praising those who breach that trust and violate other people's privacy. It plays into the age-old idea of slut-shaming, in which women who express their sexuality are written off as sluts and whores while men who express their sexuality are treated as healthy, normal, and worthy of praise.
I left South Brunswick High School approximately one and a half years ago, and clearly the environment with respect to misogyny and women's sexuality has only gotten worse and more toxic. I definitely experienced my fair share of misogyny and variations of slut-shaming as a student, but this is an entirely different level of messed-up. Part of me feels like it has something to do with the "good Indian girl" narrative, where South Asian women are expected to uphold the highest standards of purity and cleanliness and South Asian men are allowed to get away with a lot more because, like, patriarchy. But part of me also feels, much like the racial tension that's also present, that the toxic levels of misogyny present in the social environment at SBHS are due to our failure to acknowledge that they even exist in the first place. When I was a high school senior, I was one of the only openly feminist students that I knew. I was at a point where I was afraid and uncomfortable as self-identifying as feminist for fear of social rejection, or, potentially worse, not being taken seriously. We're afraid to call out sexism, we're afraid to call out casual racism, we're afraid to call out messed up stuff because we have to see these people every day. But, I think, once we get past that fear, we can start moving towards a healthier and safer environment for every student.
[PS - hopefully by the time you read this, the Instagram account has been taken down, but if not, I strongly encourage you to report it by pressing the "share" button in the top right corner of your phone]
A friend of mine brought to my attention the following Instagram account:
 |
| [I censored the avatar because it was of some girl's butt and just no] |
Legalities aside, the entire premise of this Instagram account is incredibly misogynistic (not that I expect its creator to be well versed in feminism or social justice). This account takes advantage of young women in one of their most vulnerable places, when they have entrusted someone else with their bodies, and has the audacity to call them "hoes" and demands that they be "exposed" so that everyone can know how horrible they are for expressing their sexuality in what they thought would be a safe and healthy way. Revenge porn vilifies those who have the level of trust and confidence to send nudes while praising those who breach that trust and violate other people's privacy. It plays into the age-old idea of slut-shaming, in which women who express their sexuality are written off as sluts and whores while men who express their sexuality are treated as healthy, normal, and worthy of praise.
I left South Brunswick High School approximately one and a half years ago, and clearly the environment with respect to misogyny and women's sexuality has only gotten worse and more toxic. I definitely experienced my fair share of misogyny and variations of slut-shaming as a student, but this is an entirely different level of messed-up. Part of me feels like it has something to do with the "good Indian girl" narrative, where South Asian women are expected to uphold the highest standards of purity and cleanliness and South Asian men are allowed to get away with a lot more because, like, patriarchy. But part of me also feels, much like the racial tension that's also present, that the toxic levels of misogyny present in the social environment at SBHS are due to our failure to acknowledge that they even exist in the first place. When I was a high school senior, I was one of the only openly feminist students that I knew. I was at a point where I was afraid and uncomfortable as self-identifying as feminist for fear of social rejection, or, potentially worse, not being taken seriously. We're afraid to call out sexism, we're afraid to call out casual racism, we're afraid to call out messed up stuff because we have to see these people every day. But, I think, once we get past that fear, we can start moving towards a healthier and safer environment for every student.
[PS - hopefully by the time you read this, the Instagram account has been taken down, but if not, I strongly encourage you to report it by pressing the "share" button in the top right corner of your phone]
Monday, January 13, 2014
I Sold My Soul (To Google AdSense)
So in the pretty near future, this blog is going to undergo a few changes -- first of all, I'm actually going to start writing things again, and second (and more importantly), I'm going to start having sidebar ads. I know that I don't really have to justify this to whatever readership I have -- basically just the tangential network of people who stumble upon my writing on Facebook and Twitter -- but I felt morally compelled for whatever reason to justify my doing so. I don't want it to seem like the integrity or honesty of what I'm writing is going to be at all compromised by the fact that I am now attempting to earn some money for what I write, because I would never let that happen. In no way will the content of this project be affected by the ads, and by no means is anyone compelled to click on them or really even view them (AdBlock is a thing, y'all). As a college student with little disposable income, whatever money I can earn is helpful, and I would love to be able to earn it doing something that I enjoy. Even if that maybe makes me a minor sellout.
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