emily c sorrell

gws 300-001

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What makes a “safe” space in an ableist world?

Throughout our final unit, we expanded on our knowledge of disability, and the connections between mental and physical disability. We also dove further into the topic of trigger warnings, and their role in disability theory.  

In her work, Un/Safe Disclosures: Scenes of Disability and Trauma, Alison Kafer proposes the argument that the failure to address the ties between trauma and disability is constrictive of work done to create safe spaces. Under this context, there is a need to approach theories of trauma mourning, loss, etc. with an intersectional framework, one that includes the complexities of disability and the varying identities under the umbrella of ‘disabled.’ “...trigger warnings are one entry point for developing such theories.” (Kafer, 2016). As seen in the text, an excerpt of the AAUP report on trigger warnings reads as follows:

a student diagnosed with PTSD should, in advance, agree on a plan for treatment with the relevant health advisors who, in some cases, may want to alert teachers to the presence of a trauma victim in their classroom. The Americans with Disabilities Act contains recommendations for reasonable accommodation to be made on an individual basis. (Committee)

Here we are presented with the all too familiar narrative of disability as something that needs to be fixed, posing the disabled individual as both the problem and the gatekeeper of the solution. It is important to think about which individuals may feel safe to speak of such trauma in a classroom setting, and those who may not feel as comfortable. How might race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, etc. impact one’s comfortability in speaking up or asking for help if need be? It is also crucial to consider how such topics of trauma and trigger warnings might affect staff and teachers in said scenario as well. “It seems equally likely that faculty of color, queer faculty, faculty from working-class backgrounds, immigrant faculty, disabled faculty—all those already marginalized within the academy—are more likely to face increased surveillance and decreased support if they were to disclose mental disability or distress.” (Kafer, 2016). How might stigma or bias play a role in the teacher-student relationship? These types of questions are applicable elsewhere (patient-provider relationship, familial relationship, romantic or intimate relationship, etc.) and should be considered when deconstructing disability theory. Does there exist a safe space for all identities to seek support, free of judgement or discrimination? How might this space be constructed to accommodate all identities?  

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Disability and Environmental Activism

One topic that stood out to me during this unit was the work of Alice Wong in her critical commentary of the bendy plastic straw. For those who do not already know, the bendy plastic straw was first introduced by a man named Joseph B. Friedman---He got the idea from watching his daughter struggle to drink a milkshake, but the aid of the bendy plastic straw soon caught on, going on to replace the glass straws that were typically used in hospitals prior to Friedman’s invention. “’...Nurses realized that bendy straws could help bed-ridden patients drink while lying down’ (Thompson, 2011, para. 9).” (Wong, 2019). In the height of the ongoing environmental movement, ditching plastic straws is a common form of environmental activism seen in today’s society. While refraining from use of and purchase of any type of disposable plastic is helpful to the wellbeing of our Mother Earth, it is important to understand the underlying ableism that exists when asking everyone to ditch plastic straws. The idea that plastic straws are easy to give up implies that they are not necessary. For many, this may be the case, but for some disabled folks, plastic bendy straws are a necessity. Perhaps there exist reusable bendy straws that disabled folks could use instead, but we have to consider the access to such resources disabled folks may or may not have. Thinking intersectionally about such an issue can be incredibly impactful as well, given that many disabled folks are living in poverty or in impoverished communities where access to such things may be quite limited. I found this interesting, as I had not really considered the ableist message hidden behind the request for our society to ditch plastic straws.  

Wong, A. (2019). The Rise and Fall of the Plastic Straw: Sucking in Crip Defiance. Retrieved from https://uk.instructure.com/courses/1966114/files/94027405?module_item_id=24157299.

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Tumblr Unit 3

“*Your unit 3 tumblr post that is due Monday evening can just be a reflective post where you discuss how you are feeling right now (about your life, about school, about this class, about anything, really). It can be as long or as short as you'd like/have the time/space/energy for.”

When I read this in the announcement sent out by my GWS 300 professor, Dr. Todd, I quite literally burst into tears of relief--These past couple of weeks have proven to be immensely taxing for me. In the midst of these changing times I have been trying to maintain connections within my social sphere to keep my sanity, while also trying to distance myself accordingly. I have been experiencing heightened levels of anxiety as of late, for a number of reasons, and the current global situation has definitely had an impact on that. I feel helpless. I feel scared and unsure of what the future brings. I feel insecure and frustrated. I haven’t been able to go more than an hour without anxious crying. Above all else, I am thankful that during a time like this I have such understanding professors and faculty members to reach out to if need be. I am thankful for assignments like these that allow me to reflect on my current state of being. I am thankful for the unity that I have seen amongst humanity over the past few weeks, and I hope this current situation only brings us all closer as a species, rather than dividing us further.  

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The Medicalization of Disabled Bodies and Lack of Autonomy

For many individuals within the disabled community, interactions with medical professionals have not always gone down smoothly, to say the least. Oftentimes, disabled people will experience invalidation, disbelief, as well as the pressure to fit normative disabled narratives in which cure is of central focus; The idea of a future for a disabled person is not worthy of consideration until that person is on the way towards assimilating into ableist society. Such expectations of what disability is supposed to look like, or the expectation of actively searching for or facilitating ‘cure’, paint damaging pictures of what society accepts as the ‘right way’ to be disabled. This rhetoric also shines a bad light on disability, framing it to be something inherently wrong or dehumanizing.  

In the case of Ashley X, as described by Alison Kafer, this dehumanization is transparently present, as her medical providers treated her as less than human in their decision to go through with her sterilization without her consent. “In their initial defense of the treatment, Gunther and Diekema stress that Ashley faces a future of no future...As a result, the interventions can do no harm; she is already prohibited by her disabilities from having romantic relationships (or children), so her breasts and uterus are easily removed." (Kafer, 2013). While this may be true, that Ashley X wouldn’t have been able to experience the ‘normative relationship’, or bear her own children, this forced sterilization and intimate removal of bodily attributes is not limited to physical impacts; The psychological impacts of such an intensive procedure would likely be quite intense, especially given the patient was forbidden access to the full scope of what was going on. “Ashley would never have the ability to make child-bearing decisions, so there was no need to protect her from the permanence of sterilization.” (Kafer, 2013). While Ashley’s mental status may have prevented her from making such decisions, that in no way should strip Ashley of the right to her own body and what she is comfortable having done to it (in any medical circumstance, but especially in the case of such an invasive surgery). Addressing the situation in terms of reality does not require such oppressive measures; As many others have been wronged in the medical world of disability, Ashley X was treated as if she was half a person, rather than appreciated and respected for who she is, and who she has the right to become.  

References

Kafer, Alison. (2013). At The Same Time, Out of Time. 

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The Disabled Body in Modern Society: An Introduction to Disability Theory

Ableism is written deeply into the structure of our world, so much so that it nearly goes unrecognized by many. The ableist mindset has been normalized and institutionalized over centuries of historical oppression, resulting in the ableist society we live in today. While certain individuals are able to experience the world with ease in very basic terms of existing (daily commute, riding the bus, entering/exiting buildings, using stairs, etc.), others are faced with countless obstacles that make the same situations nearly impossible. This is due to the lack of consideration of the disabled community and the various accommodations that would potentially be needed in regard to infrastructure. The fact that there is a collective understanding of the needs of disabled people as supplemental rather than inherent says enough; This creates the notion that disabled individuals needn’t be included, and implies that disability rights do not belong on the forefront of social justice movements, maintaining the misrepresentation and stigmatization of disabled people. “If someone cannot step up onto a curbside, is that marginalizing fact the fault of the person’s body?” (Taylor, 2017). While the lack of representation, access, and inclusion within society has everything to do with the systematic oppression of disabled people, the issue is often deflected back onto marginalized bodies. The body becomes the problem, rather than the obstacles said bodies are met with. Furthermore, as discussed by Eddie Ndopu,  “...because our lives and bodies have been, and continue to be, systematically relegated to the margins of societal consciousness, we as disabled segments of society personify the bottom rung of otherness. Therefore, we are operating at ‘negative ten’ as it were. And because we are operating at ‘negative ten,’ ‘zero’ is celebrated as the benchmark of our well-being, human dignity, and self-determination.” (Ndopu, 2013). Societal barriers facilitate this celebration of performing at “zero”, in which able-bodied/able-minded individuals then use as inspiration porn. Of course, as the intersections of identity layer on, such obstacles and barriers only thicken and become more complex. A vast mosaic of oppression, one that deserves much more attention than it has been getting.  

References

Taylor, Sunaura. (2017).  What is Disability?, “In Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation”.

Ndopu, Eddie. (2013). The Feminist Wire, “Able Normative Supremacy and the Zero Mentality”.

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‘Disposable Bodies’ Units 4 & 5

Throughout units 4 and 5 of GWS 302, our class analyzed the interconnections between the development of capitalism, imperialism, and the ways in which migrant bodies and lower-class identities are able to move throughout the world. To begin, we collectively analyzed the work of Millian Kang, “The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean-Immigrant Owned Nail Salons”. As highlighted in Kang’s text, nail salon workers suffer from numerous health issues, including asthma-like respiratory problems, painful skin lesions, miscarriages, birth defects, and cancer. Ki Ok Chung, a woman who’d worked as a manicurist for nearly twenty years, suffered from the wearing away of her fingerprints from constant work with toxin-filled salon products (Nir, 2015). The fading of fingerprints isn’t rare among individuals working in nail salons, many of whom are often of Asian demographic. Taking identity into account, Asian nail salon workers facing racism in the workplace are subject to several anxieties; In certain places of work where employee surveillance is more extensive, fingerprint scanning is a method of clocking in. “As critical data scholars have revealed, biometric fingerprint scanners are also prone to ‘demographic failures,’ regularly failing to scan prints of elderly people, Asian women, people who work in manual or clerical industries, or people whose fingers are too large [too be detected] (Browne, 2015; Magnet, 2011). Scanners are thus neither ‘rock solid’ nor objective.” (Van Oort, 2018). For people who have been born into the nail salon industry, having worked with so many chemicals over so many years, raises the concern of the fingerprint scanner potentially failing to detect one’s prints. Other anxieties Asian bodies are subject to stem from racism, often an issue for Asians and non-white individuals in the workplace setting (from customers, bosses, coworkers, etc.), who want to avoid falling under stereotypes and prejudices. This racism is tied to the extensive surveillance among bodies (often marginalized) working in job positions that are societally considered “lower class”. The “less worthy”, “less human” (aka “less white”, “less able”, etc.) bodies are intentionally managed and taken advantage of in a way that subjects them to harm. As expressed by a nail salon worker in Millian Kang’s study, “Three years ago we didn’t give a lot of massages but now customers ask more and more. It makes me weak and really tired...I guess because I don’t have the right training to do it in a way that doesn’t tire my body. Some manicurists give massages all the time to get tips, but sometimes I don’t even ask them if I’m tired. Owners keep asking you to ask them, but on days I’m not feeling well, I don’t ask...One of my biggest fears working in the salon is, what if I don’t understand what the customer is saying? They don’t really talk in detail, just say, “how is the weather”. But in order to have a deeper relationship, I need to get past that and to improve my English. It makes it very stressful.” (Kang, 2003). Whether it be the subjection to stress from societal expectations or the life-threatening side effects of working in such conditions, marginalized bodies are at risk in the workplace.  

And it isn’t specific to nail salons.  

We also see this issue in factory farms, such as Case Farms in Canton, Ohio, not too far from here. “As the company fights the fines, it finds new ways to keep labor costs down. For a time, after the Guatemalan workers began to organize, Case Farms recruited Burmese refugees. Then it turned to ethnic Nepalis expelled from Bhutan, who today make up nearly 35 percent of the company’s employees in Ohio. “It’s an industry that targets the most vulnerable group of workers and brings them in,” Debbie Berkowitz, OSHA’s former senior policy adviser, told me. ‘And when one group gets too powerful and stands up for their rights they figure out who’s even more vulnerable and move them in.’” (Grabell, 2017). Factory farm workers are at risk for some of the most harmful mental and physical health issues in the realm of careers, ranging from loss of limbs, bone fractures, death, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Unsurprisingly, considering the nature of the job market, “OSHA later found that Case Farms often made workers wait months to see a doctor, flouted restrictions and fired injured workers who couldn’t do their job.” (Grabell, 2017).  

We see similar outcomes for temp workers. “From mega-retailers to mom-and-pop shops, temps are hired to do some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs. While more and more of the American workforce is comprised of temporary workers, they're largely hidden from public view.” (VICE News, 2014). In the VICE video, "Permanently Temporary: The Truth About Temp Labor”, viewers share a heartbreaking moment with Isaura Martinez, a woman who left her family in Mexico to come to America, as she reflects on her experiences since immigrating. With tearful eyes and a chilling sense of sorrow in her voice, Martinez tells Vice interviewers that she came to the states with a lot of hope, but often experiences regret as she has “received a lot of abuse here [America]”. She opened up about her sexual assault, which occurred as she was being driven to work by a raitero. She explained how the issue of sexual violence is common for temp workers commuting to factories through the service of raiteros---often the only feasible option of getting to work for these people given the circumstances. This disturbing reality has historical baggage; From the trafficking and enslavement of African natives to the indentured labor from India and other Asian countries into Europe, capitalist, white supremacist, patriarchal values have fueled “the European colonization of much of the planet” (Lewis, 2014), which is directly related to the threatened position migrant workers are currently in. It’s also evident that the demand for cheap migrant labor is ever-growing; “Migrants, especially new arrivals, are seen as being harder workers, more loyal and reliable, and prepared to work longer hours due to their lack of choice and the large volume of available labour at the low end of the labour market (MacKenzie and Forde, 2009). This therefore intensifies competition and offers employers the pick of the ‘best’ migrant workers.” (Lewis, 2014).  

It’s also key to recognize the treacherous journey immigrants must endure to get to America; Considering the implications of climate change, this already dangerous journey becomes even more deathly. From scorching heat that burns your skin to an unforgiving geography of jagged vegetation, the U.S. Mexico border in Southern Arizona is an atmospheric war zone. “To stand in the summer sun on Organ Pipe and contemplate the long walk north invites some startling realizations. One: Despite the heat and the militarization, generations of people have somehow survived this seemingly impossible journey. Two: No one is going to undertake such a journey without a deep motivating desire to move. And three: All of these factors — human migration, the desert’s capacity to kill, and the hardening of the American border security apparatus — are on a path to historic intensification in the coming years.” (Devereaux, 2019). “Right now there are construction crews at work on Organ Pipe, pumping water from a rare desert aquifer to mix concrete for Donald Trump’s long-promised border wall. The survival of a fragile and unique desert ecosystem hangs in the balance.” (Devereaux, 2019). Laiken Jordahl, former employee of the U.S. National Park Service at Organ Pipe and current borderlands campaigner for the Center for Biological Diversity, described the situation as an “all-out attack” ... “It’s unbelievable. This would never be conceivable if normal environmental laws were in place.” says Jordahl (Devereaux, 2019).  

While it is unfortunately not surprising the effects Trump’s presidency has had on immigration and our country’s attitude towards it, we mustn't be oblivious to the history of said attitudes. We mustn’t forget the agony that has been put onto native bodies and native land for centuries, we mustn’t shy away from our own role in that. We mustn’t ignore the current traumas imposed onto marginalized bodies in all too familiar ways, parallels from early white colonization oozing into modern day situations. Certain bodies have been historically valued, while others have been deemed disposable. It is the responsibility of those who are privileged to recognize this, accept this, and use their voices to fight this.  

As a white person, this responsibility falls on me, as well as many of you reading this. Use your voice in any way you can. Dismantle the system, burn it to the fucking ground.  

References  

Madison Van Oort. 2018. “The Emotional Labor of Surveillance: Digital Control in Fast Fashion Retail.” Critical Sociology 00 (0): 1-13

"Permanently Temporary: The Truth About Temp Labor,” VICE.

Miliann Kang. 2003. “The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean-Immigrant Owned Nail Salons.” Gender and Society 17 (6): 820-839.

Sarah Maslin Nir, “Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers,” The New York Times

Michael Grabell, ProPublica, “Sold for Parts”.

Hannah Lewis, et al. 2014. “Hyper-precarious Lives: Migrants, Work, and Forced Labor in the Global North.” Progress in Human Geography. 1-21.

Ryan Devereaux, "Mining the Future: Climate Change, Migration, and Militarization in Arizona's Borderlands".

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The Body – A Transnational Approach (Unit 3)

Unit 3 of GWS 302-001 has maintained a central focus on the transnational body, illuminating the historical traumas of Indigenous peoples and how their tragic history impacts how they move through the world today (systematic oppression, impoverished communities, cultural death, etc.). In the eye-opening documentary from PBS, Unspoken: America’s Native American Boarding Schools, the violent assimilation of Native Americans into Euro-“American" culture is brought to light through personal stories of native peoples. (“American” is in quotations here because technically American culture is Native American culture --- this is their land; they deserve the title of American much more than any of us who descended from white colonial settlers.) But, as it always seems to be, white settlers have acquired this fabricated notion that whiteness is synonymous to superiority, authority, intelligence, entitlement and ownership. This disgraceful way of thinking stems from white supremacist patriarchal heteronormative European culture, and has facilitated numerous mass tragedies throughout history (I.e. slavery, the Holocaust, Japanese Internment Camps, etc.), including the gentrification and assimilation of Native Americans. As discussed by Alyosha Goldstein in her work, “Possessive Investments: Indian Removals and the Affective Entitlements of Whiteness”, the misfortune of the ‘Baby Veronica Case’ highlights a deeper issue; In her case, the authority of her tribe was questioned solely based off of her blood quantum; In Justice Samuel Alito’s opening statement, he undermined the cultural relevancy of the case, pointing out that the child was [only] 1.2% Cherokee. (Goldstein, 2014). “Alito’s focus on the calculated fraction of ‘Indian blood’ is an attempt to misconstrue the political relation of Cherokee citizenship as if it was a matter of race... [this attempt is seen by many as a] reassertion of white heteronormative rights to possess and to deny culpability for the ongoing consequences of colonization and multiple forms of racial violence in the present moment.” (Goldstein, 2014). Additionally, in Nirmala Ervelles work, “The Color of Violence: Reflection on Gender, Race, and Disability in Wartime”, the question of who is considered able to birth US citizens is explored; Prior to the 1924 U.S. Immigration Act, despite the extremities of health issues faced by Mexicans at the time, Mexican men were deemed as healthy and physically able due to their generally strong physique (and more so, directly tied to the services they would then be able to provide whites through their labor). On the flip side, “...high infant mortality rates in Mexican communities were perceived as evidence of Mexican women’s ill health, lack of education, and poor parenting skills, not as a consequence of poor economic conditions and inadequate prenatal care. In this way, Mexican women were cast as diseased reproducers of unfit citizens and, thus, as undeserving of the privilege of legal immigration.” (Ervelles, 2011).  

In the works of J. Kehaulani Kauanui and Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar, the issue of the proposed construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the sacred land of Mauna Kea is analyzed. In July 2019, the Royal Order of Kamechamecha gave the base of Mauna Kea the name, Pu‘uhonua o Pu‘uhuluhulu. Pu‘uhonua o Pu‘uhuluhulu is meant to provide the community with a safe place to go during conflict, as it is a Hawaiian tradition to do so. This was done in anticipation of the construction of TMT, “a $1.4 billion project for an eighteen-story observatory on this mountain that is the highest in the world at 32,000 feet,” (J. Kehaulani Kauanui, 2019). The proposal of this project is a clear indicator of a heartless and ignorant system that fails to recognize, protect, and honor Hawaiin people, their traditions, and their sacred land. Soon after the proposal of TMT, thousands of Hawaiians and allies successfully blockaded the base of the mountain in a protective rebellious act. In response to this peaceful, culturally-motivated protest, the state governor declared a “state emergency” on July 17th, unjustly calling in the National Guard and riot police. “I cried watching in horror as riot gear-clad state and county police—equipped with pepper spray, tear gas, batons, side arms, and a “noise cannon”—lined the road, poised to crack skulls; many with tears in their own eyes as many were also Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian).” (Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar, 2019). Reading this quote from Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar broke my heart; To hear these lived experiences, the tragedies, the historical traumas---it has all opened my eyes so much. We must open our eyes. In the wake of a new day, in optimism and determination, I salute the Hawaiian people, their allies, and their beautiful culture. May Mauna Kea remain protected, as her symbolism of peace and unity will endlessly overpower all that tries to profit off of or take advantage of her (“her” in reference to the land, Mother Earth). “Onipa‘a! Kūʻē! [roughly translating to Steadfast! Resist!]” (J. Kehaulani Kauanui, 2019).  

References

Unspoken: America’s Native American Boarding Schools,”. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/video/unspoken-americas-native-american-boarding-schools-oobt1r/.

Alyosha Goldstein. 2014. “Possessive Investments: Indian Removals and the Affective Entitlements of Whiteness. American Quarterly 66 (4): 1077-1084.

Nirmala Erevelles. 2011. “The Color of Violence: Reflection on Gender, Race, and Disability in Wartime.” In Feminist Disability Studies.

"Enduring Hawaiian Sovereignty: Protecting the Sacred at Mauna Kea, Introduction," by J. Kehaulani Kauanui. Retrieved from https://www.radicalhistoryreview.org/abusablepast/?p=3250.

"In Ceremony and Struggle: The Lāhui at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu," by Iokepa Casumbal-Salazar. Retrieved from https://www.radicalhistoryreview.org/abusablepast/?p=3229.

[ddelicatemp3]

antoni and oscar the corgi moodboard

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<3

[joeyhazell-art]

💖💛💙 Janelle Monae 💖💛💙

Last Year Janelle publicly came out as Pansexual. This was made as a sort of ode for her providing the people of my identity some absolutely fabulous representation!

This sort of kicked off my inspiration for my current series of animated portraits!

I had done this one for a school assignment earlier this year but forgot to post it. No better time than the end of pride month I suppose haha

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Marsha P. Johnson

One of the leaders of the LGBT+ movement in America, she was known not only for her strength and bravery as an activist, but also for her boundless generosity. If you complimented an accessory of hers, she’d give it to you.

—

This is part one in a series of animated portraits I’ve been working on this summer of women I admire!

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Redefining The ‘Other’; Transnational Girlhood

As Mitchell described in Celebrity Humanitarianism, Transnational Emotion, and the Rise of Neoliberal Citizenship, celebrity humanitarianism can be thought of as a form of celebrity advocacy in which celebrities utilize their fame for charity and other humanitarian causes. Celebrity humanitarianism bridges the gap between “us” and the “other”, forming a sense of community between the fan base and the star. This, in turn, “mobilizes” the activism and motivates fans to connect with individuals in need. “It accords with the free-market capitalist fantasy of a global flat plain (Sparke 2013), but one that is mediated by the pastoral language of global empathy” (Mitchell, 2016). Neoliberalism plays a role here as this “commitment to global humanity” (Mitchell, 2016) endangers the consideration of politics regarding citizenship. However, the intimate relations between the fans, the famous, and the community motivate and facilitate their generosity and charitable actions. Social media plays a massive role in that, as it connects so many who are distant in geographical terms. However, this attempt at bridging of worlds can often be done in a way that actually does the opposite; As seen in The Girl Effect videos ( i.e."The Girl Effect: I dare you to see I am the answer" Video), the girl is objectified by the ‘“gaze” of the viewers, rather than being centralized as the main speaking subject (Switzer, 2014). “The discourse dramatises adolescent female exceptionalism for development by presenting girlhood as a biosocial process of either pathological or regulated sexualisation. This false dichotomy positions some girls for recovery and others lost to ‘local’ gender regimes.” (Switzer, 2014).  “‘…invest in a girl and she will do the rest” doesn’t seem so progressive once you really break it down; This assumes that the girl has the means to maintain a steady income once invested in, it ignorantly assumes she will be safe from sexual violence once enrolled in school, it implies her main purpose in life is to bear and raise children, etc. Adhering to this discourse disregards the complexities of girlhood and how different identities shape the experiences of women and femme-presenting people. The entire model of The Girl Effect encourages viewers to invest in the “Other”-girl, while remaining locationally distant, while refraining from any true engagement or attempt at understanding the complexities of the transnational girlhood and womanhood. “The girl-spectator is persuaded to indulge in the ultimate postfeminist fantasy of saving the Other and, in so doing, securing the status quo.” (Swather, 2014). To put this into perspective, lets consider the rhetoric within the world of micro-financing; Female borrowers are often thought of as autonomous individuals who are making independent choices in the market, and thus are held accountable for said choices, even if behind the scenes things are looking a lot different. “Women, even if they have marketable skills, often find themselves beholden to their husbands and male relatives if they lack market access. Thus, microfinance has to be located within the social constraints that poor people—and particularly poor women—face. Often when women receive loans, their male family members take the money.” (Karim, 2013). This causes obvious issues and creates various obstacles that keep the majority of women borrowers from succeeding in a market that both enables and punishes the described situation. As suggested by Karim, many of these women were likely used intentionally by the micro financing industry to facilitate an environment in which corporations can manipulate market price.

Katharyne Mitchell. 2016. "Celebrity Humanitarianism, Transnational Emotion, and the Rise of Neoliberal Citizenship." Global Networks 16 (3): 288-306.

Lamia Karim, “NGOS, Neoliberalism, and Women in Bangladesh,” from S&F Online

Heather Switzer. 2013. “(Post)feminist Development Fables: The Girl Effect and the Production of Sexual Subjects.” Feminist Theory 14 (3): 345-360.

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Transnational Feminism

In the Combahee River Collective: A Black Feminist Statement, a black feminist group made a statement asking for the necessary recognition and inclusion of black women (and other femme-presenting people of color, LGBTQ+ people, etc.) in the mainstream feminist movement, which at the time was (and still is in many ways) focused only on the issues of cisgender, able-bodied, able-minded white women. This narrow focus excludes and blatantly disregards the issues humans are faced with from an intersectional standpoint, failing to recognize the areas in which white supremacist patriarchal capitalist power structures work to oppress us and our overlapping identities in different ways. “Ignoring the differences of race between women and the implications of those differences presents the most serious threat to the mobilization of women's joint power.” (Lorde, 1984). If I, a white cis woman, fail to recognize how differently I am able to move throughout the world compared to a black trans woman, I have failed as a feminist; When I leave my apartment I am not fearful of being the target of a hate crime due to my mere existence; The same does not hold true for trans people, particularly trans women of color. If I fail to recognize that, I am failing at facilitating an effective feminist movement. “The future of feminism relevant to third world women, therefore,must maintain a delicate balance between third world feminisms and transnational feminisms, thereby consolidating global feminist solidarity without losing sight of local and national women’s activisms.” (Herr, 2013). Without an adequate recognition of the differences in our struggles that ultimately unite us, there is no true global feminist movement. I think one of the reasons people often have a hard time grasping the concept of transnational feminism is that they have become blind to the differences, ignorant to the harm of associating third world women as “other”, the harm of assuming their battles aren’t relevant to the feminist movement. 

References

Frazier, D., Smith, B., & Smith, B. (1977). Combahee River Collective: A Black Feminist Statement. Off Our Backs, 9(6), 6-8.

Chandra Mohanty. 2003. “Under Western Eyes Revisited.” Signs 28 (2): 499-535.

Audre Lorde. 1984. “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” In Sister Outsider.

Ranjoo S. Herr. 2013. “Transnational, Third World, and Global Feminism.”

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Unit 7

In the world of genetic donations, donated plasma and other genetic material is often donated by marginalized bodies and goes towards benefiting privileged bodies. Many of the benefits people will receive medically from such donations is care that marginalized identities have significantly less access to; For many, health insurance is not an option. Health literacy is also an issue, particularly for oppressed groups as their communities frequently have lower access to education and healthcare services. The individuals donating their bodies to get by are often not given the informed consent they deserve, whether it be due to a lack of effort of the physician to translate through the language barrier, or a lack of health literacy on the receiving end. The deserving recognition of this “regenerative labor” (Cooper & Waldby, 2011) is not given to those donating---this goes for a diversity of labor. “She [Donna Dickenson] argues that the neglect of women’s contribution rests on a historical lack of recognition for the work of maternity more generally, an indication of women’s absence of property rights in their own reproductive labor.” (Cooper & Waldby, 2011). Similarly, there is a historical trend of emotional labor going unrecognized, as well as the imbalance of emotional labor existing in heterosexual relationships; Historically, women have often had to put in significantly more emotional work into relationships with men. This likely has to do with the false notion that ‘women’s work’ involves staying home cleaning, cooking, and raising children. Due to the misogyny embedded in our society, these types of labor have been considered to be less than, secondary tasks. Thus, an incredible lack of recognition of said labor exists. Even tasks associated with nannies and daycare workers are rendered to be subordinate.  

Lack of recognition, of adequate representation is a consistent issue one comes across upon weaving through feminist theory---For example, trans identities and non-binary identities are often misrepresented in the media. As seen in the Clean & Clear advertisement featuring Jazz Jennings, her identity is portrayed in a hyper-feminine, heteronormative manner that completely white washes her racial identity. Her experience is also incredibly privileged, which does not come close to accurately representing the extreme violence and oppression trans identities are faced with daily. “...transgender girlhood(s) are constructed in relation to, and made invisible in the service of, consumer girlhood as a citizen-subject position.” (Reinke).

In the beginning of the ad, Jazz explains how she felt like a girl trapped in a boy’s body. While that may be how Jazz felt, and how some transgender people feel, again, that is not an accurate representation of what it means to be trans, and the ad’s portrayal of it in such a way indicates that there is a set way to exist as a transgender person.  

References

Cooper, M., & Waldby, C. (2011). From Reproductive Work to Regenerative Labour.” Feminist Theory, 11(1), 3-22.  

Reinke, R. Chapter Two: Just Having Fun Being One of the Girls: Jazz Jennings, Trans Girl Citizenship, and Clean & Clear’s “See the Real Me”. In Mediated Girlhoods, Volume 2.

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Unit 6

As Susan Styker stated in her work, (De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies, “Transgender studies enable a critique of the conditions that cause transgender phenomena to stand out in the first place...” (Stryker, 2006).  

I really relish in this particular quote, as it captures the very nature of feminist theory and how society shapes our experiences; We are a fluid, diverse people living in a rigid, binary world. Trans identities---like any identity that goes against the rigid norms---reveal and challenge the operations of systems and institutions that produce possibilities of personhood while eliminating others (Stryker, 2006).

Similarly to how trans identities are read on the body, disability is read on the body through a lens that views them as ‘abnormal, sick, wrong’. The development of this societal lens has much to do with the idea that a ‘normal’ body (and mind) is a heterosexual, cisgender, gender-conforming body that is able to walk, run, etc. Anything outside of the rigid mold society has created is considered abnormal, lesser than, not whole. “Rather, disability is a culturally fabricated narrative of the body, similar to what we understand as the fictions of race and gender. The disability/ability system produces subjects by differentiating and marking bodies.” (Garland-Thompson, 2002). We see this system of marking bodies in the media, for example. As highlighted by Marquis Bey, there is a lack of media reports about police brutality against black women, black trans individuals, black queer individuals, black disabled individuals, etc. While police brutality impacts all black identities, the vast majority of the reports are only about the black cisgender men. “Male lives are often the only ones deemed valuable enough to mourn” (Bey, 2016). BLM activism is getting skewed only to protect black cis men while all other black identities are left to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.

The idea that some identities are more valuable than others is a trend seen in many different situations. As indicated previously, disabled individuals are often deemed as less valuable. Disability is often read on the body as a sickness, as something that is wrong. Price discusses the dilemma of how to understand disabilities that involve pain, and how those disabilities may have undesirable qualities, while also having some desirable. “Striking my head with a lamp may be undesirable in the sense that it is physically dangerous (and frightening or triggering for those who observe it); however, it is desirable in the sense that it is a meaningful form of communication, a ‘voice on the skin’ (McLane 1996, 115).” (Price, 2015). Obviously, it is still undesirable to have a disability or mental illness that causes you to self-harm---I struggle with that myself, and it definitely isn’t something I’d ever call desirable. However, it does not define me or make me as an individual a less worthy or less valuable human being.  

References

Susan Stryker. (2006). “(De)Subjugated Knowledges: An Introduction to Transgender Studies.” In The Transgender Studies Reader.

Bey, M. (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.

Garland-Thomson. R. (2002).“Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory”. National Women’s Studies Association Journal 14(3): 1-32.

Price, M. (2015). “The Bodymind Problem and the Possibilities of Pain.” Hypatia 30(1): 268-284.

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Common Differences

“...‘common differences’ can form the basis of deep solidarity and that we have to struggle to achieve this in the face of unequal power-relations among ourselves.”

-Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes”  

The notion of the “us vs them” ideology has been present throughout the GWS 350 course units; Whether it be the rigid gender binary, racial stigma, literal and metaphorical borders alike, duality and opposition have been of central focus within each issue of interest. In her text, Mohanty discusses how she intentionally wrote of Western and Third World Feminism in similar terms in order to avoid any indication of division between the liberation of different geographical locations (Mohanty, 1986). This symbolism of unity in her writings expresses the similarities in feminist issues across the globe, and truly highlights our collective societal failure to recognize the flaws on our perception of said similarities. “...the local is always grounded in nationalist assumptions---the United States or a western European nation-state provides a normative context.” (Mohanty, 1986). One of the main issues of the western experience as the normative experience is that it facilitates the “us vs them” mindset, marking anything outside of the norm as less than, as disposable. This can be seen in advertisements from the Nike campaign ‘The Girl Effect’; The aim of the campaign was to empower girls and women however, it maintained a racist, sexist, heteronormative, capitalist rhetoric. The duality portrayed between the ‘disposable girl’ and ‘durable girl’ sparked a sense of distance for the viewer “...between ‘us’ and ‘her’ as viewers are enjoined to ‘see’, ‘count’, ‘invest in’, and ‘advocate for’ ‘her’.” (Switzer, 2013). Not only does the campaign implement prejudiced mindsets towards non-western countries, but it also demonstrates oblivion to the violence and harassment girls are often victim to within the school setting.  

The issue of duality is also present in Narayan’s text, as she draws attention to some critical questions we should ask ourselves as feminist activists;

“I believe that Western feminists interested in the “problems of women in Other need to think about: the kinds of Third-World women’s issues that cross Western borders more frequently than others; and about the effects of the ‘editing’ and such issues undergo when they do cross borders.” (Narayan, 1997). Narayan provides the example of the dualistic general perspective on Third World and Western World issues in regard to how dowry-murders in India are viewed in comparison to cases of domestic violence in the United States. “...features of dowry-murder that mark it as ‘Other’ also partly account for its ‘border-crossing’. These features of ‘Otherness’ simultaneously operate to cause the phenomenon to receive ‘notice’ and to distort understandings of the phenomenon.” (Narayan, 1997). Narayan’s discussion of how race plays a role in this dualism offers an even more thorough understanding of why such opposition exists; Their “Indianness” is viewed as synonymous to the “other” rather than the “us”.

References

Mohanty, C. (1986). Under Western Eyes Revisited. In Feminism Without Borders. Retrieved from https://uk.instructure.com/courses/1937990/files/91109166?module_item_id=23717207.

Switzer, H. (2013). (Post)feminist Development Fables: The Girl Effect and the Production of Sexual Subjects. Feminist Theory, 14(3): 345-360.

Narayan, U. (1997). Chapter Three: Cross-Cultural Connections, Border Crossings, and Death by Culture. In Dislocating Cultures. Retrieved from https://uk.instructure.com/courses/1937990/files/91159559?module_item_id=23725637.

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Breaking Barriers // An Intersectional Approach to Border Theory

In Unit 4 of GWS 350, Theorizing the Borders of the Nation-State, our class sustained a primary focus on perspectives on the physical and metaphorical borders sewn into the fabric of our dualistic society. As we plunged into this theory analysis, we began to gain fresh insight on the idea of borders and the mindsets they perpetuate; The “us vs them” ideology maintained a central status among all three of the readings we explored, highlighting the social attitudes stemming from the presence of various forms of borders. As stated by Gloria Anzaldua in her text, “The work of mestiza consciousness is to break down the subject-object duality that keeps her prisoner and to show in the flesh through the images in her work how duality is transcended.” (Anzaldua, 1987). Anzaldua discusses the vitality of a collective acquiring of knowledge regarding the intersections of identities, their effect on the perception of bodies of certain groups, and their tie to physical and metaphorical barriers. To dismantle systematic oppression, we must recognize our place in society and how our identities play a role in facilitating privilege, thus facilitating oppression. Also, Anzualda’s use of both Spanish and English vocabulary in her text served as a symbol for the various barriers enabling division between groups, a language barrier in this case. In class, we discussed our prior knowledge of the Spanish vocabulary used, evaluating our own behavior when met with such vocabulary: Did we translate the Spanish text as we were reading, or did we simply skim over the language we weren’t familiar with and focus on the English text? Most of us who engaged in this self-evaluation shared that we didn’t bother to translate the Spanish text; How might this lack of translation represent the viewing of English as central and non-English as “other”? How might this disproportionate centralization maintain the “us vs them” ideology? Such an ideology stems from nation-based racism, a term used in Nadine Naber’s text as a reference “to the construction of particular immigrants as different than---and inferior to---whites based on the conception that ‘they’ are foreign and therefore embody a ‘potentiality for criminality and/or immortality’ and must be ‘evicted, eliminated, or controlled.’” (Naber, 2008). Similarly to Anzaldua’s evaluation of the Mexico-United States border, Lisa Hall discusses the social inclination the US has towards Hawaii, viewing it as a getaway, a vacation site rather than giving it realistic recognition and representation. The barrier of water creating distance between the physical land leads people to perceive Hawaii as a foreign area despite it being one of the 50 US states. Hall considers the symbolism islands portray, discussing how they convey connection and intersection, bringing people of all identities together, attracting travelers and natives alike (Hall, 2009). She brings attention to the erasure of Native Hawaiian issues and history, specifically regarding especially marginalized native groups (women, LGBTQ+, disabled identities etc.). Some of the main points that stuck out to me from the reading were the commercialization of Hawaiian culture and hyper-sexualization of Hawaiian women/femme- presenting Hawaiians. I remember having Hawaiian themed parties towards the end of the school year in my elementary school; The teachers would dress the children up in leis, grass skirts, coconut bras, etc. I distinctly remember this Hawaiian themed bobblehead, a white woman with long, black plastic hair wearing the stereotypical Hawaiian garb. This white-washing of Hawaiian figures is one example of the erasure and capitalization of Hawaiian culture; Even the term “white-washing” in itself has an inherently racist rhetoric about it, as it implies that making something white would “wash” it or make it clean. This racist ideology can be seen through the long history of racist soap ads depicting people of color as dirty; Even as recently as 2017, a Dove advertisement received harsh criticism for showing a black woman in a brown shirt taking off the shirt to reveal a white woman underneath, wearing a white shirt. While Dove claimed the aim of this ad was to illustrate diversity, the ad received a lot of backlash for its chilling similarities to racist soap ads from the late 1800s to early 1900s (Astor, 2017).  

The attitudes towards the “other” described in all three readings share the notion that white is socially recognized as the main, superior race. Consequentially, all non-white races are faced with the pressing issue of misrepresentation and oppression. In her text, Naber discussed how lower-class individuals are perceived as being closer to the threat of “potential terrorists” due to their limited access to “safer” communities/locations, thus they are associated with the threat that Muslims have been associated with (Naber, 2008). Following 9/11, immigration policies have disproportionally targeted immigrants who inhabit the societally fabricated “terrorist profile”; This moral panic bled into the public sphere, resulting in the harassment of Muslim, Arabic and Middle-Eastern identities based upon how their bodies are read societally. This harassment came from average, everyday people as well as law enforcement, and continues to today. These post-9/11 policies generally operated under the notion that undocumented immigrants were the enemy and US law enforcement were part of the solution (Naber, 2008). In this moral panic, the folk devils or suitable enemies are non-white immigrants, due to the central focus on white as the dominant, more civilized race. In class, we discussed the shift in airport security after the attack on 9/11, analyzing how different bodies are read by security and how attitudes towards certain bodies differ depending on the nation said individuals come from (or nation they are perceived as coming from). “Improving [airport] security meant replacing non-citizen workers with citizens who tended to be retired white military and police who received better pay, more benefits, and more respect.” (Naber, 2008). Again, here we see the “us vs them” mindset active in full force. The borders between nations, between economically differing communities, between city and countryside, etc. all play a role in how we approach differing identities belonging to those distinct areas.  

References  

Anzaldua, G. E. (1987). La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness. In Borderlands/La Frontera. Retrieved from https://uk.instructure.com/courses/1937990/files/91414267?module_item_id=23747813.

Hall, L. K. (2009). Navigating Our Own ‘Sea of Islands’: Remapping a Theoretical Space for Hawaiian Women and Indigenous Feminism. Wicazo Sa Review, 24(2), 15-38.

Naber, N. (2008). Look, Mohammed the Terrorist is Coming! Cultural Racism, Nation-Based Racism, and the Intersectionality of Oppressions after 9/11. Scholar and Feminist Online, 6(3), 1-6.

Priebe, A. (2019). No Borders [Poster]. Retrieved from https://powertotheposter.com/posters/no-borders.

Astor, M. (2017, October 8). Dove Drops an ad Accused of Racism. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/business/dove-ad-racist.html.

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intersectional theory

As theory meets intersecting oppression, a thorough analysis of how diverse personal experiences shape our interaction with the world becomes a most useful tool for understanding and beginning to dismantle systematic exploitation. Historically, mainstream feminism gained momentum with a relatively narrow focus; That is, the movement in its early stages maintained a fulcrum on sexist issues faced by middle-class heterosexual cis white women. This focus, while shedding light on valid issues of a sexist society, failed to represent intersecting identities within the world of sexism, etc. In a statement presented by the Combahee River Collective in 1977, this insufficient focus was critiqued, arguing that a feminist movement must be intersectional to ensure all identities are adequately represented and liberated. The members of the Combahee River Collective discussed their own experiences as black women struggling together with white women against sexism, while also struggling with white women about racism. Furthermore, they discuss their shared struggles with black men against racism, and contrarily their struggles with black men about sexism (Frazier, Smith, & Smith, 1977). These personal experiences unique to black women and femme-presenting blacks shed light on the need for a more intersectional approach to feminism, specifically regarding race, class, and sexuality.  

Unfortunately, the issue of misrepresentation in both feminism and in terms of the law has a long and continuous history. In the 1976 General Motors discrimination lawsuit, the court failed to recognize simultaneous gender- and race-based discrimination; They justified their negligence to hire black women, arguing that they did hire [white] women, justifying that there was no gender-based discrimination, and that they did hire [male] blacks, so there was no racial discrimination (Crenshaw, 1989). The rigid focus executed by the court completely disregarded the individuals who faced race- and gender-based discrimination concurrently. Far too often is the heterosexual, white, cis, able-bodied, able-minded, middle-class female experience central in defining gender discrimination. While the statement presented by the Combahee River Collective aimed to get the wheels turning in this area, urging for a more intersectional feminist approach, this rigid perspective is still a major issue in today’s socio-political analysis of oppression. Take the topic of abortion rights, for example; Even in states where abortion is legal, mainstream feminist movements often fail to recognize the fact that access to abortion remains restricted for certain identities (women of color, poor women, disabled women, etc.). Fighting for a woman’s right to choose is undoubtedly important in ensuring the reproductive justice of women, however, for some there is no true choice, as resources are restricted from certain individuals.  

Considering poor women in particular, and their access to abortion and basic human rights, an accountability of being poor is forced upon their shoulders; Being poor is read on the body in a nature of disgust, pity, blame and shamefulness. Impoverished single mothers are often deemed as lazy, unmotivated, pitiful. Their children are immediately stigmatized and often face wrongful punishment in schools (if they have access to education). Poor individuals are criticized and often met with verbal and/or physical violence due to their mere existence. Furthermore, poor women who have intersecting identities of queerness are berated; “In contemporary narratives welfare women are imagined to be dangerous because they refuse to sacrifice their desires and fail to participate in legally sanctioned heterosexual relationships; theirs is read, as a result, as a selfish, ‘unnatural’, and immature sexuality.” (Adair, 2002). While the LGBTQ+ community in general is met with similar criticisms and stigmas, those that poor individuals are met with seem to consist of an added layer due to how their poorness is read on the body.

Similarly, black individuals belonging to the LGBTQ+ community also face an extra layer of discrimination in regard to their identities. The incident of non-inclusion at Gay Men’s Health Crisis discussed in Cohen’s article, “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?”, is one of the many continuous practices of racism seen in queer communities. To radicalize queer politics, the focus would need to be centered around opposition to dominant hierarchal structures, not the incorporation and reproduction of them. Although conversations have started up and intersectionality has begun to trickle into feminist movements across the globe, from a broad standpoint, current queer politics fail to recognize the distribution of power within and outside of LGBTQ+ communities. A “left framework of politics” (Cohen, 1997) is vital in transforming queer politics. We must collectively recognize that the struggle for queer liberation is directly tied to struggles against classism, racism, sexism and ableism.  

Conclusively, the “single-oppression model” (Cohen, 1997) completely disregards any intersecting forms of oppression individuals may face. Whether it be the liberation of black women, liberation of the queer community, etc., without an approach of intersectionality, there is no true liberation.  

References

Frazier, D., Smith, B., & Smith, B. (1977). Combahee River Collective: A Black Feminist Statement. Off Our Backs, 9(6), 6-8.

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.

Adair, V. C. (2002). Branded with Infamy: Inscriptions of Poverty and Class in the United States. Signs, 27(2), 451-471.  

Cohen, C. (1997). Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics? GLQ, 3, 437-465.

Baez, F. (2018). Bloodlines [Mixed media]. New York, New York, United States.