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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Anxious-making Appropriation
You can read some of my thoughts on SlutWalk here (which someone summed up pretty well, “is not a movement, it’s a walk”). Obviously, I didn’t go but I did get to see a lot of my friends’ pictures on Facebook. Here’s one that, as an Arab feminist who didn’t attend SlutWalk because of being an Arab Feminist, I found this picture pretty…anxious making.
A friend who was there says the wommin in the picture “made it herself.” What is it? Is it one of these?
I don’t really know what to think about it. I’ll just leave this all here and see if it fester- I mean, if anything comes of it.
Posted in Uncategorized
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Spokane Pride Conflict
Guest Post by Krista Benson, Eastern Washington University
I’m disappointed in you, Pride Spokane. And it’s not because your drag queens are too loud or your Dykes on Bikes are too dykey.
It’s because, once again, I’m not really invited to Pride.
Every year in the United States and in many other countries around the world, the month of June is celebrated as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (and Queer) Pride month. The month of June isn’t chosen for its (normally) gorgeous weather (at least in places that aren’t Spokane), but rather to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, which are credited with sparking a more cohesive then-gay and now-LGBTQ rights movement. For those unfamiliar with a Pride event, it is meant to evoke celebration of diversity and pride for LGBTQ people. It is also meant to be welcoming, accessible, and open to all.
And Pride in Spokane is open to everyone. But it also asks too many of us to make some uncomfortable choices.
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SlutWalks not for me
As you probably already know, SlutWalk has caused controversy. While some people are upset about the name, I’m boycotting for other reasons. The lesser-known controversies of SlutWalk lie in, what is ultimately feminist apologia manifested in really problematic and dangerous ways.
The focus on men and police officers at protests, because they’re oh so underrepresented, is only the tip of the iceberg. Inviting police is effectively uninviting many more important participants.
More frustrating, is the SlutWalk in my own town, Spokane. Spokane’s SlutWalk really raises the bar in terms of controversy and discrimination.
Our organizers are working dangerously close to the police, going so far as to invite off duty officers (friends of the main organizer, she says) to “protect” demonstrators, without intimidating them.
After a lot of arguing, (and throwing a fit all over my personal Facebook page) she finally agreed to announce the presence of her own secret police on the SlutWalk Spokane Facebook event page. She says, “I would rather have you not come if you are uncomfortable than risk your lives by not having anyone there who can deal with emergencies. Peacekeepers will be there but they aren’t cops, neither are advocates from LCS or martial artists. I will also not tell people they can’t come because of their career.” Who wants to count all the things that are wrong with this? I’ll start.
Accurate, Responsible, Objective Wimmin’s Health
Guest Post by Katherine H., Eastern Washington University
One of the first contact points with feminism I had was through learning about wimmin’s health. I’ll refer to the topic in this way for the sake of simplicity, but I do recognize that some men menstruate and have other concerns related to having female anatomy. My main concerns were with menstruation and birth control, especially after I found the more mainstream methods of approaching those issues weren’t working for me. I was led to a lot of resources that might not have explicitly called themselves feminist, but were clearly promoting an approach that didn’t fall into the norm of “don’t touch it, don’t look at it, and definitely don’t try to understand it because the doctor always knows best.”
Feelings of frustration developed as I began noticing the ways wimmin were being deceived and pathologized by the people who were 
supposed to be helping them, and by society as a whole. The stories I read followed many of the same patterns, primarily wimmin who didn’t know about their bodies and were thus able to be misled in various ways or reasons, or wimmin who did know about their bodies but were discredited and disregarded by their health care providers.
Hermaphrodites, Gender, and Science
The following academic paper was first penned in the Spring of 2010, in response to the structure of objective science in relation to the hermaphrodite (or intersex) person. With Anne Fausto-Sterling’s research into bodies and their relationships into social, scientific and political frameworks used as a backbone, hermaphrodites, gender, and the construction of science are discussed.
Download the pdf of the academic paper written by contributor Angel Cervantes.
Posted in Academic Papers
Tagged Academic Paper, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Hermaphrodite, Intersex
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Searching for an alternative to mass media?
Microcosm Publishing, based out of Bloomington, Indiana and Portland, Oregon, provides a plethora of community-written, independent, self-empowering zines, films, and books (and more, like patches and buttons!).
As a not-for-profit, Microcosm hosts some of the best DIY zine writers and collectives in the States. You can also search for items strictly under the categories of Feminism, Gender, Queer/Trans, Sex/Sexuality, among dozens of others. From patches to zines, they have it all from great alternative media sources (mostly self-published by the authors themselves).
A few popular choices to check out:
Women of Color & Feminism by Maythee Rojas, PhD: A brilliant piece of work that combines historical examples with personal anecdotes to explain the dilemma many women of color face—societal burdens and cultural expectations in addition to hostility towards their feminist views.
The F-Word #3: A Feminist Handbook for Revolution by Melody Berger: The F-Word #3 is the Outlaws Issue. It features interviews with Howard Zinn, Loretta Ross, Kate Bornstein, and Cristy Road. There’s a short essay by Mos Def about Assata Shakur, and a brief introduction to Jane, the underground abortion service.
Posted in Media Reviews
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Two-Spirited Doc on PBS This Tuesday!
Independent Lens, an Emmy-winning series of PBS that broadcasts independent documentaries, will be showing a documentary on a Native American who was murdered for being “two-spirited”. Nádleehí, a male-bodied person with feminine characteristics in Navajo culture, were once respected and given honor, but are now subject to hate crimes.
The documentary follows the murder of 16 year old Fred Martinez, and the effects on his family and community, who were left reeling after the attack. It looks at the nature of the two-spirited – 
those embracing both genders – and how ancient Navajo culture once esteemed these gifted individuals.
Native American culture isn’t the only one that embraces diverse gender identity. The kathoey, or “lady-boys”, in Thailand; the five genders of the Sulawesi; the Hijras of India; all the world is full of diverse gender identities, and it’s a shame to see countries like the U.S. embrace such rigid rules on gender. The Two Spirits site even features an amazing gender map, detailing countries around the world that exemplify the many examples of gender identity.
Watch the trailer:
Two Spirits shows Tuesday, June 14th, at 10pm on KSPS channel 7 (and in Idaho, channel 26).
Posted in Community Events, Media Reviews
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Pregnant girls enslaved, forced full term
It’s the stuff you see in horror films. Women kidnapped, forced to become pregnant, their babies harvested for body parts or slavery.
But that’s exactly what is happening in today’s world, and specifically, in Abia, 
Nigeria. A so-called “baby farm” was just raided by Nigerian police, where 32 pregnant teenage girls were found. The girls carried unwanted pregnancies, and were either lured in with the promise of money or kidnapped. Either way, the girls were locked up and forced to go full term and give birth. The babies were then trafficked or sold for body parts for witchcraft rituals.
While another “baby farm” was found in Nigeria in 2008, and human trafficking is a huge problem for Nigeria, somehow the U.S. government has given Nigeria a Tier 1 rating for human trafficking, which basically means they are meeting all the standards of the US’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Yet here we are, with the second mass enslavement of young pregnant girls found within 3 years.
Why do these activities even occur? Looking at Nigeria, we have to look at the value of a woman. Few and far between are reproductive health care clinics; abortion is illegal and highly stigmatized; maternal mortality is high; add all this to a mixture of early marriage and early pregnancies and you have a recipe for a slaughter of women’s rights.
Education and What it means for the Women in India
Indian Women in Sarees
The labor force participation rate for women is lower than their male counterparts. There are many factors that influence whether a girl will attend primary school. For example, if the conditions of the roads are poor, children are less likely to attend school. Because of these distinct factors, this also influences higher education. This in turn affects whether or not women will attain high paying employment and even be considered for permanent employment. For further reading, read “Education Attainment in India: What it Means to Participate in the Labor Force.”
-Bina Walker
Romantic Comedies vs. The World
It took me exactly fifteen years to realize that no boy would ever love me the “right” way. I distinctly remember the night that this conclusion dawned on me. My older sister was sitting next to me on the couch talking to her boyfriend, while I watched Ally McBeal on TV. When Calista Flockhart finally gave into the extremely dashing, hilarious, and charming Robert Downey Jr., I knew no one would make me swoon like that. And to my fifteen year old brain that was just not fair. I immediately burst into tears and told my sister no one would ever love me because I was so average and would never evoke such strong feelings. No one would ever be crazy for me, and therefore I would never be crazy for anyone else.
Up to that point in my life every single boy that I had liked either did not return my feelings, or in the rare case that they did, they would reveal themselves to be very normal and boring about five minutes into the fledgling relationship. I had an idealized version of true love in my head, and since I refused to settle for anything else, I would forever be alone. It took me many years to get over it, and if I’m being honest, I might not be totally over this notion of true love and soul mates; it’s been ingrained in my brain from an early age. And I blame the media.