I've mentioned in passing to a few mates that I've decided that 2015 would be my time to take an organised approach to understanding my perspective on feminism.
So why feminism and why now? Here’s ten
reasons:
1. The little I know about feminism is
enough to spark my interest. The definition is fairly straightforward and I
can’t fault it – aiming for equal political, economic, cultural and social rights
for women, especially in education and employment are worth supporting.
2. I consider feminism to be a free space. I would have had to
be living under a moss covered rock in the moist undergrowth beneath my back
stairs not to notice that there’s been conflict around feminism. Fortunately for me, I do not run in packs and aren’t prepared to
die in a ditch trying to get the last word.
3. Yes, I understand that from time to time, trolls are a nuisance and have forced some extreme measures. I had the unfortunate experience of being roped
into a stable of people seeking safety in numbers. The only thing we had in
common was an ability to keep secrets. They wouldn’t tell me who they were and how they got the idea to exploit me ‘because trolls’, and when I worked out who one of the main trolls was, I kept that to myself. All water under the troll
bridge now. I don’t have a problem with trolls and I doubt they are interested
in me either.
4. Much of the literature that is referred
to as feminist in nature was already on my to read list. I intend to read a lot
more in 2015. These two notions go together like a good cheese and quince
paste. I admit the idea of learning a whole heap of definitions doesn’t excite
me. I wonder if much of the teething problems can’t be solved by cupping my
hands around my mouth and saying very clearly “if you have a problem with black
people, why not just say that?’
If Rosa Park’s words are as fresh as
anything I could have said yesterday, there are no surprises that people
continue to argue they are going to need some time to process (their) racism.
Quite frankly, do it in your own time. I know more than enough women who have
hurdled that low lying barrier to keep me sated in the bounty of good
conversation and fresh ideas till my dying day.
5. Many of the really interesting* black
writers that I’ve come across to date** are Native American and black feminist writers from the US
and First Nations writers from Canada.
* There are issues in black Australia that
have yet to be put in to words. The US has the highest profile or maybe they just went there first and just like in
Australia, it takes some delving to find references to the unspoken
undercurrents that are starting to drag us down.
** lists of Indigenous and black writers
takes some work to track down and I expect the list to grow.
6. Online feminism campaigns rarely include black women.
To point it out is to spark an awkward response. If black women are there at
all, there is one of us.
That’s not inclusion – that’s chasing the
brown tick of approval. I don’t know what’s worse – the person who seeks a
token black representative or the feminist-inclined who want for nothing
providing they can bask in the vicarious glory of the sisterhood’s sole black
comrade.
I don’t know how I could confine myself to
one white friend. What selection criteria would I use to arrive at just one? There is not one kind of black or brown woman,
so how is there one kind of white? Do I go for the whitest shade of skin and
reject the fake tanned?
Yes, Indigenous and other black women
understand the pressure to unite as one group and settle for invisibility for
99% of us. Don’t we ever. We’re more than aware that the same expectations do
not apply to, for example, Palestinian and Israeli women uniting, or for Serbian
and Croatian women discarding their differences, with the intention of selecting
one to enter the equality fray like a mascot at the super bowl.
6. I choose to engage in feminism by
avoiding being the token black feminist writer. You know the kind – each and
every written piece is a reminder that black women are excluded from full
participation in more ways than you can poke a stick at it.
Again African American writers are way
ahead – at 16%+ of the US population and in the land of the unlimited
broadband, they’ve refined their voice into a perfectly pitched withering tone regarding
the mining of black writers to provide the colour-by-numbers polarized views to
beige publishing landscapes.
Exclusion is the norm only if I choose it
to be. Just as I have more than one of every colour friend WITHOUT EVEN TRYING,
I can choose to engage with people who don’t practice OBFF (one black friend
feminism). Lord knows they are not hard
to spot. This is not an act of hostility but rather an act of emancipation
because to not point out the recurring examples of token black women is to
participate in my own marginalization.
7. L-plate feminism means I don’t need to
know what everything means. In fact I revel in it. There is no shame in not
knowing what to my ears sounds like a foreign language and not being able to
tell one notable feminist from another because I continue to meet people
everyday who confess to never having met an Aboriginal person and we’ve been
here for over 200 years.
No, sorry I don’t know who that feminist is
you’ve mentioned. But can you tell me the history of the land you live on? No,
having one black friend is not your lifeline.
8. I heard a rumour…that from time to time
feminists have sought to include Indigenous history and perspectives in their
theories. I don’t see it as my role to correct every piece of misinformation.
If I started, I would never stop. And that would relegate me to a second rung
of feminism. Blackfellas have been misunderstood, misquoted, misrepresented and
missed out on the discussions about us, for too long to revise it all.
9. Feminism doesn’t belong to anyone so I
don’t really understand why distinct camps have formed. I’m inclined to think
it’s because the different perspectives are paid for by the word. Social media
campaigns ring hollow to me, when the only measure is an enhanced profile for
who ever it is that is recognized for creating the hashtags that go viral.
UPDATED 30 April 2015
10. Three months after first dipping a toe into feminism, I've read a lot more, had some good yarns - though mostly out of public view - and was swept up in the fascination for Roxanne Gay. Roxanne caused a sensation when she made a number of Australian appearances last month and she talked in a language I could understand. Plain English.
But what appealed to me the most was though diversity and black women was mentioned, and careful questions about her observations of Australian race relations, the conversations were about feminism and not confined to an interrogation of her blackness.
I want what she's having.
So....*drum roll* I was thrilled to get the chance to curate the 84th Edition of the Down Under Feminists Carnival for May 2015.
The carnival is a monthly collection of blog posts of feminist interest from around New Zealand and Australia. It has been running since June 2008, with Downunderfembloggers taking turns to host. Topics presently include Politics, Violence, Race/Racism, Science, Media, LGBTQIAU, Family/Women’s Work, Sex/Relationships, Language/Literature, Disability, Class/Poverty, Repro Justice, Intersections, Life, The Body, General Feminism/Social Justice, Reviews, Creativity/Geekery and whatever you fancy.
Submissions must be of posts of feminist interest
by writers from Australia and New Zealand
that were published in April.
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Additional notes on style: I use 'black, Black, blackfella, Indigenous, Aboriginal' and combinations of all these words - these words are my choice how I identify myself as an Aboriginal Australian. That is the long and the short of it.
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My next appearance:
Melbourne
5-6 May 2015
