Feminism: Gloria Steinem and Black Women

Gloria Steinem & Dorothy Pitman-Hughes

While at the Black Enterprise’s Women Of Power Summit Gloria Steinem (a noted feminist) made some important comments on race and feminism.  Back in the 1970s Steinem made some "courageous" moves to place a black woman (Pam Grier) on the cover of her Ms. Magazine and published work by Alice Walker, eventually making her one of the first black editors at the publication. However, in a quick interview at the Summit, Steinem is clear not to paint herself as a savior of these women.  Instead, she says:

I thought they [black women] invented the feminist movement. I’ve learned feminism disproportionately from black women. I realize that things being what they are, the white middle-class part of the movement got reported more, but if you look at the numbers and the very first poll of women responding to feminist issues, African American women were twice as likely to support feminism and feminist issues than white women.

The article discussing her interview (theMarySue) explores the importance of this viewpoint in the following sentences:

But as she [Steinem] herself noted, there’s always a reason when any certain person gets held up as a movement’s hero, and in her case her face and body happened to coincide with the white middle class face of the second wave that was pushed forth the most. And therein lies a key to the third wave: Acknowledging that intersectionality has always been crucial to the movement but that women of color, non-cis women, and other categories of non-white non-middle-/upper-class women have historically been pushed to the fringes and left out of the record of their own achievements and struggles.

To conclude the article/interview, Steinem is asked what she would do to help address this issue, to address the women of other races or backgrounds that feel left out of the feminist movement.  Her reply is wonderfully sincere and insightful:

I wouldn’t say anything, I’d listen. The point is that we help each other to get dignity, and autonomy, and freedom. We’re here to help each other.

I am curious how Steinem's point of view fits in with the current realm of the HeforShe movement spearheaded by a very beautiful, white Emma Watson.  Perhaps before we spend energy redefining what "feminism" is to gain the support of males, we should spend more time unifying and/or acknowledging the complexities of the female gender... the countless races, sexual orientations, disabilities, and differences that it wonderfully encompasses.

Catch her interview in the video at the MarySue site.

Female Rockstar/ Feminist Anthem

Just wanted to share this Gem/Froot from a female and feminist rockstar! Some lines have really sparked debate about what feminism is, but I feel all Marina is saying that women can be whatever the heck they want to be!

"Can't Pin Me Down"

Marina and the Diamonds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsi2xvbTwQw 

You can paint me any color
And I can be your clown
But you ain't got my number
No, you can't pin me down
Yeah, you can't pin me down
Yeah, you can't pin me down

Now I got your back up
What do you not like
Do you think I'm stuck-up
'Cause I'm always picking fights
You might think I'm one thing, but I am another
You can't call my bluff
Time to back off, motherfucker

Do you really want me to write a feminist anthem
I'm happy cooking dinner in the kitchen for my husband
Yeah, yeah

A Feminist Abroad

This week marks three months since I returned to the US after taking a nearly two-week trip to New Zealand. I have tried writing blog posts about this trip in the weeks since my return, but I've been unable to put my experience into words. Then I realized that I had too much to write about, so I would simply split it up into several different posts. They might be themed posts, they might not be. Either way, I've got a lot to say about my trip, and I feel like this is a great space to really explore the things that happened, and how they impacted me.

I first decided to go to New Zealand about 6 years ago, when I was a junior in college. I don't know why, but once the idea of it was planted in my head, I knew it was something that I absolutely had to make happen. When the time came that I was financially (and physically...damn knees) capable of taking the trip, I booked it and never regretted it. I had originally planned on going with friends, but none were able to swing it when I was ready to go. I didn't hesitate to book a solo trip, and I'm incredibly glad that I did so. 

The reactions I got when people found out I was flying across the globe and venturing around completely alone were unexpected. There was the "Oh my gosh, that's sounds awesome! Wait, you're going alone? Aren't you scared?" response. Why would it surprise people that I was traveling alone? Is it because I'm a young, white female? Why would I be scared? How would having someone else with me make it any less dangerous? Obviously, this was a decision I made for myself. It wasn't something I was forced into, I wanted to do it. I knew exactly what I was signing up for when I booked the trip. It's not like I haven't had experience in unfamiliar places while alone. I've moved away and attended schools out of state, where I knew not a single soul, not once but twice. I managed to come out of both experiences relatively unscathed. Why would a two week trip be any different? I also got a few "You're going by yourself? Wow. That's really impressive. That takes guts. I really respect that." reactions. Those caught me off guard more than the "Aren't you scared" responses. Is it really that out of the ordinary for a female-identified person to travel alone these days? According to a 2013 Consumer Affairs article, no, it's not. One of the reasons cited for solo travel in the article was one of my main reasons for going alone. I wanted a vacation where I got to do what I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it. Something about that type of travel-selfishness felt decidedly un-womanly, since society tells us that it's terrible to be simultaneously female and selfish. So I flipped societal expectations the bird, took that feeling and ran with it, and had the time of my life while coming back all the better for it.

I went to New Zealand with an open mind, flexibility to roll with whatever happened (good or bad), and a sense of adventure. Ever since moving back to Ohio after grad school, I had become incredibly complacent with everything in my life. I had a routine: get up, go to work, come home, eat a boring dinner, watch tv/read a book/do whatever, go to bed. I was in a deep rut and didn't realize it. While I was traveling, I tried new foods that I never would have at home, I completely unplugged from all technology, except for a half hour or so each day that was dedicated to keeping a video journal on my phone, and I tried new activities. I went and strapped myself to a middle-aged man in Queenstown and ran off a mountain with him, paragliding our way over a it and landing in a field. I openly talked with strangers about anything and everything, which was especially shocking considering that I am usually crippled by my horrible social anxiety. The morning of my return flight home out of Auckland, I knew that I would not be returning as the same person that I was when I had left. The complacency that had plagued me for months and months without me even realizing it was gone. My mind had been reinvigorated, and I never wanted to slip back into the numbness that seems to be a side effect of my every day office job. So, at 10 am the morning of my return flight, I got a tattoo. It serves as a reminder of several things. It reminds me of the person I was when I was there, and pushes me to be better, to do better, and many other things. It also represents something else. The tattoo I got is the outline of New Zealand, filled in around the shape of the silver fern. I chose this design because New Zealand seems like a place that has things figured out. The silver fern is a plant with a leaf that is dark green on one side, and rather lightly colored on the other. The kiwis chose this as their national symbol of sorts in part because each side of the silver fern represents the citizens who live there, the native Maori people, as well as the Europeans who built settlements on the islands, united and represented together. It honors difference and similarity, all at once, which I believe is something that everyone, as humans, can do.

I see that tattoo every day, and I'm reminded of why I got it, how I felt when I got it, and what I want to do in the future to honor the reasons I got it. None of this would have happened if I had waited for a friend to go with me on this trip. If I had decided to "play it safe" and go somewhere closer, somewhere more familiar.  I don't think I'm the "play it safe" kind of person anymore. And I couldn't be happier about that. 

#DearMe - advice to my younger self

For International Women's Day, YouTube has asked women to record messages of advice and encouragement for their younger selves.  I decided to give it a try, although I didn't want to do a video.  #dearme

Dear L,

 
As I sit down to write this message to you, I realize how much I wish I was more like you.  
 
You are brilliant.  You have great ideas.  You love learning.  You care about stuff.  You care about truth.  You have ideals.  You are passionate about things and you want to jump into them and explore them and immerse yourself.

You are adamant about staying true to who you are and what you believe.  This doesn’t make you popular and this doesn’t help you fit in all the time, but you never regret it.

It’s true that sometimes other people don’t like the way you are because they don’t want to deal with you, and because they are too afraid to look at things differently or to question the status quo, and the way you are challenges them to reconsider things that make them uncomfortable.  But that doesn’t mean you are wrong and that doesn’t mean you should stop.  Things need to be changed, and you know that most of the time 'being popular' and 'fitting in' are meaningless when you don’t stand for anything and you don’t believe in yourself.

I want you to hold onto all those things.   Those things are what put you on your path to fulfillment. It’s hard sometimes.  Use those things as your guiding light and find your way back. And maybe these pieces of advice will help you do that:

Article Roundup: Sugar Daddies, Damaged Goods, Health Apps, and Navel Gazing

Looking through my bookmarks, I noticed many un-blogged articles touching on women's issues. Here are four interesting articles from The Atlantic that you might have missed over the past few months.

Student Debt & Sugar Daddies

Many young people today struggle to pay for their educations and the mounting student debt that often comes with them.  One increasingly popular solution for young women appears to be sugar daddies:  

"Many of them use SeekingArrangement, which describes itself as "the world’s largest Sugar Daddy dating site." More than 1.4 million students have signed up as members, including nearly 1 million in the U.S., according to the company. The website claims that 42 percent of its members are students, many of whom are incentivized by SeekingArrangement to join; people who sign up with a .edu email address or show proof of enrollment, for example, receive "premium memberships" for free."

Women are rockstars too!

I'm coming off my high of seeing Sleater-Kinney completely blow away Terminal 5 in NYC last weekend and thinking a lot about this article I read earlier this week about the lack of female musicians booked for festivals in the UK. Definitely read it, even though it's about UK festivals it completely carries over to festivals in the United States and is also very telling of the music business overall. It's worth noting how the line-up images look when they only include acts that include a female musician in the band.

They're practically empty!

When was the last time a band led by a female (or even including a female musician) headlined a major music festival? Obviously there may be exceptions but I have found them to be very rare.

As a lover of music, I am beyond frustrated that others actually believe that female musicians are not as talented as their male counterparts. Obviously music preferences is all based on individual tastes but there is no argument to be had for talent.

This article hits the nail on the head: