new wave feminism

I still salty over that Atlantic “Can Women Have It All” article. They even talked about it on CNN - completely un-self aware that this narrative is not universal to all women in different class positions, household constructions and cultures. While I had yet to fully articulate my feelings about the article and the buzz surrounding it, this article above did. Some of my favorite parts:

First, I do not have an emotional connection to the piece. That cannot be overstated because a great deal of its value to some of the readers, as far as I can discern, is grounded in the fact that it evoked an emotional response. Much of that appears to be rooted in relief that someone is validating their experiences. I get that. It is valuable. However, if it is important to the article’s value to its many, many supporters then it is important to note that I did not have that experience.

It could be race, class, or experience (I’ll get to that later) but I don’t have fond memories of attending theSeven Sistersor an experience of being told that I should want or have “it all.” It truly never occurred to me that so many others did. Again, as someone pointed out, I may have been too poor to get it. I will own that.

In exchange, I ask others to consider that as much as it is about class status or race or background that one’s visceral reaction to the article is about his or her individual relationship with power. That’s not exactly about race or class; that’s about ideological orientation.

I do not aspire to power. I do aspire to do well and to do good, but I am somewhat ambivalent about power. That is a result of my upbringing, but it is also a result of the many small decisions I have made during my emotional and intellectual development about who I am in relation to power. I will also admit that is greatly shaped by social processes that limit the potential of my access to power. Whether I am accepting those or asserting my own agency is unclear but, either way, I know that fat, black, southern bodies that went to low-status schools and come from rural, formerly enslaved people have limited avenues into power.

lastly, she ended my piece with my most favorite quote - addressing the idea that we need to take feminism in a ‘step by step’ approach and let the women who are currently in power and setting the discourse be without being critical of their positions as well. That Feminism will eventuall ‘trickle down’ to the rest of women: “Trickle-down economics wasn’t the best experience for people like me. You will have to forgive me, then, if I have similar doubts about trickle-down feminism.”

thoughts?

From Racialicious:

New York City Reproductive Justice Coalition, a outgrowth of SisterSong NYC, proudly hosts its first reproductive-justice media conference this weekend!

Attendees–and those following theUstream–will hear from RJ activists and writersAimee Thorne-Thomsen,Belle Taylor McGhee,Jamia Wilson,Akiba Solomon,Dara Sharif,Simone Jhingoor,Shanelle Matthews,Jasmine Burnett,Faith Pennick,Nuala Cabral,Carol McDonald,Dalila-Johari Paul,Gabriela Valle,Nicole Clark,Steph Herold,Pamela Merritt,Janna Zinzi, and the R’sJessica Danforth (Yee). Racialicious’Associate Editor Andrea Plaidwill open the workshop.

The workshop also features a film festival on Sunday, 5/20. Sunday’s roster:NO!: The Rape Documentary,Silent Choices,We Always Resist,A Vital Service, andDon’t Need Saving.

Realizing that not everyone can attend this event, the R is supporting the workshop by livetweeting it for you! If you want to catch other commentary and conversation, follow the event hastag, #RJMedia2012, and the NYCRJC’s Twitter, @NYC4RJ.

If anyone will be in NYC & would wanna go, there’s more info at the link

I definitely respect Racialicious for doing what the world should have immediately done before going into a frenzy about IC’s viral video campaign: actually looking into the opinions of experts actually native to that part of the world. Click the link to see these 5 women (who i will be adding to my list of favorite scholars)

From Racialicious:

Almost overnight, the web was flooded with so much commentary from western media on the erasure of African voices that it became challenging for me to even locate perspectives from fellow Africans; ironically, African voices weren’t initially just being drowned out by the success of IC’s viral campaign, but by western voices sharing their own take. Fortunately, African voices stepped up to the  plate, offering a wide range of perspectives; you can find a compilation of African responses to the campaign here, and a more general roundup of the Kony2012 issue here.

Nevertheless, I’m (as always) acutely aware of the amplification of male voices on the Kony 2012 campaign. Hence — and in the spirit of women’s history month — I’d like to highlight African women’s voices. The 5 women below aren’t just adding to the conversation, but inspiring critical thinking about how we can be more conscious about the media we consume, more humble in our efforts to provide support to fellow global citizens, and mindful of the gift social media has given us. Africans now have the power to combat harmful narratives about Africa simply by telling our own.

i’m just going to leave this here because I WOULD SO FUCKING GO IF THIS HAPPENED.