Today’s rage-inducing link: racialized sexual assault is totally funny. July 30, 2008

The Unapologetic Mexican has a great, articulate post about how some guy* in Arizona, USA named “Jon Justice” thought it would be hilarious to make a video of himself, molesting an effigy of Isabel Garcia, a human rights activist.

I can’t claim that I know anything anything about Garcia or her work, but in my opinion, Mr. Jon Justice is not reacting to her work. I have been sitting here for the past hour trying to write something without introducing my fists to the keyboard and inventing new words.

This is a perfect example of how racism and sexism inform one another. This is a white man showing off that he can dominate a brown-skinned woman if he wants. This is a white man saying, “shut up or I will shut you up.” This is a white man, in a position of power, letting all us dang uppity women of colour who want rights know that he has the ability to rape us into submission if he so wanted.

No, don’t bother learning about her work so that you may criticize it appropriately. No, don’t even bother engaging in a debate. Just strip her of anything she has ever worked for, right down to her race and her gender. Resort to racism and sexism. Yeah, that’ll be funny. You’re only speaking the truth, Jon Justice!

I hope he gets fired.

*Yeah, I don’t give a shit about your “work” either.

I’m just brown. July 30, 2008

This is an incredibly difficult post to write in an organized manner because I have so many thoughts coming out at once. I’m in a contemplative mood.

I’m of South Asian descent. My ancestors are from India. I was born in Trinidad, in the Caribbean or West Indies. I immigrated to Canada at a very young age. For the most part, I have no strong connections to Trinidad, and even less so to India. Most of my memories and experiences have taken place in Canada. I’ve grown up in this country, rather than Trinidad.

I don’t feel like I truly belong to any of these cultures and identities.

A link and some words about Wall-E July 27, 2008

I’ve been working on a post for the last few days in my head and on paper because it’s something I’ve never read about before and have only thought about over the years. It’s turning out to be mentally tasking since I feel like I have no idea what I’m talking about.

While I do that, I direct anyone reading to woman of (an)other colour. She’s been doing a series of posts titled, “Offend in every way: Top Five Anger-Inducing Remarks” that have been nothing short of unadulterated truth and rage. They are probably the best posts I’ve read all July.

Kyle Payne update on sentencing – for those of you interested, and/or in Iowa. July 24, 2008

Those of you who recall the Kyle Payne incident, he did plead guilty and is up for sentencing. His open sentencing will be on August 11 at Buena Vista County Courthouse, Iowa, USA.

Thanks to Eleanor for the update!

Joss responds to the criticisms of Penny’s characterization in Dr. Horrible July 21, 2008

At the Washington Post, there’s a transcript of the Joss Whedon interview:

Langley Air Force Base, Va.: I’ve been reading some criticism (insert audible gasp here!) of “Dr. Horrible” about the lack of a strong, empowered female lead. They claim that Penny is merely a prop for Dr Horrible and Captain Hammer to fight over.

What are your thoughts on that?

Joss Whedon: Hi! Here goes Typomania! If I don’t get to a question, forgive. There are many, and I’m dodging the tough ones.

But, yeah, Penny is not the feminist icon of our age. And yes, she does exist in the narrative as part of Doc’s fate — but everyone in the story is there to move the story. Is she less real than Hammer? (Is ANYTHING?) We gave her a cause so she wouldn’t JUST be the Pretty Girl but the fact is, neither Doc nor Hammer gives her the attention she deserves — Doc’s crush comes before he has the slightest idea what she cares about. Which is not uncommon. It reminds me of “Sweeney Todd,” the Judge and Sweeney singing “Pretty Women” — a beautiful duet with no insight whatsoever. Just images.

But we shoulda gave her more jokes.

I think this means I guessed accurately about what the show was trying to say about Penny, but I had to think really hard about it. I’m still not convinced the end was necessary.

Oh, by the way, Joss? She wasn’t missing jokes. She was missing growth. The more I think about this, the more I think he decided to dismiss any constructive criticism made.

Doctor Horrible, PhD in Horribleness and ignoring women July 20, 2008

Many things have been running through my head in the past week or so that I haven’t been able to articulate in my brain. I’m warning in advance for what feels like a haphazard 900+ word entry. Also, I’ve added links to the sidebar of blogs and sites I read if you want to venture out into the unknown. In this post: Dr. Horrible (spoilers for all three acts).

“So, stranger, where are you from?” July 17, 2008

So, that awkward “no, but where are you really from?” question. It’s been talked about to death, and I suppose I’m only adding to that. Deal.

I’m never sure how to answer this question. “Where are you from?” I suppose it depends on my mood. If I’m feeling particularly snarky, I’ll engage and ask, “where are you from?” but most of the time I just satisfy their nosiness and tell them where I was born. If I’m feeling passive aggressive, I’ll say “the Caribbean” but that usually leads to even more prodding because somehow the country itself matters even more than the general area.

I know this question doesn’t have malicious intent. It’s not meant to be a “WHERE ARE YOU FROM? OH, REALLY? GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY!” sentiment, but it gets repetitive. I live in Toronto, which likes to name anyone who doesn’t fit into its melting pot, ‘multicultural.’ I should expect to get this question on a daily basis since it can be a conversation topic; “Where are you from? Oh, really? I’m from _______.”  That said, it truly depends on who is asking and the context. Sometimes it does feel like a judgment call or a check on my citizenship status, however unconscious it may be from the inquirer. Many of the times I have gauged the question as intrusive, it has been asked by a white person.

For example, a middle-aged white man was on an elevator with me. He was friendly and nodded hello to me when he saw me. Then he asked, “where are you from?” I was very taken aback, and I felt my body withdraw just a little. I didn’t know how to answer. I was very young when I immigrated to Canada. I’ve lived two-thirds of my life in Canada. I’m a Canadian citizen. I knew that’s not what he was asking.

I muttered, “the Caribbean”, because I was feeling passive aggressive, and was met with, “oh, which part?” Does it even matter? I just wanted off of the elevator at that point. It didn’t occur to me at the time that he might have just been making friendly chit-chat, or that I actually had the choice (gasp!) to not say a word. I just kept muttering so he would leave me alone. I don’t even remember what I said. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to say where I was really from or lie, and if I did lie, would that be turning my back on the country I was born in? Would it mean I’m ashamed of where I immigrated from? He interpreted the muttering as “St. Lucia”, which is nowhere near what I had said, and started talking about how he’d been there several times on vacation, nice weather, such a lovely food, etc. I was relieved when he got off the elevator. I didn’t exactly feel safe being catapulted into “friendly” banter about my birthplace with this man towering over me.

I recognize, though, that despite my skin colour being a visual prompt to ask this question, I have a Canadian accent. This is definitely something I benefit from. I’ve seen other people of colour with non-Western accents (i.e. not Canadian/US/English, though less on the last one) prodded more about where they are from because it is painfully “obvious” to the inquirer that they could not possibly be Canadian. White immigrants with accents must get this all the time as well, but I’m not sure if there is the same intrusive factor that plays.

This post is starting to get away from me. I really only have one thought about this question. Everything else is muddy in my head. Why is it anyone’s business where I was born? What is telling people that I’m not “from here”? Does it mean that I don’t belong? What matters now is that I’m living here now. None of us are “from here”, except Aboriginals, and, much to my endless amusement, even Natives are asked where they are from too.

Kyle Payne. That name shouldn’t mean anything, but now it does. July 14, 2008

Now that I have a place to write about these things without stringing together a keysmash speech, I want to express my exasperation about some dude I’ve never talked to and never will: Kyle Payne. I can’t promise it will be articulate, but at least I won’t use size ten bolded text and call him names (maybe).

It’s old news for anyone who keeps up with feminist blogs. (And by keeping up, I mean refreshes Google Reader every 1.4 minutes.) I read about it last week on Feministe and ranted at someone and left it alone. Yet, it’s still bothering me. The incident had been brought up way back in February but now that he’s pleaded guilty, we’re all paying attention again. Renegade Evolution has a great summary of what everyone is angry about.

Picture this: you have a male feminist/feminist ally. For years, he’s shown dedication to activism against violence against women as well as being an anti-pornography advocate. He’s kind of an asshole, but hey, he’s a Resident Adviser – he’s gonna be an asshole sometimes. Then he goes and sexually assaults an unconscious woman. And takes a picture. It’ll last longer that way.

No one is ever going to know what the hell this man was thinking when he decided to abuse his position of power as an RA. Maybe his entire blog is a way to make himself feel better about what he’s done. Even if he were to post something about the assault, no one would believe a word coming out of his hypocritical mouth. What disgusts me, and many other people, the most is that in knowing about the mental, physical, and emotional ramifications of sexual assault, he still went and abused a woman who was unable to consent. This guy is why it’s difficult for women to trust the motives of feminist men. He’s the extreme case, who is also a relative minority in the grand scheme of things, but he is real. If I were to seek counseling for sexual assault, this sort of thing would make me never trust a man touting that he is an adept counselor, dedicated to feminism.

[Removed some text because it was too personal.]

If you are a man and are sympathetic to feminism, it takes more than naming yourself as an ally to actually be an ally. Being a feminist ally does not absolve you from criticism around your gender. It does not strip you of your privilege that you receive as a man. It does not invite you to make lewd comments about other women and justifying it with “it’s just a compliment.” It does not mean that you have no internal work to do to examine your position as an ally or to be conscious of how you behave in feminist circles. It does not make you perfect.

This is not to say that ‘all men are rapists’ or that men can’t be feminists. It’s quite the opposite. Payne is an insult to men. Men should be feminists because of people like him. Kyle Payne, blogger, abuser, whatever he is these days, is why we need feminism.

I talk long time. July 13, 2008

I suppose this marks the beginning of my venture into the public blogosphere. I’ve been sitting on this idea for ages but I’ve decided to start now, right this minute, on a Sunday night, before I squashed the entire idea with my butt.

I don’t know if there’s a reason other than pure selfishness. I want to improve my writing and editing skills, which can only come with practice, and I want to write about things that are on my mind. I do have a personal online journal but it has deteriorated over the years into a festival of “OMG” and “LOL” and “WTF” and “AAAARGH” which is probably because only a select few can read it. I’ll try to keep that to a minimum here for my own sake.

I anticipate I’ll be writing a lot about anti-oppression, namely an intersectional feminist perspective. Oh, oh, I used the word ‘intersectional.’ I am a Women & Gender Studies student. I am constantly trying to limit the jargon I learned in school when talking about anti-oppression (although, I think intersectional is not necessarily a term limited to academia).

This is a big part of why I wanted to start a blog. I don’t have many spaces in which I can talk about the things that affect me as a queer woman of colour. Often I have to pick and choose which of my identities is more relevant if I want to talk about it and if I want to be heard. “I can only hear you if you talk about your gender”, “I can only hear you if you talk about your sexuality”, and so on.

I don’t believe in a feminism that ignores race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, gender identity, religion, ethnicity, and all of the things that make us who we are and have real, material effects on how we experience the world. I don’t believe in a feminism that one type of oppression must take the backseat so we can get the ‘main ones’ out of the way. I don’t believe in a feminism that assumes it is independent from upholding unequal power relations and is immune from criticism. I don’t believe in wiping away variation to reach a goal. I don’t believe that calling yourself a ‘feminist’, ‘activist’, ‘liberal’, ‘communist’ or anything that indicates a dedication to anti-oppression actually absolves you from the world we live in. I certainly don’t believe that there is one way to be a feminist or an activist.

I am very aware that having regular access to Internet is a class privilege, and many times women are subtly or blatantly rejected from feminist discussions both online and offline because they haven’t had the privilege of time to read Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Judith Butler, or any other big name feminist works. What I mean to say is that even though I am working class, I do have a university education that allows me a certain amount of social mobility and it will reflect in everything I write. My access to Internet allows me to blog, and allows me to read a frillion blogs a day. We all hold positions of privilege and disadvantage. It took me quite a long time to realize that, and I am still realizing it to this day all the ways in which I benefit off the backs of other people.

The point I’m trying to work around in my head here is that even though I am oppressed in some ways, I am privileged in certain ways and I need to be aware of this when I am doing activist work. I know what it feels like to be told to wait for the white women to get their rights and then we’ll talk about you, or that I am asking for too much. I need to be vigilant about this when I’m writing in this blog.