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Dec 6, 2011: Dec 6, 1989

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On this December 6, I want to remember and honor the 14 women who were killed at Polytechnique solely because they were women. I remember where I was when I heard about this tragedy–it was two days later, but I was still scared. Scared that women students were singled out by a male classmate and killed only based on their gender. I often wondered if we paid more attention to them because they were college students? If we paid more attention to them based on their education, class, and race privilege. But, these are not always polite questions to ask. It is important to acknowledge that the act was heinous.

We had the bookmarks in the US where I went to university, and the WMST-L or other listservs would remember Dec 6. I remember thinking that this one event caused a concentrated focus on violence against women, which we need to have tough conversations about as we attempt to curb violence. However, I know that I have also thought that women were killed before Dec 6 and continue to be killed solely because they are targeted as women. We need to use Dec 6 as a day of reflection and continued energy to make a difference. We can’t bring those 14 women back, but their legacy is important and what we do with it.

Living in Canada, I think of the gross similarities between the Missing Women on the Highway of Tears and the DTES and the Missing Women in Ciudad Juarez. So, this Dec 6 I want to reflect about what we’ve done and what we can continue to do to educate people about the reality of violence against women in our communities and across the globe. As I have repeatedly said, we have more work to do.

Feminism: Revisit

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I’m re-posting this blog post. It first appeared in Jan 2010 and I feel that I need to share it again.

This is the first post in a series where I will ruminate on what it means to me to be a feminist. First things first, I have no problem self-identifying as a feminist. Just as some of my colleagues live by their Marxist or Socialist tendencies, I live by my feminist beliefs. I advocate feminism and I am an advocate of feminism, but I do not shirk the label.

Secondly, I am a strong believer of the fact that there are different types of feminisms. There is not a monolithic feminism or feminist club that I have to earn a card to be a member of and act and speak a certain way in order to keep my membership. Feminism is not Costco. Feminisms provides a philosophy of life, love, education, politics and so much more. My feminist politics includes an understanding of the importance of intersectionaliy. My feminism includes an understanding that politics and life are influenced by race, class, education, sexuality and many other indicators.

To be honest, I find it quite amusing when a student or other person outside of academe accuses me of having feminist politics. The student might as well accuse me of breathing and thinking. We are all guided by a philosophy of sorts–mine just happens to be feminism. And, some many decades later this term seems to scare, enrage or confuse people. I recall being in grad school and a professor asking me if I was a Chicana or Feminist first. I felt the question was a ridiculous question. Shall you take my right arm off or my left? My identification of my ethnic background is inextricably connected to my feminism. This is part of my identity.

Feminism informs the way I read pop culture, articles, people’s actions and I will not apologize for thinking. If my feminism intimidates you–you need to think about why is this the case? Do you understand feminism? Do you want to? Years ago I recall telling a friend that I was going to be a cultural critic when I grew up. I don’t think either of us understood this, but when she later told me that her mother thought that was a terrible idea, I knew I was on to something. I tell my students that my vocation is thinking, reading, writing, and more thinking. This thinking is informed by feminism.

The typology of feminism that best explains my own would be Women of Color feminisms circa This Bridge Called My Back  added with Third Wave feminisms. I was lucky enough to earn a BA in Women’s Studies (Go Aztecs! ) at SDSU, so most of my mentors were of the Second Wave persuasion. I feel well versed in different types of feminisms.

How does this feminism inform my daily life? Well, that is for a different post or two. One about my teaching, and another about relationships (parenting and love). Indeed, I have posted about these topics since this post went live.

Friday Fun Facts: Get Outside of Your Comfort Zone

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My Friday Fun Facts are a response to some recent conversations in my office or around campus. After all these years of teaching, I am still a little surprised when I hear from a student some iteration of the following statement:

I’m so glad that I took a class with you. I just wish that my guy friends would.
This brings me to other quick statements that I hear from students that make me cringe a little as an instructor an advisor.

1. What is it with the Gender or Feminist in the title of only half of my classes that somehow instill some fear, dread or perhaps loathing in students of the male persuasion who feel loathe to take a course with a woman professor?! Maybe it’s just me. No, it’s just you. Get outside of your comfort zone and learn something. Be challenged.

2. If only we could all be so lucky to think and say: I refuse to work with her/him because their opinions differ from my own. Good luck with that! I wish you well in the workplace.

3. I’ve also heard occasionally from a student: I’ve already had one class about race, indigenous politics, gender, or sexuality. Surely you learned everything there was to learn in that one term! Why are you taking another International Relations, Canadian, History (you get the picture) course, when you are now an expert in the field! (Please note my sarcasm). Take a chance on a course and learn more!

4. I won’t take a class with Prof. X, as he is a GPA buster. When I hear this I have to smile or else I might frown. Take a class and learn something! Get to know the body of literature in the class and you might find that you enjoy the subject matter and that you might get more out of that B+ or A- in that course compared to an easy A or A-. And, you might even get the grade you deserve.

Overall my advice is to get out of your comfort zone and take different courses. Enjoy your education and remember that it’s not meant to be easy or merely affirm your particular beliefs. I have heard from many former students that they were glad they took that Environmental Studies, Legal Theory, Women’s Studies, Social Justice Studies, Political Science course or else they would not have found that they enjoyed the topic.

I remind students that I started off as a Journalism and Political Science student and changed my major during the end of my third year in college to Women’s Studies and kept Political Science as my minor. I remember reading the description of Sex, Power, and Politics with Dr. Kathy Jones and thinking that the class looked interesting. I had no idea that several years later I would teach that course and continue to teach iterations of it some twenty years later!

Feminism for Real: Part Two

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Feminism for Real reminds me of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings of Radical Women of Color (1981) edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa and the book is now sadly out of print. This Bridge was written by activists, writers and scholar/activists. And, many were in the early part of their careers. Some had never written before and sure enough the anthology has fielded commentary about the quality of the writing. It was not an academic tome, but as a classic text was used in many Women’s Studies and Feminist Theory courses. I have assigned it in both Women’s Studies and Political Science courses over the years. Feminism for Real is also uneven. Some of the sections offer an important rant and others offer more depth to the section. I would classify Feminism for Real as a must read for the general audience, friends or advocates of feminisms, and for people who actively feel a certain level of distrust or angst with feminisms.

I am a long-time Reader of Racialicious, so I was not surprised at how the Latoya Peterson chapter, “The Feminist Existential Crisis (Dark Child Remix)” was my favourite and the most dog-eared in my book. What does it mean to be a professional feminist? What does it mean to understand something like feminism and also admit to the heavy baggage that comes with it? Peterson wrestles with this in her section. These are important conversations to have. All of the chapters have some merit to them–regardless if they made me walk away from the book for a few weeks. Having a visceral reaction is a good thing.

Students in Women’s Studies or Social Justice Studies have high expectations for the faculty and their classmates. I sense that they might not understand the ways in which faculty (especially pre-tenure) faculty need to balance pedagogy and climate issues in departments and on campus. And, after re-reading certain sections I am convinced that some students will still accuse me of being a Radical Feminist (these students do not know their feminisms) and others will accuse me of being an Asshole Academic, but then another set will note that I challenged their ideas and made a difference. Then, I am doing my job as a self-identified feminist educator. I will add that that the two authors I always go back to for my feminist politics are hooks and Anzaldúa–for whatever that is worth. They are my feminist tome home. I do think that many of us in this line of work–professional feminism, activist politics, higher education–you name it–have certain ideologies that frame our understanding of feminisms. While it’s easy to think about a monolith, I try and argue that there is not.

While some of the chapters of my copy of Feminism for Real is filled with my angry notes or mere comments, I am still grateful to the amazing, Jessica Yee for this anthology. My feminisms is wide enough to know that I can agree with Yee on some counts and then agree to disagree with her in other cases. If a book instills anger, hiding the book for weeks, writing in it, talking about it with students, and friends, then the book is really worth reading. Read the book. It will rock your feminist world (whatever that is for you). The book will also make you think twice as you put your syllabus together—trust me. I revamped one syllabus while reading the book and then took a good look at the other syllabi.

Review of Feminism for Real: Part One

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I finally finished Feminism for Real: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism (2011) edited by Jessica Yee. I’m not going to mince words—it was hard to read the book. This was the book that I would have loved as an undergraduate student in Women’s Studies at San Diego State University (SDSU). I was a first-generation college student like so many Latinas on campus in the late 80s and early 90s. (And, there are still lots there today—even with the extraordinary budget cuts and tuition hikes.) But, now I wear a different hat. I suppose some would say that now I am the “Asshole Academic Feminist.” Actually, I hope that no one would say this.

This book is written for the student (in and out of the university experience) who has ever felt that s/he did not fit in and was an outsider in the classroom. Other readers will love this book based on its pointed indictment about the at times vacuous nature of academe and jargon-laden discourse. I remember not feeling like I fit in and that I was the only non-white student in the classroom. I also remember the familial demands that I had that no one else seemed to have. But, by the time I graduated I knew I had my academic home and no home is completely perfect. And, I knew that my career was going to be in higher education.

I do take issue that Yee and others argue that the book is not a “hate on” feminism or Women’s Studies. The book is clearly an attack on mono-feminism (as if this exists!) and Women’s Studies. But, how can feminisms or Women’s Studies evolve if there are not the occasional moments of calling out so that introspection can take place! Now, before I get further in my commentary, I need to be more specific. I do have my BA in Women’s Studies from SDSU and a MA in Liberal Arts and Sciences from State. I ended up earning a MA and PhD in Political Science. I like to say that I’m over educated and under-paid, but that is a different blog post.

Getting back to the book, it’s not uncommon that a discipline has foundational texts and ideas. I saw this in Women’s Studies and Political Science. I did feel badly for some of the essayists in the anthology, as it sounds like a few of them had poor instructors, and some bad classmate experiences. But, I do think that it is important to understand how important foundational texts are in a discipline. They serve to provide the frame of reference. This does not mean that you have to agree or even like it, but being familiar with it is helpful for dialogue. And, having a frame of reference is useful for constructive criticism. As much as I hated the statistics series in graduate school, I also know that they made me a better teacher and scholar. Likewise, being able to counter Liberalism or Liberal Feminism required that I first know the concepts—even if they did not speak to me and my experience.

Again, maybe I have been immersed too long in higher education that what is plainly obvious to me that we learn about different things that at times do not speak to our specific experience. Then we usually (hopefully) can respond to it. Certain sections of the Feminism for Real had me frustrated. I felt like the particular author did not give the ideas, classroom or book a chance to see that there could have been something useful there to learn. Some of the sections were problematic to me, as I felt that the author was not familiar with the topic that s/he was responding to! I’m well aware of the fact that gatekeeping exists in academe and I am not supporting this. My work in the classroom, office hours, and elsewhere attempt to break this method. However, I also want people to understand that learning is not always fun—it makes you angry at times. Causes moments of disbelief for the student or reader and I know this, as I see myself as a life-long student. Learning is messy. It makes us uncomfortable. Feminism for Real made me uncomfortable. Yee and the contributors were successful. They made me think. Made me react.

Challenge Update

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I am participating in a challenge with some of my colleagues at the University of Venus ( @UVenus ). We are taking special care to network and meet people across our campus. Given that I am the Chair of the Academic Women’s Caucus this provides me an easy way to do this, but I have also had a few coffee meetings to meet with different colleagues across the campus and would like to speak to how helpful this has proven during these last two months.

Most recently I met with the coordinator for the Anti-Violence Project and we are working on a shared conversation about safe spaces on campus and the university support of safety. These are just the early conversations, but it was great to have this meeting that caused us to find out that we share some of the same professional networks.

Last month I had coffee with Dr. Jentery Sayers from the English Department at UVIC and I was so impressed and envious with his courses and current area of research. I was happy to get some of the flyers for his course, “How to Network a Novel.” It looks like an amazing course and I have since shared the flyer with the students enrolled in my courses.

For the second year I am sitting on the December 6th memorial planning committee, and the committee is made of some different staff from last year and I have the opportunity to work with a great group of women from all over campus. And, I look forward to the events that we are planning.

I have also met informally and formally with different staff from the UVIC Communications team and have repeatedly found the team helpful and professional. If your campus has a communications team and you haven’t met them yet—get to it. They can help get you on the Experts Database (if your campus has one) and make sure that you are included in media releases.

And, the last thing that I spearheaded was the nomination of a colleague for a teaching award. This turned into more work than I anticipated, but it was a great process for my involvement. I contacted probably upwards of 60 people for the dossier and the file fielded some strong, personal assessments. Ultimately, I felt honored to play a small role in this nomination. It is important for me to note that this nomination was based on my position as the Chair of the Academic Women’s Caucus. I hope that next year the Caucus can nominate another woman on the Steering Committee. Part of my self-imposed mandate is mentoring and this includes peer to peer mentoring and support.

I have had a productive first few months for the challenge and look forward to the next few months!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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I am going to do something more personal for a few blog posts about blog about breast health. That’s right, I’m going to blog about the girls, the twins, the boobies, the breasts, the chest tissue, and add to these array of euphemisms for what we call women’s breasts.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And, in the spirit of support I am going to blog about my experiences getting a Thermography Breast scan and about breast health. So, if you normally look forward to my posts about education, mentoring, the classroom, and popular culture—this goes slightly away from that. But, these few posts will also be very important. Breast health is a matter of life and death for so many.

This post is more focused on breast health and I want to shed light on a few things I learned during the last month or so.

1. You can get scar tissue from an ill fitting bra—especially underwire. I was quite surprised to find out that I have some scar tissue from my array of underwire bras. I was not aware of this, but once the technician pointed this out I could feel it and it is in the same place where the underwire hits against my chest.

2. I had scar tissue from breast feeding in one breast and did not know it. This will make mammograms and monthly digital exams very important for breast health.

3. Good bras are not always the really pretty bras. Boo, but there are great places in Victoria for good fittings and better bras for breast health.

4. Breast health is important for all women—from teenagers to women of a certain age. Oh, I mean the wise women—our mothers and grandmothers. You are never to young to begin thinking about your breast health!

5. I also found out in conversation with lots of women that we tend to forget about breast health. We are more apt to buy the Pink Ribbon item (and this is for another post) than to make sure we do our own monthly or bi-monthly breast exams.

My next post about breast health will focus on the Thermography scan that I had at Valentus Clinic in Victoria for more information about the clinic see: http://valentusclinics.com/programs-services/breast-health-program

Teachable Moments: Part 1

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Recently I had the opportunity to give a talk related to Gender and Public Policy. I spent the talk really talking about the elephant in the room—patriarchy and sexism. I figure that if the students should have an honest conversation about the existence of systemic issues that influence their lives and influence public policy. When I have these conversations with students several things typically happen. There are nodding heads among the students and several who have had sociology or women’s studies and are cognizant of readings or other information. Some people will cross their arms and stop listening—they see women in their classes and as a woman she might not have ever experienced any sexism/racism/classism and what am I talking about in class? This is not her experience. Others are open to the conversation and want to understand where the disconnect it—lots of women on campus, yet not in the workforce. And, then others sit in the class enjoying the question and answer period and are not sure where they stand. They want to see where the chips fall. This is a quick and easy description and certainly not exhaustive.

And, some will offer that women just do not want to be engineers, doctors, politicians, and the like. Their opinion is generally this: if women really wanted to do these things—we would see more women in this array of professions. That is, it’s women’s fault for their lack of success. If women were more ambitious they could have it all, they could do it all.

Well, where do you go with a statement like that? There are so many layers to cut through with that sentiment and logic. And, understand that the student who makes this statement is not looking for a fight or using sarcasm. In my experience, the comment is a common one and usually said without any malice. So, it is not conducive for me to pull a Dana Carvey and say, “No, you’re wrong and here is why.” (This dates me, but I’m thinking of his bit on SNL when he starts saying wrong or no. See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Yr9XyBdnI&feature=related). The truth is that the person who raised this point is not right or wrong. This person is offering an opinion and the opinion might be based on life experience or just what s/he thinks.

This is ripe teachable moment and my reaction is important for a few reasons:
1. I represent all feminists on the planet in the classroom.
2. If they like my response then I’m OK, but if they don’t, then I’m one of those mean fill in the blank feminists.
3. If I disagree it is read as critical or attacking and I am biased or have a closed mind.
4. If I my explanation is something they can work with then things are salvageable.

Now, those four points are said in a tongue in cheek fashion. You see, it is easier to recover or move on with a conversation when you have a few months with a group, but when you have 50-90 minutes each minute is precious.

What I have attempted to do is respond in such a way that I am open to the statement, but offer an alternative point of view and then call on the audience to participate in the discussion.

What do I do in this situation? I attempt to offer that there are systemic reasons for the different numbers of women in leadership positions, but do not rely on the “they just are not ambitious.” I know too many ambitious women who have left their fields due to the sticky floor and glass ceiling. I know too many young women facing hardship at work and their ambition hits against the reality of issues that are typically outside of their control.

How do you deal with the generalized question about what women want? I look forward to your points.

Fri Fun Facts: Take Aways from #APSA2011

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Today’s post is dedicated to my thoughts about the latest American Political Science Association conference meeting or #APSA2011.

I attended a pre-conference workshop about Gender and Politics in the Field. It really was a workshop dedicated to teaching the various major sub-fields in Political Science. This workshop was one of the best that I have attended in my 15 years in Political Science. The other great APSA pre-conference was in Boston circa 2002 at the Women of Color conference.
Back to 2011, though, teaching often gets short shrift in academia, as the thought is that anyone can teach. Sadly this is not the case, when we add the word well. Not everyone can teach well. It was refreshing to spend a day chatting about teaching. Hearing what everyone is doing differently in the classroom.

Here are my thoughts:
1. Innovation can mean different things to different scholars.
2. There really is a technological divide among some faculty.
3. Senior scholars at the conference wanted the junior scholars to be good teachers and were quite generous with their ideas.
4. All feminists do not agree. And, there are feminisms and not one monolithic feminist monster!
5. There is some amazing work in the field related to teaching.
6. Many of my colleagues at the workshop need to get with the program in terms of social media use or technology in the classroom.(This is said respectfully).
7. The mentoring I witnessed warmed my heart.
8. I was glad to see so many grad students or recently hires in the mix. It’s good to hear what is happening on the ground for the new instructor.
9. Related to this, it’s interesting to hear what more senior people are doing in the classroom. Especially, when you hear that virtually all of us face some of the same situations.
10. Again, related to the above post…students and their evaluation of the material or the instructor was a common topic of conversation. When you are presenting controversial information about gender, race, class, sexuality, colonialism, nationalism (the list goes on), difficult conversations can take place in the classroom.
11. The last point about the workshop–once again it’s a useful exercise to be reminded that I am part of this great community of women scholars in the field. Yes, only women attended the stream that I attended. At the last panel, I spotted a man at one of the sessions. This is another conversation, since men teach gender and politics, too. But, then, again there were so many choices at the pre-conference workshops. I needed a clone for the Social Media workshop, Activism workshop, and Latino Politics workshop! So say we all! #BSG
In closing, a great workshop.

Maclean’s Article about Dutch Women: Class and the Welfare State

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Last week Macleans ran an article by Claire Ward, “The Feminism Happiness Axis: Are Dutch Women Powerless, or Simply Smarter Than the Rest of Us? The article can be found: http://awe.sm/5RZQ1 The first thing that I find most interesting is the immediate connection to feminism with work, family life and happiness. I’m so thankful that feminism has made my life complete and I embrace my politics head on, but why must the media make the knee jerk connection to cookies, family and feminism. While I enjoy cooking and especially baking, it has nothing to do with my feminist politics. This is where we see how strong stereotypes are about the alleged man-hating, mother, children hating, angry feminists. If I had a dollar for every feminist I met like this, I wouldn’t have a dollar.

The media needs to get clued in to the fact that feminists comment or write about institutions that have not given women a fair shake. Nowhere in Of Woman Born does Adrienne Rich say that she hates mothers (like herself) or that she hates her children. No. Her classic book is a wise, provocative rumination about the institution of motherhood and the lack of choices that women have or had for her generation. It’s not quite as sexy to say that we feminists are cultural critics or public intellectuals. No, it’s easier (lazy) to say that we hate men and that we judge other women for “opting out” of the workplace. The opting out discussions typically miss the inclusion of a class analysis and how women who can opt out have class privilege thanks to their partner’s income. Likewise, there is an assumption that these women are opting out forever, when some are taking time off to raise their children until primary school. Like most issues, there is so much here.

Getting back to the Macleans article, though, what is really missing is a class analysis. I’d also like to see an immigration/refugee and race analysis, as well as the basic demographic analysis. There is more to this study and our understanding of what is going on for women. I want women to feel happy–happy in the home, workplace, parliament, congress, farm, university, etc. But, I want a full picture of what this will take. And, I do not want to see the scapegoating of feminisms. If we want to point fingers, we have to look in the mirror. We have to also think about what constitutes success.  And, we have to look at social welfare programs, education rates, leadership rates, and so much more. This is a rather detailed, important conversation that it going to sell lots of magazines!

What Macleans has artfully done is offered data from an interesting study and spun it about feminism-blaming and guilt. Here, we have a small country with a strong welfare state. This is not a fair comparison to the US or Canada for that matter. As  social scientist, I want to see the study and I want to see demographics disaggregated and then compared to other nations. This study offers us food for thought and no more. But, alas, the spin cycle is whirring.