"But it is clear that the helpless and/or metonymic white woman of imperial fantasy will no longer do. The historical victories of feminism have forced empire to interpolate (mostly white) women as its agents as well as its objects."
Jul 16
20142
Neo-Liberalism and the Defanging of Feminism
Amnesty International Branding Clinton FEMEN Feminism Guantanamo Bay Human Rights Watch Imperialism Libya Marketing misogyny Molly Crabapple MSNBC NATO neoliberalism Odessa Oppression OWS Patriarchy Pussy Riot Racism Russia Syria Ukraine VISE
"While women who stand against oppression and imperialism are often excluded from public platform, or labeled as “crazy” otherwise, when standing for imperialism, misogyny, racism, and capitalism, women are seen as strong and independent-minded. When their representations of the aforementioned are attacked, these otherwise “modern” women simply melt back into stereotypical gender roles, and are posited as victims. I will present three case studies for this phenomenon that will seek to make this connection between feminism, traditional gender roles, agency and imperial aggression."
Jan 29
20141
Foundations, Neo-Liberalism and the Defanging of Feminism, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Whiteness & Aversive Racism
Breast Cancer Awareness Cancer Society Feminism Gay Pride Komen Foundation Militarism NGOization Pacifism as Patholgy Pinkwashing
Samantha King, author, "Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast Cancer and the Politics of Philanthropy, speaks about pinkwashing of American foreign policy in the Middle East through Breast Cancer Awareness events.
"In the society of the spectacle protest is a form of leisure and the tragic pathos of the class struggle must recede before hilarity, relaxation and festival, genuine forms of the neo-contestatory spirit which has found in pot and pan-banging, whistles, and costume parades its most suitable means of expression and in software, blogs and cell-phones its best weapons."
Aug 26
20131
Foundations, Whiteness & Aversive Racism
Ella Baker Feminism March on Washington Patriarchy Southern Christian Leadership Council
"In commemorating the love fest for the "angelic" MLK Jr. and the March on Washington, I am going to focus on one of the greatest ladies who in my estimation was BETTER than King and much more IMPORTANT in her message and place in history: Ella Baker"
Jan 13
20130
Neo-Liberalism and the Defanging of Feminism, Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Whiteness & Aversive Racism
Assimilation Co-optation Colonialism Decolonization Feminism First Nations IdleNoMore Indigenous
"Inspired by artists, academics and activist colleagues who have rolled their eyes at the spiritual beliefs of their Indigenous counterparts as well as protested the inclusion of prayer and ceremony into political, academic and artistic activities, I have decided to share my thinking on some fundamental differences in values and knowledge ways that impede relationship-making across our communities."
"From the Personal Is Political to the Personal is Personal: Neo-Liberalism and the Defanging of Feminism." Gail Dines, professor of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College, and author of Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality, explores how mainstream feminism has lost its way by fighting for the individual rights of a small group of elite white women instead of the collective liberation of all women. Dines argues that much of what passes for feminism today is focused on the pseudo-empowerment offered to women who conform to the narrow standards of femininity set by the porn culture. She calls for a feminism that is unapologetically fierce in its commitment to radical social change.
In the following lecture excerpt, Arundhati Roy details how the feminist liberation movement has allowed its overall goals to be controlled by the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
"nder closer inspection I discovered that the high level of coverage was related to – though indirectly – promoting men’s right to women’s sexual subordination and the pornification of our movement. The arrested women actually form part (and are victims of) a mixed anarchist group called “Voina” (meaning “war”), founded in 2007 by two men called Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolaïev, who regularly engage the women in extreme and degrading women-hating pornography as part of their public “political stunts”."
"The most prominent and unequivocal public articulation of an alliance between feminism and counterterrorism came at the dawn of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, when Laura Bush argued that “the fight against terrorism is a fight for the rights and dignity of women.” This approach was criticized by many as “just a few opportunistic references to women.” However, today, what we may term ”security feminism” is becoming embedded in American foreign policy — a trend that has been emphatically empowered by Hillary Clinton’s State Department."