Faciliation for March 30, 2009

Ashley Smith

Facilitation: Feminisms Black OriginsAnn. "Feminism’s Black Origins (from Ann)."

The Primary Contradiction. 2006. 30 Mar. 2009.

Key Words: Black, women, white, womanhood, race, gender, issues, history, masters, sexual, equality, slavery, spirit, revolutionary, active, America, feminist, socialism, lesbian, group, political, oppression, fought

Key Phrases: difficulties in gender; insensitive to the problems that black women face; ALL women are due as fellow human beings; dominant thinking; pursue the right to vote; black women’ white women; Jim Crow laws; National Black Feminist Organization

Key-ideas:

• The article gives a brief overview of the major movements in both the Civil Rights Movement, and in the feminist movement that were undertaken by black women
• The article provides many exceptional examples of how black women have contributed to liberation of both women and black people alike
• The article makes it clear that the author believes that for too long white women have been seen as the founders of the feminist movement, and women of color have been left behind
• The article comes from the point of view of a black woman, and gives insight into how complex the black (and other Women of Color) feminist movement is
• The author, Ann, breaks down the black feminist timeline into waves.

Quotes:

“Given the discursive power of race, black feminists have not had the privilege of abandoning the construction of a singular identity, though they recognize the plural identities of their own existence.”

“As much as they would like to think they are the owners of it, white women are not the ORIGINAL feminists. WOC are.”

This quote works as the thesis of the author’s argument. While I do not agree completely with the statement, it is quite the powerful one to make. I think that you cannot pick one race, one person, or even one time when feminism began. The author’s claim is a little bit too black and white; it lacks the comparison needed to see when the first feminist thought was made. I believe that it is impossible to decipher when the first feminist thought or act was taken; you cannot put a time and place on a progressive thought. While I do agree that women of color have been left out of the traditional ideas of feminism for being placed first as activists within their race, not their gender; I also believe that the fight for justice and equality for all is not something that can be time stamped.

Questions:

1. Do believe that it is possible to pick one binary, women of color or white women, as the original feminists?

2. Have women of color been left out of the records for the feminist movement because of their race, or did they have an equal chance?

Militarism

In "Chapter 13: Militarism and Violence" from Inequality & Violence in the United States: Causalities of Capitalism, Chasin defines militarism as the "maintenance of a large military establishment that goes far beyond the needs of national defense, the ideas that justify military actions, and the actions themselves." Within the chapter, Chasin takes an in depth look on how militarism in the United States is associated with all three types of violence. She makes a point of how militarism adds to the destruction (over time) of democracy. Militarism makes it almost impossible for a country to be democratic without violence being essential to its success. This is apparent in countries around the world, especially in the United States. The US relies on having a large military, its latest escapades being the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States, as of right now, is in a severe economic recession, and it is apparent how much of the wars and conflicts that we are involved in provide grave downturns for our economic stature. The goal of these conflicts is to bring democracy and freedom to everyone involved, but it, in turn, makes it incredibly difficult for any progress to happen when thousands are dieing from both sides. As of today, April 24, 2009; 4277 United States soldiers have died in Iraq since the 5/1/2003; and in Afghanistan 679 since 2001. These are just military deaths. Contractor deaths in Iraq are 1264; and the number of journalist deaths in Iraq is 139. All together, that equals 6,359 American soldiers and civilians (those being the contractors and journalists) have died. If you go to http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2009.04.html, there is a complete list (along with information about them and a picture) of all those who have died in the Iraq conflict. This is nothing compared to the 1,320,110 Iraqi deaths that is estimated by antiwar.com. The number of total Iraqi deaths can only be an estimate, as there is no actual count or record of how many Iraqis die. I believe that Iraq has become a wasteland, and Saddam Hussein is not necessarily the overlord that created it; the imperialistic, militaristic agenda of the American government is.

Mid-Term with Pictures

1. Food shortage and spreading cholera epidemic further destabilizes Zimbabwe

http://www.thetakeaway.org/media/photologue/photos/cache/zimbabwe_large_image.jpg

In this image, there is a long line of women and children waiting in line to get a chance at getting clean drinking water in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare,. The image gives a look into the troubles that Zimbabwe is infested with, one of them being a lack of clean water for all inhabitants. The image provides a backdrop for the cholera epidemic that hit the country last August and still ravages today, leaving 3,688 dead (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/02/17/zimbabwe-msf.html?ref=rss). The struggle for power in the country, and extreme division between the rich and poor, and the lack of clean water for all sets a doomsday on the country. In the picture, the poor are the ones who are represented providing not only a backdrop for the cholera epidemic, but also the strict class divides that are present in Zimbabwe today.

2. Hitman: Blood Money

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/53254/the-most-controversial-video-game-ads-of-all-time-page-2/

In an ad that ran in April 2006 for a PC gaming magazine, sexualized violence is the obvious theme. From the provocative way that the woman is laying, to the bullet wound in her skull to the shoes on her feet, the ad screams sex. She’s in a sexual position that is often construed as “take me now”, giving the viewer a mixed image of what the video game is really about. The woman is meant to be taken over by the men who play this murdering game, and she is used as a ploy to get young males to buy this video game. She is a part of the Dream World, where women are for the taking, mere objects to be used and abused. The header for the ad reads “Beautifully Executed”, making the themes of sex and murder, in this ad, almost synonymous.

3. Well, at Least He Drives a Prius

http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/well-at-least-he-drives-a-prius/673794/

When looking at this ad, it struck me as an ad essentially promoting violence. It shows a man dragging (presumably) a dead body into a lake, with the caption “Well, at least he drives a Prius”. The ad feeds into how society accepts violence, especially when it comes from men. It excuses it because the man drives an environmentally friendly car. This ad was a part of a string of controversial ads that Toyota ran for its Prius car, the other two with more sexual connotations. The ads in general were poor acts on the Toyota Company’s part. I chose this one out of the three because of the blatant violence that was present. At first, I found it mildly amusing, and then I started to think of how the company was making it apparent that they were okay with malicious violence such as murder.

4. No Easter Egg Hunt This Year

http://www.prometheus6.org/send/send/23696

This picture was sent in an email by a Californian mayor to friends that caused a monstrous controversy that lead to him resigning. The picture shows the White house lawn filled with watermelons. The image is blatantly racist and aimed at President Obama. It is stereotyping African Americans, with the age old “black people love watermelon”. I first saw this picture while watching a late night talk show, and was instantly offended. It attacks the president based on his race, and demeans his place in power. With Obama elected, people screamed of the changes that would occur and that finally racially inequality was gone; but insensitive images like this only prove that racial inequality is still a problem in US society. Merely electing a black president is not going to instantly get rid of social inequality when ignorance such as this still plagues people who are in government positions.

Defining Power and Gender

Defining Gender and Power

Gender is not merely the sex of a person, what body parts they have or do not have. Gender is the social construct that all of us grow up with. We are told to behave like a lady, or be a man. Gendering starts when we wake up in the morning and plays out all day long. Most men and women play into the roles, or boxes, of what gender they are supposed to fall into; but some consciously fight against these roles, creating the term gender bending for those who bend the traditional roles of what gender is supposed to be. Gender is defined, socially, by the clothes we wear, the makeup we choose put on (or choose not to), the way we hold ourselves and the way we are seen by others.


Power has many different levels. There are different types, and different ways that power is executed. There can be physical power, the power of words and even power of emotions. Power can be seen as muscles, or large stature, but it is also the ability to convince people to believe what you want them to, or has the capacity to get someone to do something that you want them to. Power is often unequal in almost every relationship, whether it is between friends, an intimate relationship, or in a family.

GROUP NUMBER TWO!!! read me :)

Here is the stuff she put up in class... Sorry it took so long
Wednesday

• 1 Presenter
• Groups: Writers/Scribes
• Observers (A): Write, compose and organized narrative of your detail
• Observers (B):Write, compose and organized narrative of your detail

Appoint 1+ Observers

A.: Who Will Analyze:

1. Challenges in defining power and gender
2. Resistance among members of group
3. Agreement making in group

B.:Who's Job it is to:

1. Note the gaps: Who speaks? Who Listens?
2. Who Organizes: The flow of conversation, the flow of knowledge
3. What are the constraints on producing a "coherent" narrative of gender and power
4. What are people's expectations in the group?