Feminism thoughts and discussions Spring 2023

After watching the Netflix documentary 13th I found my heart heavy and burdened, but also enraged. How could I have not known this? Why is nothing being done? I have always understood that prisons are meant for money, and are privately owned so maybe the first step is to make them a public service. I know that the prison system needs to be reformed, but it seems almost impossible to do without first abolishing it and starting over. There was an interesting thought from the documentary about community prisons, sort of like parole. That might work if while the people are in this community they get the tools they need to rehabilitate and become better people. Prisons and jails are designed so that once they are released they end up back in there. There is no effort or programs in place to help the individual once they get out, so they have no choice but to break parole or return to a life of crime. Another important issue is that there should be no hiring discrimination for a felony on yo...

I still can't comprehend how we live in the year 2023 and yet there were more rights for my mother and grandmother then there are for me. As the months go on and new laws are passed there is a significant decrease in women's rights to their body and health care. Specifically abortion and birth control. They are making it harder and harder for women to get birth control, access abortion, and let trans women get the basic health care they need. A woman has a difficult time getting a hysterectomy or her tubes cut, but a man can get a vasectomy whenever he wants. It's actually becoming easier for trans individuals to get health care before women. Of course when the people who run women's health in government are all old men what do expect? It's hard to stay hopeful as a woman. Even now gay rights and equality are being threatened in some states. It's all absolutely heartbreaking and reaffirms my decision not to have kids. I would be even more terrified if I had a da...

After hearing the personal essay read out loud it made me feel like my in-betweenness was kind of stupid. That author went through so much, and it was so hard to hear her story, but I know that it's so important as well. I can't imagine what it feels like to be stuck in-between a place culturally. I only have an idea from friends and co-workers that are mixed or immigrated at a young age. Hearing their stories reminds me a lot of what I learned in history class and the class systems for people based on who they were descended from like mestizos. Growing up in Texas you hear a lot of people talk about "illegals" and un-documented immigrants, but they don't know the sacrifices that have to be made, and what the children of those family members go through. The fact that children are being taken away from their parents at the border is horrifying and inhumane. They are human beings not a litter of puppies. Though I am always so happy to hear of loved ones being reunit...

In response Amaka's presentation:  1. My culture is a white family, but I would say that modern culture has changed in the sense that it is no longer seen as wrong or immoral to marry outside of your culture and marry someone of color, or even to marry someone of the same sex. It's okay to be a working parent, or a stay at home mom. Whatever you choose. Our boss could be a woman now or non-binary. 2.  Art is a form of expression and can be about one's culture and way of life. Connecting to art from a heritage you were disconnected from is one of the purest ways to find your culture again. 3. With all the technology it's not hard to find and connect to where you came from, but I see culture becoming broader and more spread out as society changes.  I have family in the rural areas of Montana by reservations and the stories of the women that go missing and how no one cares is so disturbing. It never becomes national news and the problem is spread throughout the country. Th...

    The idea of transnational feminism or global feminism is more important now than ever. In our modern society we have ways of connecting to one another through travel, and technology. We aren't absorbed in our own problems of society, but what women go through around the world. Many women cannot read, have an education, and die during childbirth. Spousal abuse is still allowed in many countries as is child marriage. Though we still face many issues in the western society for women, and those issues do matter, we have to look at the situation other women are in and support them. For example when Roe v Wade was overturned many women from Europe, both in power and civilians stood up for us and supported us in our rights to our bodily autonomy. Even welcoming us into their country for any care we may need. This is the concept around transnational feminism. That it expands across the globe whether you're directly impacted by it or not. Not just women either but everyone can and ...

 As a white woman I cannot relate to being of latinx culture. I only have the privilege of observing from my friends and co-workers of that background. I see it only fitting to post a poem by a Latinx poet named Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz You foolish men who lay the guilt on women, not seeing you’re the cause of the very thing you blame; if you invite their disdain with measureless desire why wish they well behave if you incite to ill. You fight their stubbornness, then, weightily, you say it was their lightness when it was your guile. In all your crazy shows you act just like a child who plays the bogeyman of which he’s then afraid. With foolish arrogance you hope to find a Thais in her you court, but a Lucretia when you’ve possessed her. What kind of mind is odder than his who mists a mirror and then complains that it’s not clear. Their favour and disdain you hold in equal state, if they mistreat, you complain, you mock if they treat you well. No woman wins esteem of you: th...