The leaked document about Roe v. Wade has me on edge like most others (even though it doesn’t currently threaten me and my rights in the same way as it does others, because of my choice in partners). We are in quite a nationwide panic, with riots already happening here in nyc. I am glad the article touched upon precedent landmark decisions and what the overturning of Roe v. Wade means for the future. I’ve already seen discussion on this, specific to what it means to my own community as an LGBT person. Roe v. Wade is from 1937. If Roe v. Wade apparently could not hold enough weight and precedence in last 85 years to stand, how are we going to protect other laws that were recognized under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment from being overturned, and the lives of millions of minorities threatened? Obergefell v. Hodges that decided the legality of same-sex marriage, was only in 2015. How soon are we to losing that? Southern states have already moved to make it a FELONY to be a transgender child or adult. You know what felons cannot do? VOTE!
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT TALK SURROUNDING ROE V. WADE MUST BE INTERSECTIONAL AND INCLUDE ALL PEOPLE WHO HAVE UTERUSES, NOT JUST CISGENDER WOMEN.
Some people may tout Roe v. Wade as a right to religious freedom, completely ignoring the fact that it is infringing on the rights and values of non-Christian religions that allow and even require abortion under certain circumstances. The article also mentions Plessy v. Ferguson, which prohibited segregation under the idea of “Separate but equal” in relation to the overturning of Roe v Wade. This could all just be the start of huge steps backwards for our country in human rights and equal protections. How far will we let this go? If we do not fight back we are going to see future generations study this when learning American History,and ask us in shock “How did this happen?”
I want to highlight this quote from Rebecca Gompert: The main reason abortion is so controversial in the U.S.? “Because if you can prevent abortion, you can keep people poor, and when you keep people poor, you can control them.”
The video “Abortion Helpline This is Lisa”, highlights an argument that people who are anti-abortion use which is that they want to “save the children.” Those people are filled with cognitive dissonance and are spouting lies. They only “care” about the child until it is actually born. Anti-abortion laws disproportionately affect poor and black women. This only leads to more children in poverty, homelessness, and the already highly flawed foster care system. There are already millions of babies and children out there waiting to be adopted, why forcibly add more instead of taking care of the children already struggling in this country.

This was a great topic to end the semester on, a perfect way to connect back round to beginning of semester with bell hooks.

In “The Power of Identity Politics” by Alicia Garza defines the term “identity politics” as “a way to describe the lived experiences of people who are not white, heterosexual, cisgender men. The “identity” in identity politics is a way of describing what it means to live outside what has been defined as the norm in the United States” America was built on white identity politics. From the creation of this country, white cisgender heterosexual christian men have been exploiting and murdering all other races. America was built on the backs of Black women, and Black men played a huge role in the war fighting for America’s independence.She shares that the idea of “identity politics” has been demonized by conservatives because it threatens their status quo, power and way of life. She cites the Combahee River Collective for first bringing forth the idea of “interlocking oppressions” as black lesbian feminists. The different layers of oppression interact with each other to shape how we experience the world, and that is why things like race, gender and sexuality cannot be left out of the conversation.

Aleichia Williams’ article “Too Latina To Be Black, Too Black to be Latina” resonated with me because I’ve had similar social struggles as a bi-racial person. I am Asian and Latinx, and I’ve never been “enough” for either side. This was exacerbated on both sides of my extended family because my sister and I were the ONLY mixed ethnicity/race individuals on either side. In school, most friend groups were made up of people of the same ethnicity or race that flocked together. Because I am biracial and ONLY speak English, I was often seen as “Fake Asian/Latinx” and regularly socially excluded/ostracized. Race can be an aspect of oppression and being multi-racial can add nuances to that, especially depending on whatever race you read as to the public and your peers. Like Williams, I am now learning to embrace all parts of my identity, and not let people invalidate it and shove me in a box. 

As for future topics, I would love to delve more further into  gender + disability justice and healthcare discrimination/dismissal of (BIPOC and fat) women.
I would also love to talk more about and hear others’ thoughts on the ideas that “Real Men eat meat” and “Vegetarianism is feminine/emasculating/just for women”
Where do you think this comes from? What are the implications of these gender stereotypes?

The Combahee River Collective states, “We might use our position at the bottom to make a clear leap into revolutionary action.  If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” This means that (nearly) all systems of oppression are affecting black women; classism, racism, sexism. If we are to view oppression in a societally hierarchical context, black women would be at the base of the pyramid. But in addition to the race and gender layer of it, being poor, LGBT or disabled adds another layer of oppression and new set of to these individuals. The CRC shares an example of the intersectionality of racism and sexism, stating “We were told in the same breath to be quiet both for the sake of being “ladylike” AND to make us less objectionable in the eyes of white people”

In terms of today’s political climate and societal addressing of oppression, I think that ableism is still being routinely ignored. It does not make sense to me to exclude disabled people from gaining rights and freedom. Think about it, disabled people are a part of EVERY group. Every race, every age, every gender, every class, every sexuality, every religious group etc. We cannot have complete intersectionality and liberation without addressing ableism. 

The Combahee River Collective shares the concept of “identity politics”. They believe that “the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end somebody else’s oppression.” This essentially means that we can’t wait for someone else to fight for our oppression nor can we work to end someone else’s oppression before addressing ours. Nearly all causes/movements are formed and pushed by the people being oppressed.

This concept is evident in Paris is Burning, as it covered the stories of many individuals that ranged from black, latinx, gay, trans, sex workers, poor, and/or living with AIDS. The movie addressed the intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality. Black people at the time were not allowed in what were considered the “good white jobs.” Many women had to resort to risky sex work to make money to survive; Others ended up stealing. 

Capitalism is set up to fail bipoc and women. Statistically, women are paid less, BIPOC women even more so. People with names that society views as “too black/ethnic and ghetto”, often get instantly glossed over in job applications simply due to prejudice. Black people often have “white names” to try to prevent this.  A good example of the gender and capitalism crossover is the Pink Tax on women’s products especially personal hygiene products. Women’s razors often cost more than men’s razors. There is also theory that women’s razors are purposefully meant to be less effective than men’s razors, to increase sales and profits. Women/vulva owners are being forced to pay (plus tax!!) on personal hygiene products. There is no sense as to why. Nobody CHOSE to have a period, it is just something that comes with our biology. Why should someone have to pay money for that?? Since this is a consistent monthly issue, this money adds up quick. We see lack of access to personal hygiene products like tampons and pads is a huge issue among the homeless. If you can, it is better to donate things like that over clothes.

From Mainardi’s text I read the liberated woman to be one who has awareness of and actively tries to battle against their oppression, specifically that from men. They are able to analyze and identify different aspects on a micro- and macro- level of society that are enabling the oppression of women (i.e. politically, health/medically, personally, interpersonally and societally.)
The Liberated Woman is essential to women’s liberation. I think that it has been and always will be important and absolutely necessary for the voices of the oppressed to be heard AND highlighted in a movement. While it is important for the oppressed to be the leaders of the movement, it is more important for those who are benefitting from whatever system of oppression is being addressed to utilize both their voices and privilege to aid the fight for liberation. A good example of this in our current day and age is the Black Lives Matter movement was founded by a black woman. Black women are in more danger than black men, due to the added layer of oppression that comes with sexism.
Both pieces show that “the personal is political” by highlighting the systemic root of female oppression. It is societally taught to ignore the voices of women, and view them as quite useless beyond housework and motherhood. This is highlighted in Mainardi’s piece, “The Politics of Housework.” To this day, our society chooses to ignore or will degrade women’s sexuality. We still lack sexual education today. I have heard many statistics on the percentage of women who have even been able to experience orgasm; usually focused on heterosexual relationships because men are much more likely to be ignorant on the female orgasm and their sexual anatomy. In “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm”, Anne Koedt, says “It has also been known that women need no anesthesia inside the vagina during surgery, thus pointing to the fact that the vagina is in fact not a highly sensitive area.” Many old misconceptions during her time period said that the clitoris or vaginal canal lacked the ability to feel sensation like a penis would, and therefore there was no need for thinking about anyone’s pleasure but the man himself.  In reality, the clitoris is the “female equivalent” of the (head of the) penis. They are equally sensitive and stimulation is necessary for orgasm. Because of our obscene lack of sexual education in this country, we still have this problem today where the majority of men are ignorant about female sexuality, and only think about and care about their own pleasure. This leaves women unsatisfied and once again, left to solve that problem for themselves.

Suffrage, labor rights and the equal rights amendment are all related because their goals are on gaining rights for an exploited group and preventing the exploitation of those groups. These and other labor rights issues are also a matter of gender justice, because every group includes people of all genders. Also, it is mostly women who are being exploited when it comes to things like sweatshops and labor rights. Teen and child workers are also very common. Similar to the Triangle Waistshirt Factory story, hours are excessive, conditions are very dangerous and wages are very low. How much has this changed? On the surface we act like we are morally better because we have laws against child labor here in the U.S. now, but all we really have been doing is outsourcing as a loophole, to continue to exploit cheap labor “legally.

The “Triangle Returns” video talked about a workers protest in Bangladesh (working for companies like Walmart and Gap) Their workers’ non-violent protest over wages was quickly hit with a wave of police brutality. The workers were beaten, hit with rubber bullets, sprayed with water, etc. This made me think of all the anti-facists marches happening the last few years, and the police would come out and do the same to the protestors. The c0ps will never stop doing that. They don’t serve us, they only serve the ones in power aka the Oppressors.

I think issues continue to play out similarly today. There will always be a group against the activist group/movement. During the time of the introduction of the ERA, anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly founded the organization “STOP ERA” (an acronym for “Stop Taking Away Our Privileges”) to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. Her belief was that an equal rights movement was somehow stripping her and other women of their free will and rights, I find this mindset that “giving one group rights takes away from the other” remains common today. An example I have in our current political climate is that some people think that the statement “Black Lives Matter” means that white lives don’t matter. They interpret the statement as Black people think they are more important than white people, when the true intent is a call for black lives to be treated the same as white lives, especially in legal situations.
Schafly also was said to have, “[told] her audiences that the ERA would eventually lead to a future of gender-neutral bathrooms and women being drafted into the military, she successfully made many people think twice about what constitutionally mandated equality of the sexes would mean.” It’s funny to know that that is kind of right where we are at today, but it’s not as horrifically astounding earth-shattering as she played it out to be with her fear mongering