#wocfeminity

[ride-thedragon]

My most controversial opinion is that I hope Nettles is feminine. Like dresses and jewelry even before she is claiming dragons.

Why would this be controversial?

Two reasons.

Cultural Femininity and Demonization of Femininity.

1. Cultural Femininity:

If they take the time to give Nettles a distinctly cultural tie on the show, they also have the ability to make her present her femininity differently. In my preferred head canon with the Rhoynar, it's very different from what is allowed in Westeros. The placement of Driftmark as a trading center also allows her to pick up culturally distinctive feminity, think septum piercings, or showing your stomach. Those things are seen in Essos and Dorne not really in Westeros as a culture.

2. Demonizing.

Nettles is described as ugly in the books , so to then just make her dress and act differently from the royal woman does explain a lot of the hate and dislike her appearance and personhood. The whole Witch thing becomes layered if she isn't praying to the faith of the seven or dressing to fit the standard. She's never had to do it before. The idea impacts her relationships and how she would perceive things.

This unfortunately will muddy waters when it comes to people who don't like her character because we experience the show from a Westeros focused mindset, if people are ordering hits on the one distinct woman of colour and accusing her of witchcraft it reads clearer than it does in the book.

Lord knows this fandom does not need a reason to demonize a woman, far less for a woman of colour, I just think that it would be cool to see that because she's never had to conform to a societal expectation of piety or virtue she's picked what she liked and grew up to take and choose distinctive cultural things and made it her own.

Also, cultural femininity eats every time. Sarees, piercings, tribal tattoos, braids, materials, and jewelry outsell everything, every time.

I just wouldn't don't trust any writers after experiencing "you want a good girl, but you need a bad pussy" first hand from Tyene Sand of all people. So I don't think that even if they went this direction with this character, they would do it as good as they should do it.

I will say that GOT and HOTD so far have done a good job at not demonizing cultures before. I was personally rooting for Melisandre a bit too hard before Shireen.

But in exotizing certain cultures like Dorne, they tend to play into fetishization and Orientalism, similarly to the Dothraki, but that links back to the source material and again who we experience the world through.

I do think if they try, it would be a cool way to characterize her specifically because she's such an outsider to the world already, and it easily establishes that she isn't meant to conform to it. It also adds a layer to her descriptions if a lot of it would be things like a tattoo, or piercing or strange jewelry, and perfumes she's collected overtime.

I know a big thing with her character is that she's homeless without parents allegedly, but things like jewelry passed down to her, and odd jobs could explain the small disbelief people would have if they go that route.

I just deserve it as well. I've been a good person when it came to the Rhaena, Laena, and Baela erasure I've suffered through. I hope we can move on and make distinct choices.

I also will say that this happens in the context that we get biblically accurate Baela Targaryen. I refuse to suffer Masc and Hyper Feminine erasure again.

[womendontsleep]

Women Don't Sleep

The thing about feminism is that it is not something that will ever go away. It is more than a political ideology or activist movement - it is something so tangible within every woman, to some degree, that it will never just 'die out'. And it can't die out. Feminism is so crucial to the progression of society. So much progress has been made, which is important to acknowledge and celebrate, but there is so much more to do, a fact that is frequently overlooked. Women still need help everywhere in the world. There is still work to be done because feminism is not exclusive. The job isn't done once the wealthy white women of the world are content. Feminism is still needed in modern society, for the women of color who have been overlooked in the past, and for the women in dangerous or unfair situations to this day.

Entire industries still rely on the exploitation and endangerment of women to make hundreds of millions of dollars. And it does not matter if men view feminism as 'anti-men' or if it makes them uncomfortable. Feminism, at its core, is about complete and total equality. And I will grant that there are cases of feminism being used as an excuse for an 'anti-men' rationale, which is an individual issue that takes away from the entire point of feminism. There is nothing distinctly 'anti-men' about equality. Feminism is about women. All the women everywhere in the world, who still do not have the same protections, safety, or rights as men.

[soulfie]

All girls continue to be taught when they are young, if not by their parents then by the culture around them, that they must earn the right to be loved-that “femaleness” is not good enough.  This is the female’s first lesson in the school of patriarchal thinking and values.  She must earn love.  she is not entitled.  She must be good to be loved.  And good is always defined by someone else, someone on the outside.

“communion”, bell hooks

[anishinaabequay]

Planning my syllabus for next semester. Not pictured: This Bridge Called My Back and Sharing Our Stories of Survival. NWSA got me all excited for this class on gender and politics. #bookstagram #books #feminism #blackfeminism #indigenousfeminism #wocfeminism #phdstudentlife #teaching #resistthestate

[sakhi-nyc]

Sakhi Interview: Poet Kai Williams

Kai Williams is a fiction writer / spoken word poet based in New York City and featured artist in Sakhi’s upcoming show, “Gender Justice + The Arts: An Asian American Showcase” at Bowery Poetry Club on 7/31! Most recently, she received an Honorable Mention for her submission to the New York Times’ Modern Love college essay contest. She is a 2015 alumna of the National YoungArts Foundation, as a national finalist in writing. Her work has been published in The AmerAsia Journal, Pushing Past Limits: Young Writer’s Anthology published by VerbalEyze Press, For the Sonorous Magazine and Mask Magazine. She is also a founder and Executive Director of Eat At The Table Theatre Company, a non-profit theater arts organization for young actors of color. Catch Kai at our show this month and on Instagram at @kainaima 

Can you describe your art / poetry / writing / music and your artistic process?

When I decide to a write spoken word poem I generally carve out a specific time of the day or night that will put me in the most vulnerable and creative mindset. 4:00 AM is a good time for this. 11:00 PM is a good time for this. Ambiance is important to me so I’ll put on music that aligns with my mood and surround myself in my notebooks. And then I just sit with my laptop and try to write down every single thought I have about the subject that’s compelling me to write. This can take hours. When I write down an idea that strikes me as particularly interesting or as the correct approach for the poem, I just follow that lead and write until I have a first draft. After that, it’s a process of editing and exploring performance techniques.

What does gender justice mean to you and how does your work explore themes related to gender and social justice?

Gender justice is a primary theme and motivating factor in my work, particularly my poetry. My work is primarily concerned with analyzing the processes of self-identification for women of color. As a mixed-raced, loudly third-wave feminist young writer from the Bronx who has navigated primarily predominantly white institutions, nothing moves me more than  exploring the relationships between other girls of color my age, and the unique, unbidden magic that they carry with them just to survive their daily worlds. I am obsessed with understanding how young women of color could find, pursue and maintain love for others as well as for themselves in spaces where they are starkly the minority. I perform spoken word to call attention to the injustices implemented by the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, using my interactions with the system as a young queer woman of color. Performance gives me an opportunity to vocalize my power beyond the page and I strive to empower and evoke experiences from other women of color.

Who is an Asian American artist / writer / performer that inspires you and why?

I really dig Awkwafina right now. She’s so New York. She’s got that vulgar, snarky, observational humor I feel like so many of my friends and I identify with as young women who grew up here. I think that rap is one of the greatest mediums of personal storytelling, especially for people who don’t stand to benefit from the systems in place in their communities. I love when people of color who grew up around, respect and revere rap, especially those you wouldn’t necessarily expect like young Asian women, choose to try their hand, even with comedy-rap like Awkwafina’s. She’s a girl from Queens who picked up this funny form of rapping and then kept finessing her way into really coveted, big Hollywood jobs on her unique wit and unwavering specificity of self. I can get behind that.

What can Sakhi supporters look forward to seeing from you at Bowery on 7/31?

I plan to perform spoken word poetry that delves into the intersections between race and womanhood. Recently, I am deeply engaged in creating poetry that speaks to the experiences of women who belong to multiple “minority groups”: namely queer women and women of color (and queer women of color). I am interested in dissecting the details of these intersections, the tensions that exist and conflicts that are developed in light of them, and the ways in which oppressions mimic one another.

What's your favorite thing about summer in New York?

When I was living in Connecticut this winter and I couldn’t see a foot in front of me because the snow was coming down with such a vengeance I felt as though it could wipe out my entire history, all I wanted was to be in New York in July. I had this fantasy of stumbling upon a Mr. Softee truck, ordering a chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinklers, then walking the length of 125th between St. Nick and 5th Avenue while listening to Beyoncé’s “Dance for You” and wearing something short and cute. My favorite thing about summer in New York is that feeling of utter freedom and bliss. There are little happinesses on every street and it’s warm enough to walk the streets until you’re satisfied with the amount you’ve come across that day. 

GENDER JUSTICE + THE ARTS TICKETS & INFO

[liliflorart]

When you step into POC space you will be checked... Nah not here...#dearwhitepeople when you step your boundaries #ihaveabrush #southcentralla you want justice but you don't see it. #whiteprivelage #indigenousfeminism #wocfeminism #checkyourprivelage #nothere #blacklivesmatter #yougotchecked #protestposter #womensmarchonwashington #womensmarchla #postermakingla @mayanmamma wait for it listen to #whitney

[soulfie]

Deprived of the means to generate self-love, we look to others to render us lovable; we long for love and we search

“communion”, bell hooks

[soulfie]

Femaleness in patriarchal culture marks us from the very beginning as unworthy or not as worthy, and it should come as no surprise that we learn to worry most as girls, as women, about whether we are worthy of love.

“communion”, bell hooks

[soulfie]

From birth on, most females live in fear that we will be abandoned, that if we step outside of the approved circle, we will not be loved

“communion”, bell hooks

[soulfie]

Within patriarchal culture, the girl who does not feel loved in her family of origin is given another chance to prove her worth when she is encouraged to seek love from males

“communion”, bell hooks

[soulfie]

Often girls feel deeply cared about as small children but then find as we develop willpower and independent thought that the world stops affirming us, that we are seen as unlovable

“communion”, bell hooks