Notes from our Teach-In

When Kelly and I were discussing our presentation, we came up with an array of things that have totally impacted our relationship, or have had an overall greater influence on our lives. So we decided that we couldn’t be the only people that have enjoyed the class, missed an opportunity to give praise/thanks, want to ask a question, or just share your thoughts with each other. 

Also taking notes from our mid-course evaluation, and conversations about silence and speaking we wanted to find a way to hold a conversation that was “accessible”.  We both felt that after the mid-course evaluation not only, allowed for a productive conversation, but also illuminated the different ways and mediums we can use to speak.  

We decided to create FEMANOTES, inspired by the a posse plus retreat exercise, which are in order to continue our conversation, but specifically to celebrate one another.  They are meant to be anonymous, you can specifically address individuals or the entire class with questions, comments, things you appreciated, exercises you liked, things that can be worked on.  PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING. 

We decided to use a tree as a metaphor for two reasons: 1. FIRST AND FOREMOST it is Anne’s spirit animal 2. We think trees grow and they last for decades which reminds us of feminism as not only a political discourse/movement but IDEOLOGY--the leaves are temporal: changing, dying, and growing back once again (which are the femanotes, our ideas are everchanging, allowing for more growth--the energy that keeps it going reminds us of anne, because she has kept us going but also all of the voices within feminist discourse that not only empower this movement, but also cultivate  (feminism) (the leaves are temporal--always changing, DYING, and growing again).

Here are a few responses we got: 

"This class has made me question myself, who I choose to identify myself as. I hope I've discovered more of me in this class :)" 

"I found that studying the intersectionality of my beliefs and identity has strengthened me as a person. It's given me a new passion and an identity that I feel reflects who I am."

"I have been very moved by the voices that began to speak as the class evolved...." 

"Thank you everyone for expanding my world view- I learned as much from being a fish out of water and unfamiliar with a topic as I did from the class itself."