Feminism

I left class today feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. This wasn't the usual stress of the semester. This was a direct response to the absence of space I felt in today's class. Not necessarily for myself, but more generally.

I want us to return to some of the ground rules we agreed to at the beginning of the semester:

– making space for one another 

– stepping back

– remembering to avoid speaking as though one's truth is the only truth

– allowing some silence in our classroom

Gabrielle Smith          

Critical Feminist Studies

Anne Dalke

28 September 2014

 My Anaconda Don't Want Your Normative Feminist Standards

“Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big. 
She looks like one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys? 
They only talk to her, because, she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big.
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like, out there, I mean— gross. Look!
She's just so... black!”

Motivated by the recent events on campus regarding the confederate flag, and reflecting on my experiences in Africa, I was motivated to express my opinions about social change, both domestically and abroad in this piece titled, "Sustaining the Intersectional Perspective."

I have included some media that illustrate the concepts described within.

“Gender reaches into disability; disability wraps around class; class strains against abuse; abuse snarls into sexuality; sexuality folds on top of race... everything finally piling into a single human body."

–Eli Clare, Exile & Pride, page 134

After having had several hiccups with the Health Center at Bryn Mawr College, I decided to seek out further information on why any mention of it or its employees elicits a certain look of discomfort, despair, distaste, or disenchantment from the average student. And, in doing so, I got more than I bargained for—potentially too much information to be comfortable with (given that really, the "Shaped" in the title of this paper should have a "Failed to have" in front of it). These discoveries and the resulting analysis provide the basis of this critique.

"Crips and Trannies Need to Pee Too!"

The Intersectionality of Trans* and Disabled Identities

Sula Malina

I. Are Trans Bodies Necessarily Disabled?