What Does Tyler Perry Really Want?

I enjoy his plays and movies but I’ve always felt the same as Nichole here about his portrayal of women, which is not all that great:

There is little to dispute that [Tyler Perry’s] target audience is Black women, so let’s look at the message we’ve received so far from the play. A beautiful, ambitious driven woman is a promiscuous, shrill bitch and a danger to the home. A good woman doesn’t turn heads with her beauty, is soft-spoken, religious, and will wait- sexually and emotionally- for the right man to come along. We see this play out as well in the movie version of Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married?

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Poetic Propaganda

Crip Chick blogs:

I had the honor of joining radical women of color (many of who are your favorite bloggers, BrownFemiPower, Black Amazon, Little Light, Mamita Mala, Sudy, Nadia, and sooo many more) in putting together an amazing album that chronicles experiences around struggle, love, motherhood, redemption, healing and community. You can cop the CD in January, along with a zine and listening party curriculum, so be prepared! More details to come soon but stay on this— there are only 200 copies currently available.

[Hat Tip: brownfemipower]

Gentrification and Community Organizing

Jack blogs:

This Friday I’m heading to Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn for the premiere screening of Some Place Like Home: The Fight Against Gentrification in Downtown Brooklyn, a documentary by Families United for Racial and Economic Equality. FUREE, a community organization lead by and comprised primarily of low-income women of color, has been rallying the community in a fight against the rampant development that’s going down in Downtown Brooklyn and the surrounding area. While developers, big business, and politicians alike claim they are only trying to improve the community, the development is being conducted with little care or concern for the residents and small business owners who are already there. Some Place Like Home documents the struggle of FUREE, the neighborhoods’ residents, and small businesses against the forces that are trying to push and bulldoze them out. Check out the trailer below.

BFP on feminisms

Brownfemipower:

one of the big tricks that i discovered had been pulled on me was the trick of getting me to believe that there was such a thing as a “Feminist Movement.” there’s not. but i thought there was. and being a believer and student of ‘movements’–what are they, how are they made, where they come from–i sit back now, and am sort of amused by my naivete. i actually believed that just because people *called* themselves feminists, that must mean there *is* a Feminist Movement of some sort.

…

never belonged to a Feminist Movement, i belonged to a movement led and created and owned by *radicalized* women of color. Those women of color are, were and will always *remain* accountable to other women of color, whether those women are radicalized or not. I belong to a movement started by Gloria Anzaldua, Cherrie Moraga, Audre Lorde, and sustained by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, Sista II Sista, the Zapatistas, UBUNTU, SPEAK, the AMC and so so so so many others. There is a melding of action with theory–a connection between the streets and academia.

Another Poor Excuse

Ms. Krish blogs:

It wasn’t always like this. From 1998 to 2003, female rappers such as Lauryn Hill, Eve, and Missy Elliott were among the genre’s most bankable artists. But nearly all of their successors — including Lil Mama, Kid Sister, Ms Dynamite, and Jean Grae — have struggled to connect with listeners. And it’s harder than ever to launch new talent. ‘‘Hair and makeup is killing female hip-hop,” says a source. ”The grooming cost to break a female rapper versus a male rapper is 10 times as much per appearance. That tends to have an adverse effect on a record company’s willingness to even entertain a female rapper.”

So let me get this straight: there aren’t any women MCs out there because they don’t want to foot the bill for a glam squad? But, somehow, Hollywood tends to make a killing suiting and booting these white girls while their careers, talented or not, skyrocket?

Miss Navajo: Reconceptualizing Native American Beauty

Renee blogs:

Yolanda Charley, recently won the title of Miss. Navajo Nation.  I am normally against beauty contests, as I see them as nothing more than the performance of femininity for the male gaze.  The Miss Navajo Nation is like no other pageant I have ever come across.

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What I love about this contest is that it is more than women parading around with fake smiles, with their bathing suits taped to their skin, to avoid being swallowed by their asses.  Miss Navajo is about celebration, and the perpetuation of  culture.

The F-Word Blog First Women of Colour & Beauty Carnival kicks off…

Soaring blogs:

This Carnival is intended to focus on beauty and what it means to and about women of color. In particular, I would like to see discussion go beyond a focus on the ways in which women of color can internalize self hatred to the ways in which women and communities of color recognize and celebrate beauty.

Submissions from women and men of color are welcome, focusing on these areas:

[Hat Tip: Jess]

BrownFemiPower: Fighting through the Confusion of Anger

BrownFemiPower blogs:

I’ve seen with my own two eyes right on this blog exactly how productive conversations with white women can be. I’ve seen incredible love and support and questions and challenges and answers and gotten insane amounts of help from white women.

I’ve also seen right on this blog (and in blog land in general) exactly how unproductive conversations with white women can be. I mean, how many times will radical women of color organizers be called “intersectionalists” before somebody finally figures it out?

A Woman’s Work (is never done)

Krish blogs:

Is this what feminism looks like, or what capitalism can only accommodate for the educated woman in new millenium? Sandra Tsing Loh writes a compelling rebuttal to Linda Hirshman’s “marvelously cranky ‘Get to Work … And Get a Life, Before It’s Too Late’ ” book that asserts the workplace as a highly-fulfilling, nonstop thrill ride to becoming a complete human being; an almost revist to bell hook’s critique of the Feminine Mystique: what job do you have and why the hell isn’t mine as fulfilling and pleasurable as yours?!

Feminism and Whites

Ashley blogs on Linda Hirshman’s article in the Washington Post:

Part of what we do, when we struggle to take an intersectional approach, is try to challenge the automatic “normalcy” that our culture has given those in dominant groups. By locating middle-class white women at the center of her vision of what constitutes “women,” Hirshman is utterly missing the point of intersectionality. Including (or making central) people who are not white, middle-class women in our vision of what constitutes an end to patriarchy is not the same as excluding white, middle-class women from our vision. It is simply moving them from the place of automatic privilege and centrality our culture has given them in relation to other groups of women, which allows us to understand oppression in a more realistic way. Even if we’re willing to grant Hirshman the point that feminism should only worry about those women who constitute a “majority” of women, white, middle-class women are NOT THE MAJORITY OF WOMEN.

Seal Press, Feminism, and Racism

Karnythia states:

I also see people talking about the need to give Amanda Marcotte a safe space from which to respond. Maybe it’s just me, but why exactly is it that WOC aren’t entitled to the same calls for safe space? If we’re supposed to be sisters then shouldn’t safety for us be a priority? AFAIK there is exactly one community devoted to safe space for WOC on the internet and I created it. My co-mod and I work very hard to keep the voyeurs, trolls, and bigots out and the community members guard the space jealously from anyone that might slip past us. And I wish we didn’t have to do that, but I look at this book and the responses to it and the original Seal Press fiasco and I think that we are operating in very hostile territory and the only choice WOC have is to pull back and operate our own spaces in our own ways because we can’t expect anyone to fight for us. And yes, I know many of the people reading this are truly allies and I’m not saying this to hurt you. But we’re going to need you to commence cleaning up your house before you can help us clean up the world.

BrownFemiPower’s Final (?) Words

BrownFemiPower says:

I wrote what I wrote to say that there either is a feminist movement or there isn’t—and if feminists can’t even be called on to point to the work that other feminists are doing—if simply pointing to a whole sphere of pro-immigration bloggers (because, to be clear, I stated pro-immigration bloggers and men and women bloggers of color NOT brownfemipower) who have been blogging incessantly about this is too much work for feminism—well, then there’s no fucking feminist movement.

…

I never said that it’s important to recognize that I had the idea first. I don’t give a shit who came up with the idea first—even if it WAS me. I don’t give a shit who thought of what first. I don’t fucking want credit for anything outside of existing. (For those who care, what I really said: There’s a lot of women of color (and men of color!) who have talked about immigration. There’s a lot of women of color and men of color who have examined how sexualized violence has been the foremost result of the “strengthening” of borders. There’s been a lot of us who have insisted for a long time now that immigration is a feminist issue, goddamn it, get your head out of your ass.

I even wrote a whole speech about it (link not available–BUT for those who DID see the speech, do you happen to recall that long list of LINKED work at the beginning of the speech?).

…

This was NEVER ABOUT FUCKING BROWNFEMIPOWER except in the sense that I BELONG to immigrant communities and I BELONG to pro-immigration blogger community and I BELONG to the women of color community and I THOUGHT I belonged to a feminist community.

This was about women of color constantly being written out of feminism, being written out of our own communities BY feminism—then being beaten up by feminists with JUST DO IT, JUST DO IT, JUST FUCKING DO IT YOU LAZY SPICS.

…

I know I’m brownfemipower and I want to end violence against women. And I wanted to do that with all the women who keep insisting to me that we are all in this together and we have common problems that we have to work against and we’re all sisters, and there is such thing as a commonality of experience between us all—as I said in my original post—I thought feminism was important because it brought women together (I had thought at one time that feminism was about justice for women. I had thought it was about centering the needs of women, and creating action in the name of, by and for women. I had thought that feminism has its problems but it’s worth fighting for, worth sacrificing and sweating and crying and breaking down for.)

…

I realize now that “feminism” and I stand in direct opposition to each other—that the feminists who aren’t actively working against me and my community are, like Seymour Hersch, few and far between.

This has caused a radical shifting in my thinking. A shifting that I have no desire to work through online—but that I need to think through before I can act. I am not giving up. I am just thinking. And resting. And reading my beloved books and soaking my tired dogs.

Cuz giiirls, my dogs are TIRED.

As I said in my last post—I will find you, and you will find me.

Women of Color Blogging, Feminism, and Brownfemipower

Holly, at Feministe, blogs about the recent news surrounding the shutdown of Brownfemipower’s blog and white feminists appropriating ideas from women of color:

What I care about is that when white feminists undertake to write about the issues of women of color — such as immigration, which is clearly a massively race-infused issue — they should do so in solidarity with women of color. In ways that give political voice to women of color, to immigrants, to those whose voice is generally not heard as loudly.

When any of us have a soapbox, an opportunity to get up and talk, we must continue to stand by those who aren’t called on. If you want to consider yourself an anti-racist or a white ally to people of color — if you want anyone else to consider you those things — then it behooves you to swim against the current. If everyone did, perhaps the tides would turn, even if it was just in our corner of the blogosphere. And sometimes all you have to do is simply call out the hard work of another woman who went before you, who has paved the path that you’re walking down with research and ideas and words and strong feelings. All you have to do is cover your bases, pay your respects, and make sure you can’t be read as trying to take sole credit.

[Hat Tip: Alas, a blog]

Radicalism and Women, Action, and the Media Conference

“Sudy” blogs about WAM and what radical feminism means to her:

Radical is not negative, folks. There seems to be a misunderstanding that when womyn of color are angry, it’s all negative. From the WOC I am in community with, there is anger. Lots of it. It’s in our blood from a life line of violence, rape, and racism. I think people hear what they want to hear and what they want to hear is the anger, it makes WOC easier to dismiss. But, the creative energy, the laughter and light is ten fold the anger. I’m angry, sure, but I’m much more than the anger and I believe in more positivity than I do in bitterness.

How does that relate to WAM?…

[Hat Tip: Zenobia of Mind the Gap]

White Women Feminism – There They Go Again

Donna writes:

I got an email from the wonderful Elle PhD to alert me to the latest white women feminist shenanigans being reported at the Washington Post: To Women, So Much More Than Just a Candidate. Of course by women they mean the default women, middle to upper class white women, with some ageism thrown in for good measure since they show little respect for the decision making abilities of younger women too.

…

“During the NOW tour across Ohio, the makeup of each audience was almost exclusively white, middle-age women, many of whom had joined the organization in the late 1960s or 1970s.” People vote for who they think can best represent them. I understand perfectly well why this demographic is excited for Hillary Clinton, is showing up at her rallies, and is voting for her. But for some of us having a vagina isn’t enough, because she will be voting for white, middle aged, middle class interests. Not to mention corporate lobbyist interests, and starting wars to prove she’s as tough as the guys, which I hear is her excuse for her Iraq War vote.

A Little History on Planned Parenthood

La Chola blogs on a controversy involving a few bloggers on the racist history of Planned Parenthood and its work today:

It’s dangerous to not know the history of an organization–even more dangerous to not know its present. Yes, PP has done some absolutely amazing and brilliant things. PP has also done some detestable and horrific things–and it is WRONG to let the detestable and horrific things pass because of the good things. It’s even worse to call a woman of color who has had a bad experience with her reproductive life “stupid” because there is no critical analysis of how a historically “population control” centered institute is currently conducting its business. As I said in my comment, the only reason PP is where it is today is because women of color stood up to all the people who attempted to silence them with calls of “stupid” and “worthless” and demanded to be heard.

Exploitation

Bambu rants:

i recently got a myspace message from an old friend who had a little bit of a beef with me. she wanted to know why i was “knocking the hustle” of so many young pinays in the import model/go-go dancing game. she felt that by me trying to persuade young women (especially young women of color) away from standing next to vehicles at car shows, or dancing on a platform by speaking “ill” of them, i was hurting their pockets and not supporting my sisters.

hmmmm…

…

my intention is never to make my sisters feel trashy, but it’s also not meant to sugar coat anything. we’ve been struggling and fighting for such a long time. i just want young people to understand what exploitation means and how many levels there are to being exploited.

i want everyone to celebrate their physical beauty! i want us as a people to be truly happy with our beautiful faces, our beautiful bodies and our wonderful culture!

Racism, Feminism, and the Issue of FGE

Plain(s)feminist blogs about Female Genital Excision (FGE), also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and the issue of white Western feminists focusing more on the brutalities against women in Third World countries than in the Western world:

There seems to be no way to get a certain segment of the feminist population to understand that it is possible both to oppose practices like FGE and still seek to use respectful terminology. This is perceived as attempting to “whitewash” (an interesting phrase, since we’re talking about mostly White women slinging racist slurs as mostly Black women) the issue. In fact, on several occasions when this issue has come up, it has progressed in the following way:

King’s Dream: A Reality Yet to Be Achieved

Shark-Fu blogs on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day:

Today, nooses are hung on high school campuses and arrogantly displayed on the cover of national magazines…media critics discuss how even racists will vote for an ‘acceptably black’ candidate and fashion editors chastise women of color for wearing natural hairstyles in corporate environments…the achievement of thousands is credited to the system they struggled against…the historic campaign of Shirley Chisholm is scarcely mentioned in an election year where a woman and a black man are trying to do separately what she strove to do as one in 1972…white supremacists plan to march in Jena Louisiana even as the language of immigration reform is laced with bigotry and fear…and education is still separate and unequal.

…

Now is the time to honor the King legacy through action and unite in the struggle for what I know is possible…

…no longer a dream, more a reality yet to be achieved.

On (White) Feminism

BrownFemiPower blogs about the book Full Frontal Feminism, on teaching it at university women’s studies classes, her own experience as a woman of color in such classes, and the overall arch of teaching feminism in general:

It’s time for all of us, but in particular, women’s studies departments, to stop pretending that these interactions between women of color and white women never happened or don’t count. It’s time to stop pretending that the voices of white women speaking about women of color is sufficient enough of a history for women of color. It’s time to stop pretending that universal agreement between women of color is necessary before white people can interact with an engage with a particular critique of women of color. It’s time to stop pretending that any critique by women of color exists within a timeless vacuum that demonstrates some ancient racism of a feminism from time past.

Announcement: Body Images

I just posted a blog on Double Consciousness that I want people, hopefully women of color, to respond to.  Thanks.

Since I’m the Educational Development officer for this student activist org. I’m apart of at San Francisco State University I always need to keep myself attuned to the needs of the membership.  We’ve done workshops on immigration, the Third World Liberation Front SF State student strikes, an upcoming one on white privilege, and a workshop in November on the basics of the capitalist system.  However I’ve been noticing among the membership issues on body image.  Specifically people being influence by white mainstream (fascist) standards of beauty.  So for next semester I’m going to get a hold of some fellow radicals to put on a workshop on white supremacist beauty standards and how it effects women of color and others in this American society.

Does anyone out there have any resources and blogs, blog posts, books, articles, etc. that they could share with me.  You can contact me here.  Thanks.

Stop Police Brutality on Women and Trans People of Color

Brown Femi Power writes:

The amazing women of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence have created a powerful brochure about how to end police violence against women and trans people of color. My recommendation? PRINT IT OUT AND DISTRIBUTE!!!!! Also, if you would like copies of the brochure, you can also e-mail incite_national@yahoo.com, with the number of copies you’d like and an address to send it to!

South Asian Studies

Zooey Live blogs about being a South Asian graduate student and South Asian Studies, one of her points is this:

[T]here is also something else which intrigues me about the South Asian departments. Something that’s also very visible in this class. So few of their students work on modern and/or contemporary South Asia. It’s not that I think working on pre-modern South Asian texts or societies is inherently bad. But there is also this general reluctance to acknowledge the existence of a modern South Asia. Very similar to the project of classical Indology. Which relegated India perpetually into the realm of “ancient.” And my pea-sized brain tells me this is not just an innocent fascination with the pre-modern past. But indeed, this is a very problematic manisfestation of an evolutionary understanding of the world and not totally unconnected to the racial-colonial politics which attempted to colonize non-Western territories by claiming that the people in there are not that “modern.”

“Troublemaker”

FAbulosa Mujer writes:

This here, I’m seeing more and more of. At 26 years-old, having been in the progressive circle for a couple of years now, mostly people of color and the few whites in positions of power in a nutshell this is what I see: when you’re new and excited about the work, always hopeful, dreaming, wanting to say yes to everything and not challenge everyone loves you. Speak in a tone that’s very welcoming…you are one with the movement. Beware once you fall, when you are not proper and you are speaking your mind “articulately” in a matter you believe in, and you disagree with um…the ranks, whether it be white women in the ranks or the men of color in the ranks or men of color colleagues when you challenge oppression, you’re a divider, trouble maker, punishable. You’re too loud and not as likeable.

“Troublemaker”

FAbulosa Mujer writes:

This here, I’m seeing more and more of. At 26 years-old, having been in the progressive circle for a couple of years now, mostly people of color and the few whites in positions of power in a nutshell this is what I see: when you’re new and excited about the work, always hopeful, dreaming, wanting to say yes to everything and not challenge everyone loves you. Speak in a tone that’s very welcoming…you are one with the movement. Beware once you fall, when you are not proper and you are speaking your mind “articulately” in a matter you believe in, and you disagree with um…the ranks, whether it be white women in the ranks or the men of color in the ranks or men of color colleagues when you challenge oppression, you’re a divider, trouble maker, punishable. You’re too loud and not as likeable.