Day 6: Transphobia and Transmisogyny CANNOT BE a Part of "Feminism"!

(Yes, this whole thing ticks me off so much, I forgot to title this post when I first published it.)

I'm new to feminism. I'm rather wholly ignorant of its history, and am just now, in pieces, starting to learn about it.

There are some names I've heard, often, and I thought they were "good people." Good women. Sisters.

They are not.

I know there are three "waves" of feminism, and apparently the third one is the least bad, shall we say, but I don't know what each one means or entails or whatever. And at this point, I don't really think I want to put the energy into finding out.

This morning I re-tweeted a quote by a supposed "feminist," saying something about women needing to let go of their own misogyny. It was a good quote. Too bad it came from a transmisogynistic hypocrite who claimed to fight for women's rights but worked even harder to oppress and erase women who didn't look like her.

Then I found out about this blog post, eulogizing Mary Daly. I had no idea who she was until yesterday, when someone else had tweeted about her death. I Googled her, and her Wikipedia entry (I was feeling very lazy) gave a brief overview of her which did not make me mourn her passing. She chose to resign from her teaching job rather than allow dirty, stinky men in her women's studies classes. She did not consider people of color to be people, and she did not consider trans women to be women.

I'm not familiar with Shakesville, but from the comments on the Daly post, and th sentiments expressed on Twitter, it used to be a fairly trans-friendly place. Even has regular contributors who are trans folk.

Yet the post on Mary Daly sings her praises as a wonderful champion of women's rights, a foremother ahead of her time, blah blah. Not a peep about her racism or transphobia. Oh, wait! What's that, there at the bottom? Oh, there it is! It's a little footnote, acknowledging someone pointed these facets of Daly's personality in the comments to the post, and the post author wanted to say someone pointed these things out to her.

No, dude. Not okay.

Maybe you write a quick footnote to note the error, apologize for it, and say "hold on while I check on it and fix it" and then you go back and fix it. You educate yourself (which, seriously, you should have done BEFORE writing the eulogy, dude. For serious -- you didn't even go to Wikipedia?? Because it was RIGHT THERE). Then you write and appropriate response, giving at least as much screen time to the lasting hurt this woman caused as you did to blowing her kisses.

You can check out the fail in the comments section. *sigh*

(I'm irked that my comment wasn't posted until after comments were closed -- I'd written it, but I had to "verify" my account before they'd show it, and I had technical difficulties. At least it posted, which makes me happy because I have apparently become a virtual exhibitionist, but I really wanted someone to respond to my comment. Oh, well...)

This afternoon I read this post on Feministe. Same violent photo, but at least both sides were presented. Fairly, equally? I don't know.

Hate harms more than good does good. The evil that men do, as Marc Anthony said, does live after them; the good is, often, forgotten with their bones. That's not our faulty selective memory; it's much easier to rally hate and fear than it is to breed love and solidarity (Tea-baggers, anyone?) I'm not going to put the energy into studying this woman to find out which legacy is more lasting -- her work to promote rights for cis-only, white-only women, or her work to oppress, other, exclude and exterminate women of color and trans women.

Later on @genderbitch tweeted this link, which tells the story of Mary Daly that cannot be erased or ignored. Please make sure you read that one.

And on that note, I'm off to unpack (yes, from the trip I returned from on Sunday. Hush it). I was so psyched when I first claimed the term "feminist" to describe myself. I had come out of two long, abusive relationships, and calling myself a "feminist" was so empowering. But the more I learn about the "feminists" who came before me, the more I wonder if I really want to be a part of that group... Can we save it? Are we, the "new" (or whatever wave) "feminists" enough to undo all that harm? Can we own our past enough to work through it, and overcome it?

Looking at the comments from "feminists" on Shakesville, it's not looking too likely, is it?

63 years later

I received this in an email today. Thought I'd share.


[EDIT: click on the image to see it full-size.]

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iraq, Iran, and others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth', it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world .

Please send this e-mail to 10 people you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain .
Please don't just delete it .

It will only take you a minute to pass this along . Thanks!

Freddy sent me this, from an editorial in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. (I tried to post it yesterday, but the Internets was broken. It made me angry.)

I am neither Democrat nor Republican. I am an educator. I am an American.

I should remember today as a significant day in American history.

Jan. 20, 2009: My son turned 14 today. It was a happy day.

I remember a day in 1963 — Nov. 22. I was in a classroom learning with other children. We were first graders. JFK was assassinated that day. I remember the principal, Mr. Jones, saying that word over the PA system — assassinated. We did not know its meaning, but we knew from watching the adults that it made everyone sad. We went home early, but it was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with other children.

I remember that day.

I remember a day in 1986 — Jan. 28. I was a teacher and was in my classroom teaching children. The Challenger fell from the sky on that day. I remember the principal, Mr. Walker, telling us over the PA about it. I had to leave my room so my kids would not see me fighting back tears. I was a coach and coaches didn't cry.

I had wanted badly to be in Krista McAuliffe's shoes, to be the first teacher in space. I was a science teacher and I was jealous. Now she and the others were gone. It was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with children.

I remember that day.

I remember a day in 2001 — Sept. 11. I was an Assistant Principal. I went to a classroom to watch a TV with children. There was no TV in the office. I had been in a meeting that was interrupted with the news that something significant was happening, so I went. I needed to be in a classroom with children.

Together, we watched the second twin tower fall. I remember asking the kids if we were watching a repeat of what had happened earlier when the first tower fell (I had heard) and they told me, no, this is the second tower and we were watching it live as it fell. We were silent. Again, I had to fight back tears. It was not a happy day. It was a significant day in American history. I was in a classroom with children.

I remember that day.

I will remember Jan. 20, 2009.

It was a happy day. Somehow, I found myself having to fight back tears. Our country elected the first black president in our history, and he took the oath of office with more than a million people watching on the Washington Mall. It was a significant day in American history. I will remember what that many people in Washington, D.C., looked like. I will remember the music by Yoyo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. I will be there with our BHS band in March.

I will remember how Chief Justice John Roberts messed up his lines. If I were in front of that many people, I might do the same. A President named Barack. I guess if I can be Priddy, he can be Barack. I will remember how toward the end of his address, he referenced a moment in history when George Washington inspired the troops at the very gravest time during the American Revolution and how he made the connection to the present.

I believe he has great social awareness. I hope he succeeds. Hope is a word I've heard a lot recently and I like that word. I believe it is a good word and should be used more by educators.

Jan. 20 was a significant day in American history. I will remember this day. I was in a classroom with children. I was a principal. I did not make a speech over the PA like Mr. Jones or Mr. Walker.

I sent an e-mail.

I am an American. I am an educator.

May God bless teachers.

— David Priddy, principal, Burleson High School, Burleson

From 52 to 48 / 48 to 52 with love

Great post on Adventures at Home and Abroad.

Or, if you're too lazy to click on that link, just go to this one directly.

In other news, NaNoWriMo is going stunningly well. I'm at the half-way point already, almost a full week ahead of where I'm supposed to be. This has never happened before.

Another thing that has never happened before? Barely a blog post all November. As Marcy pointed out to me last year (when I was still a loyal Xangan), I tended to blog more in November than any other time of year - because I wrote on my laptop, usually at places with Wi-Fi. So... I would hop on over to the blog between scenes, or in the middle of scenes, or after writing one sentence, or after writing no sentences because I needed to whine about the writing not going well.

This year?

This year, I haz an AlphaSmart. It haz no Internetz. Just wordz.

I lurvez it.

And, on a side note, I believe it is more ergonomical than a laptop. It feels more comfortable to write with the AlphaSmart on my lap than to write with a laptop on my lap.

So, Internetz peeps, I'm off to get another thousand words or so in before bedtime. 'Night!

Sometimes, you gotta put it in perspective...

Janet Reid shared this blog post today. Sometimes we have to be reminded to focus on the positives.