http://www.teamawot.com/2012/04/11/street-harassment-racism/
http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/ele3600/mcintosh.html
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Friday 6 April 2012
Monday 14 November 2011
Occupying Patriarchy - Why is the Occupy movement so white, male and middle class?
On Saturday, I went to the Fem11 conference in London, organised by UK Feminista. It's the only opportunity I get to be in a warm dry space with a thousand other feminists and learn what's going on, share my own experiences and just get that feeling of validation that I'm not making it up - we live in a sexist society and other people notice the things I notice too.
In a fortnight, I'm back in London for the Reclaim The Night march. It's the only woman-only one I'm aware of, and I've never been before. I'm really looking forward to it.
This time last year, I was homeless in a B&B with my family, and I coped with the whole thing because I had to. I made it fun for my children because obviously that was the sensible thing to do. As the year's landmarks come up (Halloween, for example) I'm finding that it's now hitting me just how extremely shitty it was.
To get to the point, I had to ask in writing for permission to go to London and attend the Feminism in London conference this time last year. I had to ask my tutor (on a distance course I'm doing) to vouch that it would be relevant to my studies. I wouldn't have been able to say the same about Reclaim The Night, so I didn't even try to go.
Now, before any outraged Daily Hate readers get all up in arms about this, I should point out that at no point were state benefits wasted on my leftist pinko beliefs that women shouldn't be raped. At no point was our 'palatial' ... erm... bedroom left empty because I was off pursuing the ridiculous ideal that women might one day free ourselves from oppression. My patriarchal keeper/ex was there inhabiting it while Saving The Planet in his research job. The one the funding ran out for, hence the homelessness.
It was all saved up for in a worthy manner befitting my status, and booked and paid for before we knew we were going to lose our home.
For a disabled woman living in poverty, I am relatively privileged. My parents are university-educated. I went to a private school with small class sizes, where we were encouraged to question things. I have a degree. I'm articulate (when the fibro-fog hasn't deleted half of my vocabulary). I even had elocution lessons, for fuck's sake.
It was still tricky just to organise everything so I could obtain permission to go to a political event. I'm not talking about transport, or access, or meals or accommodation or the conference costs - just being allowed to go.
This is technically the case for homeless people in scatter flats/temporary accommodation (which, by the way, is three times the cost of a council flat just so the government can pay someone to come and make sure you haven't sub-let to a marching band or whatever it is us profligate homeless sorts are meant to be in the habit of doing) although you might find that the odd overnight absence is overlooked.
But back to the B&B - as well as having to be in the accommodation at 10pm every night, and leaving our room (with 3 children, in the rain - fun times) for cleaning every day... As well as being banned from even bringing a bottle of beer into the place to use in beef stew... As well as having to be up and out of bed to eat breakfast every day (and dressing three children before my limbs have warmed up from their aching stiffness - thanks, fibromyalgia - you just keep on giving)... I found it really awkward and actually humiliating to do what I had to do in order to engage in politics and activism.
So when I noticed that the voices speaking out within the Occupy movement were overwhelmingly able-bodied white men, I thought that maybe it was just because other people have more of a struggle to access the kind of event where our voices can be heard.
Then I learnt that actually when homeless people did turn up at Occupy sites, people within the movement complained that they were taking advantage of the facilities.
I learnt that when women turned up, people either shouted them down or made photomontages to objectify them.
And I learnt that when women are raped at Occupy sites (which has happened a number of times now, most recently in Philadelphia) those rapes aren't taken seriously enough. A statement might be released to say, effectively, "what a shame, but still - homeless women will get 'assaulted' " or in Baltimore a pamphlet was actually released telling everyone that if they happen to be raped, they ought to refrain from contacting the police and should instead tell the Security Committee who will "supply the abuser with counselling resources".
here
The Occupy movement - if nothing else, it helps men to feel better after they rape people.
I thought that maybe it was symptomatic of the fact that some people within the Left have somehow assimilated the mainstream myth that feminism had achieved its aims and that there were other, more important struggles - race equality, for example (I have no idea why people put so much mental energy into denying the fact that we live in a rape culture where women are routinely objectified and oppressed, but I'm trying to be charitable here).
But then I learnt that when activists within Occupy Philadelphia organised a Black Out to protest racist insults and comments from other Occupy protesters, they were called divisive.
here
Who seriously goes along to a demonstration claiming to represent 99% of the population, stands by while people make racist comments and then whines when they're excluded from a discussion among people of colour?
And then, on Saturday, I met someone I know who was leading a workshop at Fem11 and then going off to Occupy with a Southall Black Sisters banner and some other SBS women. She is definitely an actual real (and brilliant) person.
When I checked Twitter, I saw that the very existence of an SBS banner at Occupy was deemed so dreadfully exclusive that it justified a torrent of racist and sexist abuse from a number of different men. This happened to people I know. I can't even entertain the idea that it's all a conspiracy. I get that there'll be the odd bad apple (by which I mean nasty abusive bigot) but what I don't get is the way other people just let them get on with it.
I don't think it's that the movement is inherently racist. I don't think that anyone plans it. But it seems that whenever a type of oppression is brought up with which white men cannot identify, you get this kind of nonsensical pseudo-argument - "The year is 2011. We celebrate black history month in February (or 365 days a year if you eat at McDonald's), we have affirmative action, White Gen X'ers, who make up a noticeable chunk of the protestors, grew up with an agenda that celebrated blacks while shunning whites. In other words, racism is no longer a white-man's ordeal, it is the reciprocal. I love all people, but if you associate yourself with an incidental situation and demand appreciation, you are no less racist than those who did/do the opposite. Think about it. Stop the hate."
here
White able-bodied middle-class men seem to have seized upon the rhetoric of inclusion without thinking for a moment of the fact that actually when they complain that a black movement or a women's movement 'excludes' them, it does so for the very good reason that oppressed groups need to define the terms of their struggle themselves. Apart from the common-sense reasons such as the obvious one that a disabled person will be better-placed to understand the experience of being disabled than an able-bodied person, it's really hard to get a word in edgewise when a critical mass of privileged men start a pissing contest which (inadvertently or otherwise) pisses all over your conversation.
When any of this is challenged, we're told that there are no leaders, which seems to mean that there is no accountability. Fine, whatever - does that really stop the most prominent spokespeople from condemning it?
We're told to keep quiet because we're playing into the hands of the right, or because it's all a conspiracy (Assange, anyone?).
I realise that I'm hardly the first person to write about this (see here, here and here) . It's just that I'm surprised that when I talk about it all, it's such a surprise to so many people. I don't think that some people in the Left feel like they have to do much more than buy fair-trade coffee a few times or test-drive a hybrid car, and go along to the Occupy sites and tell women of colour off for being divisive, or exclusive, or just, well... female while applauding Julian Assange, in order for them to feel like genuinely right-on all-round awesome peeps. I wonder whether men who slap women down using misogynistic language for daring to comment on these issues recognise the irony of becoming so angry that a mere woman has disagreed with them.
Until the Occupy movement contains a substantial majority of people who check their privilege, who don't act as though homeless women deserve to be raped on Occupy sites and who get on board with the idea that there might be people in the world who are even more oppressed than they are, I'm going to assume that the slogan "We are the 99%" reflects the fact that globally, men own 99% of property.
Because they don't speak for me.
In a fortnight, I'm back in London for the Reclaim The Night march. It's the only woman-only one I'm aware of, and I've never been before. I'm really looking forward to it.
This time last year, I was homeless in a B&B with my family, and I coped with the whole thing because I had to. I made it fun for my children because obviously that was the sensible thing to do. As the year's landmarks come up (Halloween, for example) I'm finding that it's now hitting me just how extremely shitty it was.
To get to the point, I had to ask in writing for permission to go to London and attend the Feminism in London conference this time last year. I had to ask my tutor (on a distance course I'm doing) to vouch that it would be relevant to my studies. I wouldn't have been able to say the same about Reclaim The Night, so I didn't even try to go.
Now, before any outraged Daily Hate readers get all up in arms about this, I should point out that at no point were state benefits wasted on my leftist pinko beliefs that women shouldn't be raped. At no point was our 'palatial' ... erm... bedroom left empty because I was off pursuing the ridiculous ideal that women might one day free ourselves from oppression. My patriarchal keeper/ex was there inhabiting it while Saving The Planet in his research job. The one the funding ran out for, hence the homelessness.
It was all saved up for in a worthy manner befitting my status, and booked and paid for before we knew we were going to lose our home.
For a disabled woman living in poverty, I am relatively privileged. My parents are university-educated. I went to a private school with small class sizes, where we were encouraged to question things. I have a degree. I'm articulate (when the fibro-fog hasn't deleted half of my vocabulary). I even had elocution lessons, for fuck's sake.
It was still tricky just to organise everything so I could obtain permission to go to a political event. I'm not talking about transport, or access, or meals or accommodation or the conference costs - just being allowed to go.
This is technically the case for homeless people in scatter flats/temporary accommodation (which, by the way, is three times the cost of a council flat just so the government can pay someone to come and make sure you haven't sub-let to a marching band or whatever it is us profligate homeless sorts are meant to be in the habit of doing) although you might find that the odd overnight absence is overlooked.
But back to the B&B - as well as having to be in the accommodation at 10pm every night, and leaving our room (with 3 children, in the rain - fun times) for cleaning every day... As well as being banned from even bringing a bottle of beer into the place to use in beef stew... As well as having to be up and out of bed to eat breakfast every day (and dressing three children before my limbs have warmed up from their aching stiffness - thanks, fibromyalgia - you just keep on giving)... I found it really awkward and actually humiliating to do what I had to do in order to engage in politics and activism.
So when I noticed that the voices speaking out within the Occupy movement were overwhelmingly able-bodied white men, I thought that maybe it was just because other people have more of a struggle to access the kind of event where our voices can be heard.
Then I learnt that actually when homeless people did turn up at Occupy sites, people within the movement complained that they were taking advantage of the facilities.
I learnt that when women turned up, people either shouted them down or made photomontages to objectify them.
And I learnt that when women are raped at Occupy sites (which has happened a number of times now, most recently in Philadelphia) those rapes aren't taken seriously enough. A statement might be released to say, effectively, "what a shame, but still - homeless women will get 'assaulted' " or in Baltimore a pamphlet was actually released telling everyone that if they happen to be raped, they ought to refrain from contacting the police and should instead tell the Security Committee who will "supply the abuser with counselling resources".
here
The Occupy movement - if nothing else, it helps men to feel better after they rape people.
I thought that maybe it was symptomatic of the fact that some people within the Left have somehow assimilated the mainstream myth that feminism had achieved its aims and that there were other, more important struggles - race equality, for example (I have no idea why people put so much mental energy into denying the fact that we live in a rape culture where women are routinely objectified and oppressed, but I'm trying to be charitable here).
But then I learnt that when activists within Occupy Philadelphia organised a Black Out to protest racist insults and comments from other Occupy protesters, they were called divisive.
here
Who seriously goes along to a demonstration claiming to represent 99% of the population, stands by while people make racist comments and then whines when they're excluded from a discussion among people of colour?
And then, on Saturday, I met someone I know who was leading a workshop at Fem11 and then going off to Occupy with a Southall Black Sisters banner and some other SBS women. She is definitely an actual real (and brilliant) person.
When I checked Twitter, I saw that the very existence of an SBS banner at Occupy was deemed so dreadfully exclusive that it justified a torrent of racist and sexist abuse from a number of different men. This happened to people I know. I can't even entertain the idea that it's all a conspiracy. I get that there'll be the odd bad apple (by which I mean nasty abusive bigot) but what I don't get is the way other people just let them get on with it.
I don't think it's that the movement is inherently racist. I don't think that anyone plans it. But it seems that whenever a type of oppression is brought up with which white men cannot identify, you get this kind of nonsensical pseudo-argument - "The year is 2011. We celebrate black history month in February (or 365 days a year if you eat at McDonald's), we have affirmative action, White Gen X'ers, who make up a noticeable chunk of the protestors, grew up with an agenda that celebrated blacks while shunning whites. In other words, racism is no longer a white-man's ordeal, it is the reciprocal. I love all people, but if you associate yourself with an incidental situation and demand appreciation, you are no less racist than those who did/do the opposite. Think about it. Stop the hate."
here
White able-bodied middle-class men seem to have seized upon the rhetoric of inclusion without thinking for a moment of the fact that actually when they complain that a black movement or a women's movement 'excludes' them, it does so for the very good reason that oppressed groups need to define the terms of their struggle themselves. Apart from the common-sense reasons such as the obvious one that a disabled person will be better-placed to understand the experience of being disabled than an able-bodied person, it's really hard to get a word in edgewise when a critical mass of privileged men start a pissing contest which (inadvertently or otherwise) pisses all over your conversation.
When any of this is challenged, we're told that there are no leaders, which seems to mean that there is no accountability. Fine, whatever - does that really stop the most prominent spokespeople from condemning it?
We're told to keep quiet because we're playing into the hands of the right, or because it's all a conspiracy (Assange, anyone?).
I realise that I'm hardly the first person to write about this (see here, here and here) . It's just that I'm surprised that when I talk about it all, it's such a surprise to so many people. I don't think that some people in the Left feel like they have to do much more than buy fair-trade coffee a few times or test-drive a hybrid car, and go along to the Occupy sites and tell women of colour off for being divisive, or exclusive, or just, well... female while applauding Julian Assange, in order for them to feel like genuinely right-on all-round awesome peeps. I wonder whether men who slap women down using misogynistic language for daring to comment on these issues recognise the irony of becoming so angry that a mere woman has disagreed with them.
Until the Occupy movement contains a substantial majority of people who check their privilege, who don't act as though homeless women deserve to be raped on Occupy sites and who get on board with the idea that there might be people in the world who are even more oppressed than they are, I'm going to assume that the slogan "We are the 99%" reflects the fact that globally, men own 99% of property.
Because they don't speak for me.
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