freedom

if we are not free now, we are not free at all. freedom is not something we fight for. it is something found within and spreads like wildfire.

a real woman

You are a member of society
You are a member of reality
Do you think it's time that you are called upon?
Do you think it's time that you are seen to be you?

You are real, you exist
You are sane, you're alive
You are here, you are fine
You are you, because you're real

Do you think a lot about the world today?
Do you think a lot about what to say?
Everything you say, it should be listened to
Everything you say, well, it should be understood

You are real, you exist
You are sane, you're alive
You are dreaming, you're a person
You are happy, because you're real

Please show me what it's like to be real
Please show me what it's like to be you
Everything, that is, including me
That's how it is in reality
Everything, that is, including you
That's how it is in reality

Do you have an edge of satisfaction?
Do you have an air of satisfaction?
I want you to tell me that it's what I'm worth
I want you to tell me that I'm significant

You are real, you have feelings
You're important, you have feelings
You are worth it, you have feelings
You're really real, you have feelings
You are real, you exist
You are sane, you're alive
You're impressive, you're important
You are smoking, because you're real

genderqueer

I identify as genderqueer. This is both a personal and political identity. I reject society's need to categorize us into feminine and masculine roles that limit our human ability to be authentic. Why must we live up to these standards of being a 'real' man or the 'perfect' woman? I say we are more than these categories, and we can only achieve authenticity when we can break free from gender roles.

Feminism was and is the idea that gender roles are oppressive and limiting. I respect second wave feminism and radical feminism and have read many from that time period. I have learned a lot from them and continue to read them. I have read Dworkin, Firestone, Wittig, de Beauvoir, Carol Hanisch, Sarah Lucia Hoagland, radicalesbians, etc.

I understand that the queer movement suppresses and/or ignores the needs of women and those assigned female at birth (i.e. ‘girls’). How often do we hear about transwomen but not of transmen? How often do we hear of the needs of gay men, but not of lesbians? Those assigned female at birth are ignored and dismissed because under a system of patriarchy the concerns of "girls" are second to men.

However, I do believe that the queer movement has validity, and I respect them just as much as I respect feminism. They have given us a language to speak about breaking down these barriers of femininity and masculinity, to diffuse these roles so that others can take them up and transform them.

Firestone says, “The sex role system divides human experience; men and women live in these different halves of reality; and culture reflects this.” She goes on to argue that women need to be fully integrated into larger society… that women’s role in society need to be diffused into the wider culture so that women are no longer oppressed by their roles as mother, wife and sex object.

The queer movement to me is one process that is conducive to this process… they are attempting to break down these strict, oppressive identities where all females are to embody femininity while all males are to go along with masculinity. A queer identity allows for difference, something other than what has been possible to imagine.

It is not the queer movement that I have a particular problem with. It is a system based in heterosexism I have a problem with…

Our entire society is built around the suppression of women and ‘deviants.’ Even feminism is not free of it. Women’s oppression is a societal problem, not just the problem of individual movements.

existence and subordination

"Bound to seek recognition of its own existence in categories, terms, and names that are not of its own making, the subject seeks the sign of its own existence outside itself, in a discourse that is at once dominant and indifferent. Social categories signify subordination and existence at once. In other words, within subjection the price of existence is subordination." -Judith Butler

I would argue that these gender categories give us a sense of existence, a way of feeling we are real. For example, I identify strongly with being a lesbian queer feminist. The way I dress, the way I move and act and talk is informed by this. It is a political act because we know that what we think of as personal is in fact also political. It is a political and personal act because it helps define us and find others who identify similarly or find others who are open to us. When we identify as something or present ourselves a certain way, we are sending out a signal to others about what we do with our bodies (even if erroneously). Gender can also be subversive when it breaks norms. For example, I break what it means in our society for a female to be a woman. I have short hair, wear men’s clothing, often don’t shave nor wear makeup, and identify as a lesbian. Because I break these norms, my identity is often questioned, often even to the point of harassment. This is because my identity is not supposed to exist. Only “straight” “women” and “men” are supposed to exist. Everything outside that is subordinate, deviant.

Yet, this identity is also oppressive, as all identities are a type of subordination, whether you identify as “straight”, “man”, “woman”, “gay”, “trans”, etc. A gendered identity is an oppressive identity because gender is a mechanism of perception that automatically categorizes us, even falsely. We are caught up in something our language has defined for us. And our language is caught up in heteropatriarchy. Under an oppressive society, our language is oppressive, therefore those identities formed under that language are oppressive. As someone who identifies as a “lesbian,” I am caught up in a heteropatriarchal identity that can never fully define me nor my sexuality. Same goes with “queer” and any other identity formed under heteropatriarchy.

Heteropatriarchy is obsessed with categorizing our gender and sexuality so that it may keep us under a system of subordination instead of allowing us our full fluidity. 

fear

witches

I'm trying to learn more about the history of the witch burnings during the 1500-1700. This was an historical event that delegitimized and wiped out women healers (i.e. witches) in order to establish the male medical model. These healers were once respected members of society, but a smear campaign began in order to gain power over healing. This new model of medicine took over and professionalized healing, barring women from entering the profession since only men were allowed to be trained. Women were allowed back in but only as helpmates, who we recognize today as nurses.