The Feminist Collective Volume 1: Issue 1
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N E W S L E T T E R / / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 / / I S S U E 1 T H E F E M I N I S T C O L L E C T I V E IN THIS ISSUE COVER STORY THE YEAR 2017 FOR FEMINISM EDITORIAL WHOSE FEMINISM IS IT ANYWAY? FEMINISM 101:-A FEMINIST'S VOCABULARY UNSUNG WOMEN DID YOU KNOW THEM OR THEIR WORK? CROSSWORD "WHY SHOULD BOYS HAVE MISSION STATEMENT ALL THE FUN?" The Feminist Collective is a newsletter established by a group of diverse students who, united in their belief of an equal, free and inclusive world, give expression to their feminist opinion on a range of internal and external news and events. This platform is a space for the sharing of experiences and to amplify the many feminist voices that are so often silenced or sidelined. Through the process of writing, we are putting a frame to our own feminist perspectives and welcome input from others. Through the process of writing this newsletter and creating this platform, we strive to uphold the diverse strands of feminism wherein lies the overarching quest for equality. We are putting a frame to our own feminist perspective and welcome input in any for from others. CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME ON THE FOLLOWING: [email protected] 1 COVER STORY raised red flags a gainst an authentic portrayal of a woman on her period. When the depiction of menstrual cycles became taboo, it was an indication of a kind of censorship that respected no individuality of thought or the equality of the two sexes. Too protest this very intimation, Delhi saw the rise of the “Pinjra Tod” movement that was a protest against the severely restrictive curfews imposed on women hostels.The irrationality of the curfew was infuriating. The irrationality of the curfew timings was also a crystal- clear reflection of the gender bias The #Me Too movement urged that has been weakening the threads 2017 : A RUNDOWN victims to step up and declare the of a society built on deceptively OF THE YEAR FOR injustice meted out to them. It virtuosity ideals of equality and proved to be an act of inexplicable fraternity. FEMINISM freedom to many who embraced it. movement doesn’t guarantee The Harvey Weinstein accusations, immediate legal remedial measures, the tampon tax, the election of Donald When Tarana Burke first initiated but it promises a safe space, one Trump felt like a major defeat in this the #Me Too movement all the way that lets you share, listen and battle of feminism that we are leading back in 2006, little did she understand. And the evolution of anticipate the transformation of the movement proved that perhaps this phrase into a widespread there is no better way to go about movement with a raging pulse of its the process of healing. The year of own. We’ve lived in closed spaces 2017 was also the year of the for far too long, sealed off from the biggest women’s march in the world outside. We live behind history of mankind. locked doors and cleverly constructed lies. We try to conceal the rips in the fabric of this society by blocking them out of view.But #ME TOO the year 2017 shook us out of our CAMPAIGN reverie. Suddenly I was surrounded by victims of sexual assault, abuse After the 45th president of the and harassment.My neighbours, my United States of America was old class mates, the friend of a sworn into office, thousands of friend I once met at a social women marched as a sign of against the regressive system of gathering, my best friends, my protest.It was a refusal of being patriarchy that has entwined itself cousins and me, we were all victims silenced, it was, in fact, a sign of around our psyches, the choices we of misogyny draped in the proud the times we were living in, a sign make, the words we say, occasionally veil of power and violence. The of the times yet to come. The cornering us in a world of deceit and confessions of the victims crowded internet has been brimming with silence. But it’s always the darkest my newsfeed on my social media micro movements of its own.The before the dawn. The movements we accounts. These accounts that were “Free the Nipple” movement aims saw in 2017, of the women and for the once a platform for different people to remove the stigma attached to women, were an impaling of the to come together and acknowledge female bodies when publicly aforementioned system with swords of the vastness and the variety of the exposed to an audience unwilling courage and compassion. These swords world we live in, now became a to accept a rupture in the usual have now created a rupture in the terrifying window into the darkest societal norms. There was an normal, these swords have created a pitfalls of patriarchy, of gender uproar on a popular social media world away from the normal, a world roles seeped in relentless rigidity. platform when that platform aiming at creating a new normal. 2 WHOSE FEMINISM But I also realise that this wish of mine may be next to impossible. WE BELIEVE IS IT ANYWAY? Thus, I write this article to bring to If these truths have shaped us, the light some of the most fundamental idea that men and women are and To me, a student of English principles of feminism that I hold to should be equal in all walks of life is Literature, Simone De Beauvoir’s be true. Perhaps, the true nature of an idea that needs to be inseparable declaration of “ One is not born a feminism isn’t grounded in the from who we are.The most elementary woman, one becomes a woman”, is concepts of identity or ideology. definition of the feminist movement one of the most important Perhaps, it’s to do with a notion of describes feminism as the political, sentences written in the history of justice and humanity that is much social and economic equality of men English Language till date. I’m aware more innate than this selective and women. The internalisation of this that this is a contentious statement embracing of identities and definition metamorphoses it into a to make, simply because it may not ideologies. I only speak for myself guiding principle. There will be times strike a similar chord with everyone when I say that the principles of when radical feminism and cultural else reading this article or those equality and justice which form the feminism won’t see eye to eye and the reading Beauvoir’s book. Similarly, premise of the feminist movement essentialist argument won’t let you Kate Millet’s “Sexual Politics”, a text find their bearings in various sleep at night. But in these diverse prescribing to the notions of radical philosophies and social and strands upheld by this movement lies feminism received appreciation and political activism. For those who an overarching quest for equality. It is censure in equal parts. The second find it difficult to ascribe to an what you carry with you, the part of wave of feminism saw the rise of identity or ideology, ruled by the you that holds on to the unshakeable many branches of feminism. Each fear of such an adherence becoming belief that men, women whether cis or rooted in different contexts, each too restrictive, I suggest looking at transgender, deserve to be treated propounded upon by writers shaped the feminist movement as a call to equally, in all fairness, across the by those very versatile contexts. your rational selves. The very spectrum regardless of the economic These different branches of understanding of the functioning of class they belong to, irrespective of feminism were accompanied by the human race and collective the colour of their skin, that makes all conflicts and dilemmas of those psyche is rife with assumptions. We the difference. We choose to believe individuals who did not know which assume that we are rational, we in equality because we choose to type of feminism they agreed with assume that we are best equipped believe in being just. the most. My dilemma and conflicts to live as a community and we continue till date only to be assume that we work towards the intensified when exposed to this greater good. These are the truths diversification of the idea of the of the human race that we have We choose to believe in being human. If feminist movement. I want to be the chosen to believe in. not that, then maybe there are worse best kind of feminist, I want to demons yet to be conquered. embrace the most irrefutable kind of feminism to exist in this world of dogmas and identities. THE COVER STORY 3 Cultural appropriation: When members of a dominant or THE VOKE-ABULARY privileged group exploit the culture Androcentric: Dominated by or of a marginalized group, often emphasizing masculine interests or a without understanding the latter’s masculine point of view. According to history, experience, or traditions. the rules of androcentrism, men and In Australia, there was a period women alike are rewarded, but only during which it was common for insofar as they are masculine (e.g., they Aboriginal art to be copied by non- play sports, drink whiskey, and are Aboriginal artists, often marketed lawyers or surgeons). Meanwhile, men and sold as authentic. This led to a are punished for doing femininity and renewed movement to authenticate women… well, women are required to Aboriginal products.