DOCSLIB.ORG

Intersectionality: T E Fourth Wave Feminist Twitter Community

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Intersectionality: T E Fourth Wave Feminist Twitter Community #Intersectionality: T e Fourth Wave Feminist Twitter Community Intersectionality, is the marrow within the bones of fem- Tegan Zimmerman (PhD, Comparative Literature, inism. Without it, feminism will fracture even further – University of Alberta) is an Assistant Professor of En- Roxane Gay (2013) glish/Creative Writing and Women’s Studies at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A recent Visiting Fel- This article analyzes the term “intersectional- low in the Centre for Contemporary Women’s Writing ity” as defined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (1989, and the Institute of Modern Languages Research at the 1991) in relation to the digital turn and, in doing so, University of London, Zimmerman specializes in con- considers how this concept is being employed by fourth temporary women’s historical fiction and contempo- wave feminists on Twitter. Presently, little scholarship rary gender theory. Her book Matria Redux: Caribbean has been devoted to fourth wave feminism and its en- Women’s Historical Fiction, forthcoming from North- gagement with intersectionality; however, some notable western University Press, examines the concepts of ma- critics include Kira Cochrane, Michelle Goldberg, Mik- ternal history and maternal genealogy. ki Kendall, Ealasaid Munro, Lola Okolosie, and Roop- ika Risam.1 Intersectionality, with its consideration of Abstract class, race, age, ability, sexuality, and gender as inter- This article analyzes the term “intersectionality” as de- secting loci of discriminations or privileges, is now the fined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in relation to the overriding principle among today’s feminists, manifest digital turn: it argues that intersectionality is the dom- by theorizing tweets and hashtags on Twitter. Because inant framework being employed by fourth wave fem- fourth wave feminism, more so than previous feminist inists and that is most apparent on social media, espe- movements, focuses on and takes up online technolo- cially on Twitter. gy, social media outlets like Twitter provide an unprec- edented means for solidarity and activism; moreover, Résumé tweets can reach not only hundreds, but also tens of Cet article analyse le terme « intersectionnalité » tel que thousands, of people in a single moment (for example, défini par Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw en liaison avec #BringBackOurGirls and #fem2). This analysis refer- le virage numérique : il affirme que l’intersectionnalité ences such broader examples as a means to contextual- est le cadre dominant employé par les féministes de la ize the fourth wave, but for practical purposes is mostly quatrième vague et que cela est surtout évident sur les concerned with the hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewom- réseaux sociaux, en particulier sur Twitter. en. The popularity and polarizing effect of this hashtag underscores the feminist need for an online platform like Twitter because it serves as an instigative, activist tool amenable to intersectionality. Adopting intersec- tional feminism as my methodology, I argue that the fourth wave is characterized by an intersectional fem- inist framework, exemplified when analyzing the dis- courses on racism, feminism, and online representation presently taking place in the Twitter community. Supplementing the lacuna in scholarship, in what follows, I provide a much needed genealogy and trajectory of fourth wave feminism, which situates the Atlantis 38.1, 2017 54 www.msvu.ca/atlantis movement in relation to the first, second, and third vak 1999; Mohanty 1988, 2002). Second wave feminist waves. Fourth wave feminism, the foundation of which concepts, such as woman, oppression, and patriarchy,3 is laid by the works I outline in the first section, fights were perceived as problematically universalizing and oppression like racism and sexism via an intersectional essentializing. Distancing itself generationally from the feminist lens that 1) considers social media (e.g., Twit- second wave (see Walker 1992), the movement radi- ter) an indispensable and essential tool and 2) strong- cally challenged binary, hierarchal positions as cultur- ly resists separating the offline from the online. Taking ally constructed; for instance, the categories and con- into account both race and gender as identity markers, structions of sex and gender. The reconceptualization the second section considers Crenshaw’s work over the of sex and gender (including discourses on queerness last two and a half decades and develops a definition of and transgenderism), a decolonizing of feminism (call- intersectionality that is suitable for the fourth wave. In ing for heterogeneity and a politics/complexification the third section, which makes up the majority of this of location), and a reclaiming of femininity and beauty article, I offer a detailed analysis of how the aforemen- culture in the name of girl power or girlie feminism be- tioned hashtag #solidarityisforwhitewomen, by propa- came key attributes of the third wave (Knappe and Lang gating meaningful and necessary critical dialogues on 2014, 364). Additionally, early theorizations, particu- race, feminism, and online representation, evidences larly Donna Haraway’s (1986) groundbreaking work on that intersectionality is the political impetus and theo- the cyborg, launched a robust feminist inquiry into dig- retical framework employed by fourth wave feminists. ital culture, cyberliterature, and cyberworlds.4 Contrary to studies that trace the origin of the A Genealogy of the Fourth Wave movement to 2008 (Baumgardner 2011, 250; Phil- While many scholars, such as Judith Roof lips and Cree 2014, 938), the fourth wave in fact com- (1997), do not like a simplification of feminism into menced with the new millennium (see Kaplan 2003; waves, this delineation proves useful when situat- Peay 2005; Daum 2006). Defined in relation to the 2001 ing the fourth wave in North American and British terrorist attacks on the United States, psychothera- feminism.2 Typically, the first wave fell between 1840 pist and activist Kathlyn Schaaf, for example, began or- and 1920 (Phillips and Cree 2014, 936) and focused ganizing women on her website Gather the Women as a on women’s suffragism, legal rights (marriage, prop- call for world peace. Shaaf’s website on 9-11 prompted erty), and political representation. The movement journalist Pythia Peay (2005) to claim, “the long-await- gained public momentum via speaking, demonstra- ed ‘fourth wave’ of feminism [is]—a fusion of spiritu- tions, militant protests, and incarcerations. The sec- ality and social justice reminiscent of the American ond wave, meanwhile, began roughly in the 1960s civil rights movement and Gandhi’s call for nonviolent and centered on egalitarianism and activism related change” (59). The term, however, did not reach a main- to 1) sexuality and reproductive rights; 2) wages, ed- stream audience until 2008. In “The Feminist Reawak- ucation, jobs, and domesticity; and 3) visibility in art, ening: Hillary Clinton and the Fourth Wave,” Amanda history, science, and other disciplines. In all three ar- Fortini (2008), a leading journalist, brought acute sex- eas, “The personal is political,” became an important ism and gender-centric issues to the forefront (42). The message for collective consciousness raising (Phillips pernicious sexism Hillary Clinton experienced during and Cree 2014, 937). Unlike the first wave, which was her campaign to be the Democrat’s candidate in the US predominantly fought by and for middle-class white presidential bid, Fortini argues, (re)politicized many women, the second wave crossed over into other women and created a new anti-postfeminist collective identity markers and political demarcations, such as consciousness (43).5 At this time, online representation race, class, and sexuality, but arguably continued to and digital technology as the organizing and conscious- marginalize these voices. ness raising tool of the fourth wave feminist movement Confronting this marginalization head on, the replaced 9-11-centric discussions.6 third wave began in the 1980s with postmodern, cyber, Surprisingly, between the years 2008 and 2013, anticolonial/postcolonial, and transnational perspec- the movement gathered scant attention in academic tives (see, for example, hooks 1990; Haraway 1991; Spi- and popular publications. Still in its early development, Atlantis 38.1, 2017 55 www.msvu.ca/atlantis scholars were quick to identify feminism online, but the fourth wave is “defined by technology: tools that were reluctant to articulate exactly what the role of the are allowing women to build a strong, popular, reactive internet and other digital technologies was, as Deborah movement online” (n.p.); and, today, one would be hard Solomon (2009)’s interview with Jessica Valenti, co- pressed to find a scholar who did not believe that so- founder with Vanessa Valenti of the most widely read cial media, used as a public forum, is the defining fea- feminist publication at the time Feministing.com, dem- ture of the new wave. Beginning with Cochrane’s ideas, onstrates. Consider Solomon surmising: “Maybe we’re written on the cusp of 2014, the movement has since onto the fourth wave now” and Valenti’s casual reply gained momentum. Like Cochrane, current scholarship “Maybe the fourth wave is online” (n.p.). This skepti- suggests the fourth wave is accomplished in part by a cal attitude is also reflected in cultural critic Jennifer return to the street. That is, more so than the third wave, Baumgardner’s (2011) final chapter in F’em! Goo Goo, the fourth wave is energized
Load more

Recommended publications
  • An Intersectional Feminist Approach
    GUIDING PRINCIPLE 1 AN INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST APPROACH An intersectional approach to feminism acknowledges that while women share similar experiences of discrimination, harassment, sexism, inequality and oppression on the basis of their sex and gender, not all women are equally disadvantaged or have equal access to resources, power and privilege. An intersectional approach to feminism requires analysis and action that is not only gendered, but considers how other forms of systemic oppression and discrimination – such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia or ableism – can intersect with and impact on women’s experiences of gender, inequality, discrimination, harassment, violence or abuse. In the context of addressing violence against women, an intersectional approach recognises that the way women experience gender and inequality can be different based on a range of other cultural, individual, historical, environmental or structural factors including (but not limited to) race, age, geographic location, sexual orientation, ability or class. This approach also recognises that the drivers, dynamics and impacts of violence women experience can be compounded and magnified by their experience of other forms of oppression and inequality, resulting in some groups of women experiencing higher rates and/or more severe forms of violence, or facing barriers to support and safety that other women do not experience. DVRCV stands in solidarity with and supports work that addresses other forms of discrimination and oppression. We actively promote and give voice to this work and support those leading it to consider gender in their approach, just as we consider how our work to address violence against women can challenge other forms of oppression that women experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Intersectionality and Feminist Politics Yuval-Davis, Nira
    www.ssoar.info Intersectionality and Feminist Politics Yuval-Davis, Nira Postprint / Postprint Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: www.peerproject.eu Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Intersectionality and Feminist Politics. European Journal of Women's Studies, 13(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506806065752 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter dem "PEER Licence Agreement zur This document is made available under the "PEER Licence Verfügung" gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zum PEER-Projekt finden Agreement ". For more Information regarding the PEER-project Sie hier: http://www.peerproject.eu Gewährt wird ein nicht see: http://www.peerproject.eu This document is solely intended exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes for your personal, non-commercial use.All of the copies of Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument this documents must retain all copyright information and other ist ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter Gebrauch bestimmt. Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial müssen alle Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute auf gesetzlichen Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses or otherwise use the document in public. Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke conditions of use. vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an.
    [Show full text]
  • The Variety of Feminisms and Their Contribution to Gender Equality
    JUDITH LORBER The Variety of Feminisms and their Contribution to Gender Equality Introduction My focus is the continuities and discontinuities in recent feminist ideas and perspectives. I am going to discuss the development of feminist theories as to the sources of gender inequality and its pervasiveness, and the different feminist political solutions and remedies based on these theories. I will be combining ideas from different feminist writers, and usually will not be talking about any specific writers. A list of readings can be found at the end. Each perspective has made important contributions to improving women's status, but each also has limitations. Feminist ideas of the past 35 years changed as the limitations of one set of ideas were critiqued and addressed by what was felt to be a better set of ideas about why women and men were so unequal. It has not been a clear progression by any means, because many of the debates went on at the same time. As a matter of fact, they are still going on. And because all of the feminist perspectives have insight into the problems of gender inequality, and all have come up with good strategies for remedying these problems, all the feminisms are still very much with us. Thus, there are continuities and convergences, as well as sharp debates, among the different feminisms. Any one feminist may incorporate ideas from several perspec- tives, and many feminists have shifted their perspectives over the years. I myself was originally a liberal feminist, then a so- 8 JUDITH LORBER cialist feminist, and now consider myself to be primarily a so- cial construction feminist, with overtones of postmodernism and queer theory.
    [Show full text]
  • 171 Subverting Lévi-Strauss's Structuralism
    Humanitas, 2020; 8(16): 171-186 http://dergipark.gov.tr/humanitas ISSN: 2645-8837 DOI: 10.20304/humanitas.729077 SUBVERTING LÉVI-STRAUSS’S STRUCTURALISM: READING GENDER TROUBLE AS “TWISTED BRICOLAGE” Anlam FİLİZ1 Abstract This article critically analyzes Judith Butler’s presentation of Claude Lévi-Strauss in her book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1999). In this book, Butler criticizes feminists for employing Lévi-Strauss’s binary oppositions and their use of the sex/gender binary in their critique of patriarchy. Butler’s analysis provides a fruitful lens to understand how gender operates. However, as the article shows, this analysis relies on a misrepresentation of Lévi-Strauss’s take on these dualities. Employing Lévi-Strauss’s term “bricolage,” the article reads Butler’s misinterpretation as a twisted form of bricolage, which destabilizes certain assumptions in Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism. The article presents an example of how Lévi-Strauss’s structural theory has influenced not only feminist theory but also its critique. The article also aims at providing an alternative way to understand influential gender theorist Judith Butler’s misinterpretation of other scholars. 171 Keywords: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, twisted bricolage, structuralism, subversion LÉVI-STRAUSS’UN YAPISALCILIĞINI ALTÜST ETMEK: CİNSİYET BELASI’NI “BÜKÜLMÜŞ BRİCOLAGE” OLARAK OKUMAK Öz Bu makale, Judith Butler’ın Cinsiyet Belası: Feminizm ve Kimliğin Altüst Edilmesi (1999) adlı kitabında etkili yapısal antropolog Claude Lévi-Strauss’u sunuşunu eleştirel bir şekilde analiz eder. Bu kitapta Butler feministleri, ataerkil düzen eleştirilerinde Lévi-Strauss’un ikili karşıtlıklarını ve cinsiyet/toplumsal cinsiyet ikiliğini kullandıkları için eleştirir. Butler’ın analizi, toplumsal cinsiyetin nasıl işlediğini anlamak için verimli bir mercek sağlar.
    [Show full text]
  • Gendering (Bi)Sexuality by Laura Honsig
    EHJVolume IX: Issue IISpring 2017 Gendering (Bi)Sexuality ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Laura Honsig In the United States we often associate the decade of the 1960’s with “free love” and radically liberated notions of gender and sexuality. Yet fascinating discussions around gender and sexuality were also happening in the early- and mid- 1970’s, ones that illuminate not only the evolution of movements and ideas during these decades, but also our own historical moment. This paper, which relies on primary sources, situates questions of sexual object choice, gender non-conformity, racialization, and “bisexuality” in the historical moment(s) of the 1970’s. These histories also have important connections to the contemporary moment of LGBT identities. I argue that today both bisexuality and transgender, while certainly acknowledged as labels that fit with lesbian and gay in a certain sense, are treated discursively and materially differently than the latter two, so often violently. For this reason, the last section of my paper draws connections between the 1970’s and the present. The decade of the 1970’s provides important perspectives for understanding how the currents of this earlier
    [Show full text]
  • Making Women Visible B2 B2+
    Making women visible B2 B2+ Instead of accompanying her colleague Anne McClain on a spacewalk, NASA astronaut Christina Koch (centre) found herself assisting McClain and astronaut Nick Hague (left) into their spacesuits on 22 March 2019. Nasa 1 In March, 2019, NASA created a lot of publicity around the first all-female spacewalk by astronauts on the International Space Station. For the first time, two women would venture outside the station together to carry out repairs. Then the agency had to embarrassingly cancel the walk — because the ISS only had one spacesuit that would fit 5 women. This was a particularly public manifestation Most products are made of a depressingly common phenomenon. for a standard male, known According to Caroline Criado Perez’s new 15 as a 50th percentile male in book Invisible Women, we live in a world the U.S.A.: 1.77m tall and 10 that is literally made for men. And the 76kg in weight. And most results of that vary from annoying to data on risks is collected downright dangerous. about the standard male www.speakeasy-news.com - June 2019 B2 B2+ Making women visible - article & questionnement 1 20 (for example the risks of exposure to breasts. Not only is that uncomfortable, it chemicals in the work environment). 60 means the vests rise up on women, leaving Often, even if a manufacturer wanted to them unprotected around the waist. take women (or non-white people) into consideration, there is no data to base Help: 1. risk 25 changes on. CALLING SIRI But even if there is data, it doesn’t It’s not just men’s size that is used as a necessarily get taken into account.
    [Show full text]
  • Feminisms 1..277
    Feminisms The Key Debates Mutations and Appropriations in European Film Studies Series Editors Ian Christie, Dominique Chateau, Annie van den Oever Feminisms Diversity, Difference, and Multiplicity in Contemporary Film Cultures Edited by Laura Mulvey and Anna Backman Rogers Amsterdam University Press The publication of this book is made possible by grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Cover design: Neon, design and communications | Sabine Mannel Lay-out: japes, Amsterdam Amsterdam University Press English-language titles are distributed in the US and Canada by the University of Chicago Press. isbn 978 90 8964 676 7 e-isbn 978 90 4852 363 4 doi 10.5117/9789089646767 nur 670 © L. Mulvey, A. Backman Rogers / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2015 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Contents Editorial 9 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 15 Introduction: 1970s Feminist Film Theory and the Obsolescent Object 17 Laura Mulvey PART I New Perspectives: Images and the Female Body Disconnected Heroines, Icy Intelligence: Reframing Feminism(s) and Feminist Identities at the Borders Involving the Isolated Female TV Detective in Scandinavian-Noir 29 Janet McCabe Lena Dunham’s Girls: Can-Do Girls,
    [Show full text]
  • Transnational, Third World, and Global Feminisms
    1 Transnational, Third World, and Global Feminisms Ranjoo S. Herr Encyclopedia of Race and Racism (second ed.). Routledge, 2013 Check with the original to verify italics Third world, transnational, and global feminisms focus on the situation of racial-ethnic women originating from the third world (or the South), whether or not they reside in the first world (or the North or West). This entry refers to these women as ―third world women.‖ Most second- wave white feminisms in the West—liberal, radical, psychoanalytic, or ―care-focused‖ feminisms (Tong 2009)—have assumed that women everywhere face similar oppression merely by virtue of their sex/gender. Global feminism as it first emerged in the 1980s was largely a global application of this white feminist outlook. Third world and transnational feminisms emerged in the 1980s and early 1990s to challenge this white feminist assumption. These feminisms are predicated on the premise that women‘s oppression diverges globally due to not only gender, but also race, class, ethnicity, religion, and nation. Therefore, third world women suffer from multiple forms of oppression qualitatively different from the gender oppression experienced by middle-class white women in the West. Third world and transnational feminisms are distinct, however, not only in their origins and outlooks, but also in their goals and priorities. This entry begins by examining the genealogies of these feminisms, in the process of which their differences will be identified. It then explains four main characteristics that these feminisms share. After reviewing some instances of third world, transnational, and global feminist activities, the entry concludes by suggesting a way to resolve a potential conflict between the local and the universal facing third world, transnational, and global feminists.
    [Show full text]
  • B E N N I N G T O N W R I T I N G S E M I N A
    MFAW PUBLIC SCHEDULE June 15–24, 2017 NOTE: Schedule subject to change All faculty, guest, and graduate lectures and readings will be held in Tishman Lecture Hall, unless otherwise indicated. All evening Faculty and Guest Readings will be held in the Deane Carriage Barn. Thursday, June 15 7:00 Faculty & Guest Readings: Kaitlyn Greenidge and Amy Hempel Friday, June 16 Graduate Readings 4:00 Alexander Benaim 4:20 Andrea Caswell 4:40 Michael Connor 7:00 Faculty & Guest Readings: Benjamin Anastas and Mark Wunderlich 8:00 Historical Presentation: Lynne Sharon Schwartz: “Historic Recordings of Great 20th Century American Authors Reading their Work.” Deane Carriage Barn Saturday, June 17 Graduate Lectures 8:20 Ashley Olsen: “50 Shades of Consent: Sexual Desire and Sexual Violence in Contemporary Short Stories.” This lecture will examine tests from contemporary female authors including Mary Gaitskill, Margaret Atwood, and Roxane Gay. 9:00 Katie Pryor: “Persona & Violence in Ai’s Cruelty & Iliana Rocha’s Karankawa.” Both of these poets use persona poems to explore violence. What is powerful about this poetic device? How does the persona poem involve the reader and interrogate our notions of self? We’ll explore the connections and differences between these poets and their first books. 9:40 Karen Rile: “The Bad Writing Competition: Introducing Narrative Distance to Undergraduates.” A technique-centered workshop that offers coordinated readings and prompts can help beginning writers focus on discrete, achievable goals. But demonstrating smooth narrative distance shifts presents a practical challenge in an undergraduate workshop setting. The Bad Writing Competition, or mastery through parody, is a deft solution—with some unexpected ancillary benefits.
    [Show full text]
  • MIAMI UNIVERSITY the Graduate School
    MIAMI UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Certificate for Approving the Dissertation We hereby approve the Dissertation of Bridget Christine Gelms Candidate for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________ Dr. Jason Palmeri, Director ______________________________________ Dr. Tim Lockridge, Reader ______________________________________ Dr. Michele Simmons, Reader ______________________________________ Dr. Lisa Weems, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT VOLATILE VISIBILITY: THE EFFECTS OF ONLINE HARASSMENT ON FEMINIST CIRCULATION AND PUBLIC DISCOURSE by Bridget C. Gelms As our digital environments—in their inhabitants, communities, and cultures—have evolved, harassment, unfortunately, has become the status quo on the internet (Duggan, 2014 & 2017; Jane, 2014b). Harassment is an issue that disproportionately affects women, particularly women of color (Citron, 2014; Mantilla, 2015), LGBTQIA+ women (Herring et al., 2002; Warzel, 2016), and women who engage in social justice, civil rights, and feminist discourses (Cole, 2015; Davies, 2015; Jane, 2014a). Whitney Phillips (2015) notes that it’s politically significant to pay attention to issues of online harassment because this kind of invective calls “attention to dominant cultural mores” (p. 7). Keeping our finger on the pulse of such attitudes is imperative to understand who is excluded from digital publics and how these exclusions perpetuate racism and sexism to “preserve the internet as a space free of politics and thus free of challenge to white masculine heterosexual hegemony” (Higgin, 2013, n.p.). While rhetoric and writing as a field has a long history of examining myriad exclusionary practices that occur in public discourses, we still have much work to do in understanding how online harassment, particularly that which is gendered, manifests in digital publics and to what rhetorical effect.
    [Show full text]
  • Women of Meghalaya and Kyriarchy
    Pramana Research Journal ISSN NO: 2249-2976 WOMEN OF MEGHALAYA AND KYRIARCHY Puspita Das1, Ayuta Mohanty2* 1Professor, College of Community Science, Central Agricultural University, Tura,Meghalaya. Email- [email protected] 2Lecturer in English, C.V. Raman College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar. Email- [email protected] ABSTRACT: The most common word that comes to our mind when we hear the word oppression is ‘patriarchy’. But one more term that is also associated with oppression is ‘Kyriarchy’. Coined in 1992, it tries to include the people who are privileged in one aspect and oppressed in another aspect. This pattern of being privileged and oppressed at the same time has attracted the critics to analyse such situation. Similar situation can be found in the state of Meghalaya. Meghalaya comprises of various tribes and is matrilineal and matrilocal in nature. So in a way, the women of Meghalaya are privileged than women across the country. But they are also oppressed by the men of their tribes. This combination of being both suppressed and privileged makes them an ideal example of ‘Kyriarchy’. This paper analyses the condition and situation of women of Meghalaya under the scanning lens of Kyriarchy. The privileges that they have has been analysed and the suppression that they suffer simultaneously has also been highlighted. KEYWORDS- Kyriarchy, Meghalaya, Women, Oppressed, Privileged INTRODUCTION: The word ‘Kyriarchy’ was coined by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza in 1992 “to describe her theory of interconnected, interacting and self-extending systems of domination and submission, in which a single individual might be oppressed in some relationship and privileged in others”1.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking Feminist Ethics
    RETHINKING FEMINIST ETHICS The question of whether there can be distinctively female ethics is one of the most important and controversial debates in current gender studies, philosophy and psychology. Rethinking Feminist Ethics: Care, Trust and Empathy marks a bold intervention in these debates by bridging the ground between women theorists disenchanted with aspects of traditional ‘male’ ethics and traditional theorists who insist upon the need for some ethical principles. Daryl Koehn provides one of the first critical overviews of a wide range of alternative female/ feminist/feminine ethics defended by influential theorists such as Carol Gilligan, Annette Baier, Nel Noddings and Diana Meyers. She shows why these ethics in their current form are not defensible and proposes a radically new alternative. In the first section, Koehn identifies the major tenets of ethics of care, trust and empathy. She provides a lucid, searching analysis of why female ethics emphasize a relational, rather than individualistic, self and why they favor a more empathic, less rule-based, approach to human interactions. At the heart of the debate over alternative ethics is the question of whether female ethics of care, trust and empathy constitute a realistic, practical alternative to the rule- based ethics of Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill and John Rawls. Koehn concludes that they do not. Female ethics are plagued by many of the same problems they impute to ‘male’ ethics, including a failure to respect other individuals. In particular, female ethics favor the perspective of the caregiver, trustor and empathizer over the viewpoint of those who are on the receiving end of care, trust and empathy.
    [Show full text]