Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: feminism

  • Four Sources of Information for Activists

    Four Sources of Information for Activists

    If you’re reading this (and TMM in general) I wanna bet you already pretty politically active and relatively socially aware of what’s going on in the World. Great! So now what? Sit back and join the marches, protests and sign petitions when they land on your doorstep? Well no…

    I hold a strong belief that role of an activist is part practical grunt work (i.e. attending rallies, calling up representatives, voting, advocacy work etc.) and part personal education. In short, getting up and doing your homework on social issues.

    “But Ria, am I not woke already? Can I just go on with the knowledge that I got?”

    Well sure, but issues and society changes everyday. Which means you’ve got to keep topping up your knowledge bank all the time. Sound overwhelming? It can be, but here are three solid sources of factual and critical information to keep you on on top of your activist game.

    Everyday Feminism

    Website // Twitter

    “We want to live in a world where every person (and we mean every single person) is treated with respect, directs their own lives, and reaches their full potential.”

    Established in 2012, Everyday Feminism are an online magazine dedicated to educating the World on feminist issues. Whilst the organisation are US-centric, their articles do aim to be as general as possible, focusing on a huge breadth topics and issues for both novice feminists just dipping thier tow in the water of activism, to well established activists.

    The one thing I really adore about EF is they aim to be as inclusive as possible through their use of language, illustrations and imagery, which often feature a range of sexualities, genders, ethnicities and abilities. Because of their inclusive nature their a fantastic resource for people just getting to grips with new and maybe uncomfortable topics. Their writers are also great at calling out all kinds of privilege whilst providing a space for people to learn and grow in their knowledge.

    Favourite content:

    The Establishment

    Website // Twitter

    “The conversation is much more interesting when everyone has a voice. Media funded and run by women; new content daily.”

    Not your run of the mill website full of essays, The Establishment are a website which champions diverse journalism, creativity in all forms and fact based reporting. Funded by their community, their writers cover topics such as politics, society, relationships, the arts, psychology, and so much more. Anyone can pitch to them (and their writers get paid!), which means there’s a massive range of voices on their platform to pick and choose to read.
    Whilst I especially love their knack for great investigative journalism, in this sour world of awful news their Wit & Whimsy section never fails to put a smile on my face.

    Favourite content:

    Bitch Media

    Website // Twitter

    “Bitch Media is a nonprofit, independent, feminist media organization dedicated to providing and encouraging an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture.”

    Launched as a magazine back in 1996, today Bitch Media are an organisation dedicated to giving a frank, feminist responses to popular culture. As well as producing their quarterly magazine, Bitch also publish daily articles on their website, produce weekly podcasts, and work with students and educators through writing fellowships and programs.

    Bitch are always the quickest off the mark for me when it comes to well written yet critical responses to everything from movies, tv shows, fashion, politics, podcasts, music, gaming, advertising, and a whole host more. As an organisation that is over 20 years old now, there’s plenty of archival content to delve right into, but I especially would recommend listening to their weekly Popaganda and Back Talk podcasts as a good starting point. They are also entirely community funded – I myself am a member of the B-Hive!

    Favourite content:

    Media Diversified

    Website // Twitter

    “Media Diversified is a young and growing non-profit organisation which seeks to cultivate and promote skilled writers of colour by providing advice and contacts and by promoting content online through its own platform.”

    And finally, one from the UK! Media Diversified is one of my favourite resources on all things representation and issues affecting people of colour. Launched online in 2013, they’ve cultivated an impressive archive of work from all ethnicities with a main focus on UK media. The organisation champions creators of colour through several different outlets including their Experts Directory, the launch of Bare Lit Festival and Jhalak Prize, and by calling out misguided (often racist and problematic) news stories in their annual Trashies awards.

    Favourite content:

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    These are obviously just a handful of resources, but I’d love to find more. So leave some of your favourite places to get info as an activist!

    Ria Xx

  • Your Faves Are Problematic | Why Celebrity Feminism Is Flawed

    Your Faves Are Problematic | Why Celebrity Feminism Is Flawed

    Emma Watson. Chimamanda Ngozi Achide. Selma Hayek. etc. etc. What do all these women have in common?

    They all self identify themselves as feminists. They have all also coincidentally for different reasons have come under fire for their narrow views on feminism.

    There’s no doubt we’re well into the current wave of the feminist movement, especially in a post-Brexit/Tr*mp society. And whilst the negative stereotypes and stigma surrounding the idea of calling yourself a feminist still (sadly) exists, you are now more likely to see public figures aligning themselves with the cause than not.

    But what happens when your fave gets it wrong?

    In the past few weeks alone we’ve had author Chimamanda Ngozi Achide’s recent comments on transgender women. Model and women in STEM advocate Karlie Kloss called out for cultural appropriation (again…and again) in a recent editorial spread in Vogue. Actress Salma Hayek speaking over comedian Jessica Williams at a Sundance Talk celebrating Women filmmakers (oh the irony). Emma Watson pulled out to clarify her criticism about Beyonce and women’s sexuality.

    Again and again our ‘feminist heroes’ fall and we’re left asking, were they even that much of a feminist in the first place?

    There are obvious ways to be a bad feminist *cough* Kelly-Ann Conway, Lena Dunham, Caitlyn Jenner *cough* and we should absolutely hold people accountable for harmful language and behaviour.

    However, when it comes to some celebrity feminists, the problem with holding them as your sole role model for feminism is that their viewpoints will be inherently limited. They are just one person. They will never be the perfect advocate for the cause because their knowledge is restricted to what they know best and sometimes that means they will have gaps in their understanding and knowledge. And the feminist movement cannot rely on one or two celebrities to speak on behalf of everyone.

    So who do we look to instead?

    Here’s what I did after watching Achide’s Channel 4 interview . I was initially confused about how I should process her viewpoints. Achide is, after all, the women who was quoted in Beyonce’s Flawless, has written incredible books on the black experience and championed women in literature. And yet, here she is, making problematic statements and coming back with an equally problematic and defensive apology.

    Instead of trying to navigate this gap in my knowledge through the voices of other cis-feminist writers, I turns to the trans community. I read articles, I listened to their views and I started following them online. They are now my point of call on these topics. They are the people adding to my knowledge bank, not Achide. I can still reference Achide when looking for voices about the black experience, but she should not be the person to call upon when talking about trans-women because she is not trans.

    It’s an age old statement but feminism is not feminism unless it is intersectional. And we must all look outside celebrity feminism in order to get a more rounded picture of what our definition of feminism looks like. We need to seek out the marginalised voices and listen to their opinions, their stories and their experiences. We must be responsible for filling the gaps in your knowledge.

    So the next time you decry ‘Ah my fave is so problematic’, don’t fret. By all means call them out, but look outside that bubble of opinion. It’s only when you seek outside that bubble that you’ll find the accurate depictions of who feminism is fighting for.

    — — —

    Let me know in the comments how you’ve dealt with the viewpoints on ‘celeb feminism’

    Ria Xx

  • ‘We’: An evening with Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel | Highlights

    ‘We’: An evening with Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel | Highlights

    Last Friday I popped along to the SouthBank Center in London to hear actress and activist Gillian Anderson and decorated journalist Jennifer Nadel give a talk in celebration of the release of their book ‘We: A Manifesto For Women Everywhere‘.

    The book was a co-authored by both women and faces the ‘have-it-all’ mentality, challenging women to question what actually makes them happy and fulfilled. ‘We’ also focuses on the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration between women, especially during difficult periods of our lives.

    Moderated by Women of the World Festival Founder, Jude Kelly, the talk though obviously focused on feminism covered a range of topics including mental health, the work/life/family balance and Anderson and Nadel’s own experiences of breakdown within their respective careers.

    I could go on and on about how inspiring it was to be in that room surrounded by women listening to two very accomplished, honest and unapologetic women but here are just some of the highlights.

    Everyone is struggling

    A nice starting point at the beginning of the evening was both Anderson and Nadel speaking very honestly about their respective breaks in their mental health. From raising children, to facing physical scrutiny and pressure to look good, and dealing with an intense mental breakdown, both women were applauded for opening up about their struggles. The point they wanted to make was that despite their numerous achievements listed out by Kelly at the beginning of the talk, they too had the same doubts and fears as many women and that many women we meet in our everyday lives will also be facing those same struggles.

    “We should allow ourselves to be bad at things.”

    My favourite quote from the night, came from Nadel. A self-confessed former workaholic, Nadel’s quote was in response to a woman expressed her concerns of finding time to keep up appearances and juggle everything in her life. She emphasised that, yes, there will be circumstances when you need to be good at things, but perfection is essentially an unobtainable goal.

    “Hateful internal thoughts are normalised in society.”

    This was a recurring theme of the evening and another interesting point made by Nadel on how harmful our ‘Inner Critic’ can be. Whilst the scars of self-doubt and criticism aren’t visible, thoughts like these are a type of self-harm on our mental state and so scarily normalised in society.

    “Only when we are truly alone can we know ourselves”

    Loneliness is often a topic not covered by talks on feminism, but both women spoke frankly about their experiences with isolation throughout their lives. Anderson in particular talked about how she use a hectic schedule to almost mitigate spending any time alone by herself. She remarked at how many of us may feel scared to spend time with ourselves

    The future is female

    Both women also spoke about how inspired they are by the work young people are doing to change the World and one of the most poignant parts of the evening was a question from a 14 year old girl who unfortunately felt as if her efforts and actions for feminism were going nowhere. The advice given was less on how to become a more active – as I’ve seen many times before – but actually that her efforts were enough and that she as a person was enough. In a World that demands us to stand up and speak out all the time, I think we forget that we cannot expect to change the World by ourselves. We can do our best and that’s should be good enough.

    — — —

    As I mentioned these were just some of the highlights from the night. The whole evening was a fantastic forum of open conversations on feminism. I certainly came away feeling wholly inspired by both Anderson and Nadel, and the many women who were so frank when asking their questions.

    Ria Xx