Tavi Gevinson on female representation in the media

I found this really inspiring - I hope you do too!

Stop, Look and Listen: Feminist Security Studies and its Bright Future

Though I'm no expert in feminism, I think it's safe to say we've seen strides in reframing the way people think about women's issues. The recent Steubenville rape case brought justice to the victim and persecuted the perpetrator. Women are no longer excluded from combat in the US military. Women's rights came to the forefront of the 2012 elections. Grassroots movements like Slutwalk and student-led sexual assault protests across university college campuses have been sprouting since 2011.

Now I know that each of these examples pose and have posed other consequences that conflict with Feminist Security Studies. Yes, women can now serve all positions in the military, but how is that an answer to mediating hegemonic masculinity and violence in the US military system? Of course, the Steubenville rape case was a win for proving that the absence of "no" is not consent, but what about the sympathetic media portrayal of these sexual offenders? Even though women's rights were at the center of the political process during elections, were they truly being acknowledged or just used as tactical strategies for winning over female voters? And do these student movements correctly and effectively bring forth these women's issues to the political conversation?

The silver lining amidst these flaws and imperfections, I think, is the fact that these issues are more visible than they were even five years ago. Women's issues are featured on TV, print sources like newspapers and magazines, and most definitely the Internet - especially on blogs like this one! We have the great pleasure of accessibility to free publishing via social media and have the power to spread the feminist perspective that early feminists didn't have - and I think this is largely why these issues have risen to the front of politics in recent years. The feminist perspective is more prevalent than it once was. No one can pretend that women's issues don't exist. No one can pretend that Feminist Security Studies isn't a "real thing." The truth is that more feminist narratives are put out there, and - despite the fact that there is indeed tension when someone even tries to mention feminism in conversation - society is growing more comfortable with acknowledging the feminist perspective.

Maybe it's not that more people are willing to stop, look for and listen to the feminist narrative, but it's definitely becoming more visible... and maybe even unavoidable. People are now given a plethora of information to see that the intersectionality of our identities truly affect our experience of the world - all women do not necessarily share the same kinds of oppression (Wibben 2011, p. 107). We already see change domestically in the framework of the United States (hoping that breaking the record of women elected into our legislative branch will soon begin to change things!), so perhaps this is the first stepping stone into looking past our borders and pursuing feminist narratives in International Relations as well. If we continue to progress in the way we already are, it may not be a far reach from getting a hand in IR - but before we do so, society must continue to "develop a willingness to listen and to consider another view of the world" (Wibben 2011, p. 111).

I should acknowledge, however, that this is coming from my perspective - my narrative. I am, after all, in the lovely city of San Francisco, and also a college student in an institute with a largely liberal population. I always wonder if my views are skewed simply because I'm in one of the most liberal parts of the country - but I digress. I still would like to believe that Feminist Security Studies is moving towards a brighter future, and I hope I get to learn more about it and grow with it as the time comes.

Wibben, A.T.R. (2011). Feminist security studies: A narrative approach. London, Routledge.

Cynthia Enloe's Visit

Cynthia Enloe is the most adorable speaker I think we've ever had at the Davies forum AND for my entire college career! She was so pleasant and seemed genuinely interested in our class; I didn't feel intimidated by her presence, but definitely felt her intelligence and knowledge from both her work and our discussion. I think she might be one of my favorite speakers to date!

Enloe's book, Nimo's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War talked about the effects of war also including gendered dimensions in marriage, motherhood, women's sexuality, women's access to education and work. Her stories about the different perspectives and circumstances of women - from Nimo and her beauty salon to Charlene, the mother of a US serviceman, were eye-opening and informative about the different facets of the Iraq War. Like with Anu Bhagwati, I only had a minimal understanding of the Iraq War and its effects on women; I've learned about the Iraq War in my US Foreign Policy class, but we focused more on the systematic result of United States' approach.

Enloe's visit to our class, however, focused a little less on her book, but more on the concepts of writing and the reasons why she wrote the book, as well as the process. It was interesting to learn about her politics of choosing a title, as well as the way she retrieved information in order to write the perspectives of these women. I appreciated her insight into writing, as well as her explanation of her experiences in academia. I also loved how she divulged in how she got into feminist research in the first place - it was very humbling of her to admit that the chaos and unease of doing difficult research was common for anyone, even the experts themselves.

Anu Bhagwati's Visit

Having Anu Bhagwati visit our class was a very enlightening experience. I have little to no knowledge of the military, with only a superficial and basic understanding of the military system. I knew that most servicemen had to endure vicious top officers and grueling physical exams in order to become one of the nation's defenders - but that was the extent of my knowledge.

Before she came into visit, we were required to read three of Bhagwati's articles, all of which focused on female soldiers in the military. Her first article, "Representing Women Soldiers in the Media" focused on empowering female officers rather than depicting them as what she terms "America's victims." Bhagwati highlights how media sources often describe women as innocent victims in the war instead of giving the same reportage as male officers. She continues this idea of irresponsible media representation in "The Unheard Victims of the 'Invisible War'" in which she draws attention to military rape being framed as solely a women's issue - namely white women's issue, in the way the movie depicted white women as the primary victims of rape. Her third article, "Women's Movement and For Whom" talks about her entry into the women's movement and writes about the importance of advocating for the mistreatment of women in the service.

Her visit to our class recounted what she wrote about in "Women's Movement and For Whom" - she talked mostly about her experience working as Executive Director of SWAN, as well as her first-hand experience in the military: the oppressive forces of male counterparts, the double-standards in from the physical exams right down to the kinds of uniforms they used, the way rape cases were handled, etc. The most striking thing of our discussion was about rape - equating the prevalence of rape on American college campuses to the prevalence of rape in the military system was astounding. Hearing that such an esteemed institution of our nation perpetrated and covered these kinds of crimes, not only on our soil but also in other countries, is truly eye-opening and maddening!

Davies Forum Workshop Reflection

I really, really LOVED this workshop! I'll admit I was a little apprehensive at the beginning - it's both exciting and extremely intimidating to meet and maintain a discussion with such intelligent feminist scholars when you only have very basic knowledge about feminism yourself - but after starting off with the drawing exercise, I felt a lot more at ease to discuss my ideas and ultimately saw this workshop as a different learning experience!

I was placed in the group with Elina, who facilitated the drawing exercise. I'm really into introspective activities, so being able to reflect quietly gave me the chance to center myself and my thoughts before launching onto a discussion. I also appreciated sharing our own drawings and ideas in smaller groups before sharing altogether. What I loved the most about this activity was that it was so simple, but apt in demonstrating the complex nature of violence itself - violence cannot be pigeonholed into one single definition. Like everyone's drawings, not one idea of violence was exactly the same, ranging from specific memories to abstract ideas. I definitely feel like drawing our ideas instead of just discussing them shed a different light on the subject that I hadn't thought about before.

All four speakers had so many interesting things to note - Sarai's discussion on Palestine and trying to figure out ways to spread awareness of women's issues was thought-provoking, as was Caron's ideas on "intimate terrorism" - her allusions to Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight, noting that women falling in love with their captors is often romanticized was eye-opening and definitely something I didn't notice before! I also loved Swati's questions of writing emotions into these political issues, owning up to our own experiences and bringing ourselves into writing - which was then further explained by Elena, acknowledging that often times, scholarly work encourages us to be objective observers, when in reality, we all are defined by our experiences and can never truly be neutral observers and reporters.

I also had the pleasure of having dinner with them too! We went to Zazie's (which was so delicious, oh my goodness, I can't even explain!) and I was able to talk to Caron more and listen to her experiences living and teaching in Scotland - something I was very interested in since I'm looking to study abroad in Europe, namely England, so I was able to get some bits of knowledge for future reference! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk with Swati and Elina as much as I would've liked to, but it was definitely an honor to sit and dine at the same table with them that night! All in all, this was an amazing experience - probably one of my favorite college experiences to date! Thanks, Davies!

Human Rights Film Festival: The Invisible War

After Anu Bhagwati visited our class, I admit to taking the cliche route and decided to watch The Invisible War. Prior to taking this seminar, I only heard about the movie from one of my Media Studies classes, but hadn't even thought twice about watching it - now I regret it! Hearing Bhagwati's encounters with such an inherently patriarchal power - from the double-standards between men and women's fitness exams, uniforms, available work positions, all the way to the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military - were astounding. Maybe it's because I maintained such a shallow and superficial understanding of the system (that these were men and women willing to serve the country in combat, put through intense and identity-breaking training), but it was almost shocking to hear so many stories of corruption result from what is usually regarded as an esteemed national institution.

One of the most daunting pieces of information Bhagwati shared with us was that the ratio of rape within U.S. college campuses and rape within the U.S. military were strikingly similar. This fact alone gave me something to relate to, something that hit close to home since I was already aware that sexual assault was something prevalent amongst my peers. The Invisible War furthered this awareness with a slew of scandalous statistics - that 20 percent of women in the military have reported sexual assault, the estimate that 80 percent of such assaults aren't even reported and affect both women and men as well. Even worse is that women are often penalized for alleging these sexual assaults, and though they are required to report these attacks, the perpetrators still go unpunished. Though these were issues that Bhagwati noted in class, it was heartbreaking to watch the movie and actually see the victims and hear their stories! With a face and a voice to attribute to these stories made it more difficult to fathom that these things go on within such a blindly-respected institution. Since hearing Bhagwati's stories, watching The Invisible War and taking this class in general, I've just felt angry - but a good kind of angry, that makes me feel both informed and gives me the drive to do something to help.

New Zealand's rape prevention campaign

Here's the link to the website - Who Are You?

The video's posted up on the homepage (I think there's really only one page, actually). I personally think it's one of the best rape prevention ads/campaigns I've ever come across! It's very well-done & frames the situation in a fairly unbiased, objective way.

Enjoy! :)

Art+Gender+Conflict - GWRF 3/4/13

The March 4th event of the Global Women's Rights Forum, Art+Gender+Conflict, focused on the works by Patricia Ariza, a playwright, director and actor from Colombia. Ariza was one of the founders of Teatro le Candalaria, a cultural theater house which largely showcased plays dealing with serious political and social issues of Colombian culture. According to Ariza, Colombia had been armed in social conflict for approximately 50 years, alongside issues of inequality, poverty and patriarchy. Women largely shouldered the burden of this conflict, whether as displaced workers or dehumanized and objectified to mere "booty" or "prizes" of war. Seeing this, Ariza was inspired to join the cultural resistance against this injustice via theater. About 22 years ago, she began a festival called "Invitacion Festival de Mujeres" to highlight women's issues in Colombia. The theater festival was done in association with other women's movements across the Colombia, as well as various social movements internationally.

Much of her emphasis on global involvement reminded me of transnational networks discussed in Cynthia Cockburn's From Where We Stand, such as the Women in Black, Code Pink and the East Asia-US-Puerto Rico Women's Network. Though the theater group began with only four or five groups of women participating, it rose to 65 groups in 2012. Ariza mentioned that large national and international mobilization was needed to draw attention to women's issues and truly enact change - that the "personal is political" and that it's important to strive for bigger and better events and movements.

Kronsell Case Study

Annica Kronsell's "Methods for Studying Silences: Gender Analysis In Institutions

of Hegemonic Masculinity" focuses on studying the "silent” oppression which

helps her to problematize masculinity and highlight instances of male hegemony

that may not be explicitly promoted. Kronsell's case study centers upon the

Swedish Armed Forces, in which she first looks to the "universal conscription"

(2006, p.113). Kronsell comments that the so-called "information problem," in

which the male proportion of the draft dropped, was never a problem when the

female proportion was not presented. She concludes that this reinforces male

hegemony - that men are therefore given a superior status to women as the

appropriate defenders of the nation and the only citizens capable of being

entrusted with knowledge concerning security and defense matters (p.113,

p.115). A second issue Kronsell highlights, is the use of language that maintains

"masculinities and the hegemony of men" (p.110) in the Swedish Armed Forces.

For example, military documents used terms like "officer" or "conscript without

explicit gender associations, but it was known socially that those roles belonged

to men exclusively (p.113). Other documents also never mentioned women,

which indicates that only men were considered "real" citizens (p.115). Another

group excluded fro the army is the "male" LGBT community (p.116).. Overall,

Kronsell found that women’s presence had a positive influence on the Armed

Forces. Among them, in line with Kronsell’s concern about silences, there was a

"shaping up" of language (p. 120): e.g., sexualized language was reduced as

pornographic images were taken down from bunks (p.120).

Kronsell, A. (2006) Methods for Studying Silences: Gender analysis in institutions

of hegemonic masculinity” In B. Ackerly, M. Stern and J. True (Eds.) Feminist

Methodologies for International Relations (pp. 108-128). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Maria, Kortney, Ienna

"Democratic Republic of Congo: Rape" summary

Ann Jones' chapter, “The Democratic Republic of Congo: Rape,” in War is Not Over When It's Over describes the long-standing situation of rampant sexual violence in the DRC, emphasizing the ripple effect of rape perpetrated by militias during conflict to the broader population. The situation is compounded, Jones illustrates, by a patriarchal culture that undervalues women and denies them their rights. She explains how a long history driven by a "privatization of violence" - wherein individual men rouse private armies and ethnic militias for personal wealth and power - ultimately reinforced a structure that normalizes rape and transforms the act from a problem of attacking the female body to a form of humiliation towards men. Though this rape culture stems from violence between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes of the DRC, it became such a norm that common citizens (including teachers, pastors and even fathers) also participate in these acts of abuse. Extraordinary statistics and anecdotes concerning the high amount of women raped, gang raped, and raped multiple times; the wide age range among girls and women raped; the physical and psychological effects of rape; and disastrous tendencies towards victim-blaming further demonstrate the extent of which women are dehumanized and devalued under men in the DRC. Much of Jones' interaction and research occurs through her experience in working with the Gender Based Violence division of the International Rescue Committee and the Collectif des Femmes de Kamanyola, a local DRC group dedicated to providing support to victims of sexual assault.

Jones, A. (2010). "The Democratic Republic of Congo: Rape." War is not over when it's over: women speak out from the ruins of war. New York: Metropolitan Books.

*** I have the Kindle version of this book, which, unfortunately, does not show page numbers! I'm not sure how to cite this since I have no clue where several of these quotes/paraphrased ideas are located.

Kronsell Case Study

Annica Kronsell's "Methods for Studying Silences: Gender Analysis In Institutions of Hegemonic Masculinity" focuses on studying the "silence" of oppression, problematizing masculinity and highlighting male hegemony that may not be explicitly promoted. Kronsell's case study centers upon the Swedish Armed Forces, in which she first looks to the "universal conscription" (113).  Kronsell comments that the so-called "information problem," in which the male proportion of the draft dropped, was never a problem when the female proportion was not presented. She concludes that this reinforces male hegemony - that men are therefore given a superior status to women as the appropriate defenders of the nation and the only citizens capable of being entrusted with knowledge concerning security and defense matters (113, 115). Kronsell also highlights the use of language that maintains "masculinities and the hegemony of men" (110) in the Swedish Armed Forces. The military papers stated the ambiguous "officer" or "conscript," in no way that directed any gender explicitly, but it was known socially that those roles belonged to men exclusively (Kronsell, 113). Also, in texts, women were never mentioned, so it also meant that only men were considered "real" citizens, and heads of the households (Kronsell, 115). Another group excluded fro the army is the "male" LGBT community (Kronsell, 116). There is no debate about changing traditions in the military. It was only until the military saw a decline in military soldiers that they contemplated having women join. Kronsell found that there was a positive influence in the Armed Forces by having women present there. One of the points found was that there was a "shaping up" of language (Kronsell, 120), especially since most language used is sexual, and pornographic images were taken down from bunks (Kronsell, 120). 

Maria, Kortney, Ienna