Responding Post: Curious and Surprised Feminism

When reading Enloe's chapters "Being Curious about Our Lack of Feminist Curiosity" and "The Surprised Feminist," I was confused to why we didn't read this first before we started Enloe's book. However after reading her introduction, I felt it was a good way to end our class, to summarize most of the topics we have discussed and read about as well as to inspire/motivate us to look at the world more critically and to question the meaning of the words society has used to justify many actions. Enloe's first chapter hones on the theme of curiosity—for us to be genuinely curious about the socially constructed ideas most of us take so lightly or view as the norm/the way things are suppose to be. Enloe encourages us to see pass terms like "natural," "tradition," and "always/oldest"—for us to see how systems such as patriarchy, the military, and others have taken on forms such as nationalism, security, etc. and through this view of the systems, society tends to neglect the gender aspect that goes along with these topics. Society forgets about how masculinity affects women as well as how femininity reaffirms masculinity, how patriarchy has cages women, etc. Given the example for cheap labor being called instead as labor made cheap, is a great example of how society usually don't see pass the surface of situations and simply take things as it is without and inquiry for the deeper picture (i.e.: why women work in sweatshops, how has that come to be the case). 

Chapter 1 of Enloe's book focus on the theme of surprised feminism. And after reading this chapter in addition to all of our other reading I think back to the conversation we had in our earlier class about the connotation and denotation of the word "feminist." Besides the connotations we have heard from people, the media, etc about feminist, I do not think we have come to a one definition of what it means to be a feminist. From our readings we see that in fact their isn't one definition but that there are many forms or ranges of feminist. However, the common theme that I see among the authors who see themselves as a feminist is the elements Enloe expresses in her two chapters: curiosity and surprise/courage. All of our authors started off being curious of life, women studies, society as a whole, and etc. And from the curiosity and critical lens on the world they have been surprised by many things but were all able to develop in the way they wanted and how they wanted to impact the world or bring their perspective into conversations. At the end of the day, all these feminist not only have a greater awareness of our society, but most of them, see a better understanding of themselves and what role they have to bring about/ spark a new mindset or environment for all. Overall these two chapters were a great way to end our course and lead a window open for further exploration about women and gender studies.          

Caroline Potoclicchio's Main Post

In Enloe’s introduction, she introduces the book with the topic of curiosity. She talks about how it takes a lot of energy to be curious, which is a completely valid statement. She talks about many ideas that we are complacent with such as the adjective “natural.” She writes, “Generals being male, garment workers being female- it saves mental energy." She is saying that many people think this is natural. She then talks about tradition and how “Americans have always loved guns… Women have always seen other women as rivals.” She wants to present to her readers in this introduction that we can’t be satisfied with our natural tendency to assume such things. She talks about how she used to be complacent with the term “cheap labor” but then her curiosity, intellect, and fellow feminists lead her to realize that this term turned around has a whole lot more of a meaning: “Labor made cheap.” She also refers to the term patriarchy in her introduction. She writes that “patriarchy is the structural and ideological system that perpetuates the privileging of masculinity.” You can find these patriarchal values everywhere including hospitals, schools, militaries, banks, police departments, factories, legislatures corporations etc. these values downgrade the feminine. She states that it is not just the men who play into the patriarchy, but the women who accept it, and the jokes, gestures and rituals that go into it. She believes that patriarchy is just as abundant as nationalism, patriotism, and post war reconstruction. However with more feminists on the rise, patriarchal systems are less assured for success then ever. Enloe wants to spread the message to keep this progress coming.

 

In Enloe’s “The Surprised Feminist”, she talks about surprise. She didn’t want to claim any predictions among the progress of Feminist and gender issues going into the 21^st century because she knows that certain scenarios have invoked surprise in her. She states that surprise is “an undervalued feminist attribute.” Enloe talks about certain gendered situations that have surprised her over the years such as the NATO-ization of human rights, the rise of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the success of the Women’s National Basketball Association, the appearance of Russian women in brothels in Thailand and Israel, the Columbine High school massacre in Colorado etc. She talks about how in the classroom when a student asks her something that stirs up confusion, she is tempted to lead the discussion in a way that concurs her point, but instead she deals with her surprise in a way that facilitates class discussion between everyone as they explore new ideas. I think that this term of surprise has the synonym of openness, and I think both these terms connect back to curiosity in the introduction. My opinion is that a curious person likes to explore new ideas leading them to be open and prepared for surprise, because they are not the ignorant type to only go along with their own ideas and beliefs. I really enjoyed how Enloe didn't just talk about herself and her success in the introduction and first chapter, but rather put a spin on things and talked about the qualities it takes to be a good feminist, and how she will never be perfect.

A Vicious Cycle

I really like Cynthia Enloe's writing style. She did a good job of addressing her readers and mixing her own beliefs with more factual, professional writing. I was intrigued by her chapter "The Surprised Feminist" and found myself really enjoying her writing style as I read through the chapter. Like Enloe, I was surprised about the subjects she was addressing. However, the most surprising part of the chapter was the short excerpt about a fifteen year old girl, Rachel Wesseh, joining one of Liberia's insurgent armies after her mother was raped (on page 15). She is quoted saying, "'I was hurting so deeply. So I became a fighter. What was I doing with my life here, anyway?'". At first I found it honorable she joined the army because of what happened to her mother. But as I read on I became more worried about this girl's choice. Her reasoning was that she was enraged by her mothers rape, and didn't really have anything else happening in her life. Like many of the writers in Leading The Way, personal reasons drove Wesseh to become active in fighting for women's rights and what she believed in. However, joining the army ended up seeming like the wrong choice for her.

The blurb continued on to say that there were a lot of instances of rape in the army and that Wesseh even had a man "looking after her" that referred to himself as her "boyfriend". This immediately raised my eyebrows. If this man is trying to protect her why wouldn't he choose a nickname that represented a more protective relationship than "boyfriend" (such as father or brother) and did not have any sexual connection. Wesseh tried to create change, but I fear by joining the army she just created a larger opportunity for her to get raped, like her mother. More and more reports of sexual abuse by men are appearing in these forces. It is a vicious cycle. Wesseh's mother gets raped, so she joins the army to help fight back; but by doing so creates an opportunity for her to get raped, re-living the pain and emotional trauma her mother must have went through. I am saddened to think that this is occurring. The government needs to take a more influential role in preventing these rapes and also should encourage citizens to fight against them as well. There should be a safe haven for girls and women who have been sexually abused and a safer way to fight this reoccurring tragedy.

Leading Post: Greenstone, Attenello, Pruce

"Learning the Meaning of One" by Jessica Greenstone
An incident in Greenstone's childhood has lead her to dedicate her life to be a social justice educator and an activist. When Greenstone was in elementary school, she encountered a moment with her friends at lunch where her friend made a stereotypical comment about Jews people. As a Jew person herself, Greenstone was offend by both the comment and the reason her friend used to say the comment did not apply to her; this is what Greenstone learned to be called "re-fencing," making her an exception from the stereotype thus clearly creating a divide between "them" and "us." Looking back at the situation Greenstone acknowledge that she did not handle it correctly; instead of challenging and correcting the view her friend had, she made it worse by fighting fire with fire (replying with mean comments).

In addition to this event, the Jewish history (the Holocaust) led Greenstone to see education as a vital battleground to make sure history does not repeat itself. School is a place where students spend most of their time and a great place to promote good social justice principles and address various "isms." As I am taking an education course this semester, I am constantly reminded about the potential big role schools can have in fostering tolerance, acceptance, and respect for those who are different from what we are used to. However, we see a trend of how sex education, sexuality, and religion are pushed out of education because they are not socially accepted ideas or these topics infringes upon certain group of people's rights. Schools continue to breed and perpetuate intolerance and the same structural bias people have. As Greenstone points out that we all have biases "because we have been deeply affected on an unconscious level by societal messages and values" (80) she see education as a place where we can realize the the connection between our differences. 

Greenstone goes to further provide examples of sexist and gender stereotypes she have encountered in her life and job. With these examples it signifies the much need for society to be an active participants of changing the world and promoting a society conducive to all. To promote a greater understanding for difference so that we do not hold so much biases, stereotypes, and misconceptions about people because of their religion, race, gender, sexuality, age, etc.

"Navigating Identity Politics in Activism" by Allison Attenello
Dissatisfied with the lack of representation of women leaders in her course readings, Attenello went to discover these historical women with leadership position on her own with the help of a professor. Once she discovered these works of literature that demonstrated the power and abilities of women, she was proud to embraced her inner feminism. While Attenello understands that difference groups of people can be connected through similar experience, she is also aware of the role that race, socioeconomic status, social and cultural backgrounds are strongly influential in a person's choice of action and strongly correlated to power. Her fond interest and awareness of using these elements as the lens to see the relation between identity and power has resulted in a narrow perspective. While working as an vice president in an activist group for Mexicans tackling issues they sought to be most urgent, Unidad de New Brunswick, Attenello was confronted with how her racial, economic, social and cultural identities did not coincide with the faces of the group. She felt that because she was a white middle class highly educated women, her status did not fix well with the agenda of this group. After a while, with this reasoning alone with the reason that the agenda of the group was not what she intentionally wanted to focus on (violence against women), Attenello decided to resign from her position. From this experience, she discovered her that while although it is important to participate in organizations that does not represent your own community, at the same time being a part of such organization can also defeat the purpose of the agenda. Overall, Attenello sees her role in making social changes.

While I see Attenello's concern, I am not sure if I agree with her concern about being a part of a group that does not represent your community. I think if you are in it for a cause that your support than regardless of all the factors, Attenello is aware of, should not be factors that hinder her passion to help out just because she is different (racially, education wise, socially) from the group. I guess it should be more about the goals rather than the people of these goals.       

"Blurring the Lines that Divide" by Shira Pruce
Pruce discusses her realization of the power that leadership holds. Through her many experiences-- traveling, college, and activism--she also discovered the bias that she has; and through working with different people she has bias on (i.e. Palestinian women and the Christian women), Pruce learned how to control these bias and learn from it, which furthering adding to her personal development and guiding her to her passions.
           

Caroline Potoclicchio's Resonding Post

Greenstone’s “Learning the Meaning of One” really struck me because I am currently trying to major in psychology, and she touches upon a lot of psychological terms. Her experience as a little girl in middle school was a typical conversation that could occur on any day. One of her friends said, “All Jews are snippy and obnoxious.” Greenstone happened to be Jewish and she got upset and took her anger out on the girl instead of trying to influence a change in her beliefs. However, after studying the psychology of prejudice in college, she understands the difference of in-group and out-group. Being apart of an in group allows you to connect over some similar value or belief while considering all of the people in your group different from one and other. When an in group is looking among people of an out-group, that are not apart of their identity, they will associate those people as all being the same person, just as Greenstones friend did about Jewish people. It is also common within sororities and fraternities. The girls of their own sorority view each other as a diverse group of young ladies but when looking at another sorority that may be a rival they view them all the same, rich, bitches, weird etc. Greenstone goes on to talk about her experiences trying to prevent genocide, and her position at ADL in New Jersey (Anti Defamation League). 

In Attenello’s “Navigating Identity Politics in Activism, she talks about how New Brunswick New Jersey’s population is primarily made up of the Rutgers student population (40,000) and the Latino community of immigrants and illegal immigrants. After posing this fact, she goes into the rape cases that were occurring in New Brunswick. She found that the excerpts about the rape cases primarily focused on the Rutgers women’s students and initiatives were taken to prevent students from being raped, whereas little focus was applied to the Latino women. Lupe “spearheaded” a march for the Mexican community to protest the “marginalization of Latina rape victims.” She discussed how Mexican women are vulnerable when walking home late or early in the morning because they don’t have a safe alternative when it comes to travelling. I thought this point was very interesting and sad at the same time. It is upsetting to me that just because a Latina woman can’t afford to travel, and puts in the effort to walk to work every day, she has the most vulnerability to get raped. I think that in order to prevent rape that is high among certain cities, they should provide a hotline taxi service of volunteers who are willing to pick people up. 

Pruce’s article is actually very similar to Greenstone’s. She talks about her identity as a Jew and the responsibility she felt to prevent genocide, like Hitler’s Holocaust, from happening again. She wanted to “grow up and change the world.” I think that all three of these articles connect well with each other because they all provide insight on each woman’s identity and what they wanted to change among their community and the world. They were active people with goals in reach and they all were able to achieve them.  All three of them majored in women’s studies.

One Jewish Stereotype

While reading Jessica Greenstone's article titled "Learning the Meaning of One: Reflections on Social Justice Education" I found myself thinking about my own experiences with stereotypes about Jewish people. I was very interested to hear how she had become involved in social justice, however it was sad that negative stories lead her to where she is today. Her opening story about Lisa insulting Jewish people and stereotyping them reminded me of an incident in my own life.

The town I grew up in, Newton, is predominately a Jewish neighborhood. When I was younger I never really noticed this until highschool when one of my friends referred to my neighborhood as "jewton". I was immediately taken back by this. He used the term so causally like it was the real name of the town. Ever since that day I have noticed more and more people using the term as a joke, though I do not think it is funny.

Another incident Greenstone's article made me think of was during a friends birthday. A few girlfriends and I were all pitching in to buy our friend a present for her birthday. However, one of my friends Sarah only gave 10 dollars, where as everyone else gave 25. When I told my friend Alice that Sarah had not given as much as everyone else, she replied "well obviously she's a jew" in the most nonchalant way like it was the most obvious answer ever. I scolded Alice for saying this. Sarah was jewish, but that did not mean she didn't give enough money because she was jewish. Later I talked to Sarah about the birthday gift and asked why she had only given 10 dollars. She told me that it was because she had gotten into trouble with her parents and they wouldn't give her any money, and all she had was 10 dollars. Alice had been wrong. Sarah had given all the money she had, and was not under any circumstances being "cheap". I was ashamed of Alice, I felt like she had wronged her friend.

It is a common stereotype to call a Jewish person "cheap". I think that people are too casual about this stereotype. People seemed to be focused on scolding stereotypes against different races, where as religious stereotypes often are overpassed or deemed not as important. It is unfair to ignore the stereotypes Jewish people face. I know the next time I hear someone say "jewton" or refer to someone being cheap because they are Jewish, I am going to speak out against it. I think it is unfair and that in order to create change, people must start on a small scale by trying to change the way their friends or relatives think of Jewish people.