Blog

Writing from our collaborators

May 30, 2013
Renee Slajda

“Don’t Blame the Media, Become the Media”: Feminist Remix as Utopian Practice

For those of us who identify as feminists, being a consumer of mass media – whether willingly or not – is an often painful, infuriating, and downright exhausting experience. The limited and limiting images of women can make a trip to the movies or a simple ride on the subway into a cause for distress. […]

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May 21, 2013
Damini Mohan

Another World is Possible: Building the Ideal Community

The workshop “Another World is Possible: Creating Communities that Reinvent Ourselves as we Reinvent the World,” at The Scholar & Feminist 2013: Utopia, offered incredible insight into the process of creating a community based on ideas of equality and respect for diversity. Building utopia requires a complete transformation of the existing notions in society. The ultimate […]

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May 9, 2013
Zai Gilles

Transformational Learning at The Scholar and Feminist 2013

Everyone has had both challenging and positive experiences in the realm of education, from experiencing racism in the classroom to supportive professors. What allows for these positive experiences to take place? Dean Spade of Seattle University School of Law and activist Rickke Mananzala sought to answer this question during the Open Education workshop at The Scholar & Feminist 2013: Utopia conference. […]

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May 7, 2013
Shilpa Guha

Engaging the Production of Violence

This post is part of a series of reflections on the interdisciplinary winter seminar, “Mumbai At Home and in the World: Gender, Sexuality and the Postcolonial City.” BCRW Associate Director Catherine Sameh introduced the seminar in part 1, BCRW Research Assistant Nicci Yin reflected on occupying space in an urban environment in part 2, and Liz Gipson […]

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Apr 22, 2013
Michelle

Queering Utopia: Circus Amok! at the S&F Conference

“Stay cool, stay calm, you have the right to remain silent. / Don’t run, don’t resist, and get that badge number.” So goes the catchy and campy tune performed by Circus Amok! that teaches people what to do when they are stopped and frisked by police. A “New York-based, one ring, no animal, queerly-situated, political circus spectacular,” Circus Amok! has […]

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Apr 16, 2013
Liz Gipson

Safe Spaces, Queer Spaces & Public Spaces

This post is part of a series of reflections on the interdisciplinary winter seminar, “Mumbai At Home and in the World: Gender, Sexuality and the Postcolonial City.” BCRW Associate Director Catherine Sameh introduced the seminar in part 1, and BCRW Research Assistant Nicci Yin reflected on occupying space in an urban environment in part 2. Growing up […]

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Apr 15, 2013
Phoebe Lytle

Art with intention: visions of newness and reform

What do a quilt, a scarf, and a vision of a feminist Utopia all have in common? They are all at work changing the realities of our world. In the morning keynotes opening up this year’s 38th annual Scholar and Feminist conference “Utopia” we heard from several feminists at work changing the material realities of […]

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Apr 2, 2013
Dina Tyson

Strategic Scrapbooks: Media Sharing in the 19th Century

How do you save and share media? Do you have a Pinterest page for pinning images you like? Perhaps a Tumblr for reblogging others’ posts? Maybe you just add links to articles you found particularly poignant to your Bookmarks on Google Chrome. Indeed, with today’s technology, there are myriad ways to experience, share and hold on to media, be […]

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Apr 1, 2013
Patrice Daniel

An Open Letter to Caribbean Men on Gender-based Violence

Originally published by International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region at http://www.ippfwhr.org/en/blog/open-letter-caribbean-men-gender-based-violence Dear Caribbean Men, We do not have to smile for you. Our smiles are our own. Our lips are our own and our smiles are a celebration of our happiness. We do not have to smile on command. We are not pretty, little, Black dolls […]

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Mar 28, 2013
Carly Crane

The Wild, Wild West

When I offer the introduction: “I’m from North Dakota,” the usual answer is a snarky/incredulous, “People live there?” Well, I am standing before you, and I wasn’t exactly raised by buffalo, although that would be fun. I understand the reaction, and I don’t begrudge the occasional comparison to Siberia, because, in the scheme of the lives […]

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Mar 26, 2013
Nicci Yin

Occupying Space: A Transnational Feminist Dialogue

As a student of gender studies, a feminist, and someone who spent most of her life outside of the US, I wanted to be a part of the Mumbai seminar for the ways in which it brought my academic interests–feminism, postcolonialism, performance, transnationalism, etc.–into the context of a global South Asian city, somewhere that is “not-US”. I […]

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Mar 15, 2013
Jimena Valades

Gender-based Violence and Sexual Rights: Intersecting Forces in Women’s Lives

Originally published by International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region at http://www.ippfwhr.org/en/blog/gender-based-violence-and-sexual-rights-intersecting-forces-women%E2%80%99s-lives The 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women kicked off last week in New York. Its focus is on the elimination of violence against women and girls. Nine of the 45 countries that comprise the commission, tasked with negotiating an agreed conclusion document, hail from Latin America […]

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