Lately I have been very
interested in the idea of discrepancies within feminism. I read an article on
Thought Catalog, not the most credible source, but still engaging. The writer
had posed as a White Female Feminist (that may sound repetitive but there are
male feminists) who was angry with Asian women dating White men: http://thoughtcatalog.com/anne-gus/2014/03/asian-women-need-to-stop-dating-white-men/.
Many readers were enraged by the article and called the writer “racist”,
“ignorant”, or simply an “idiot”. However, they were missing the bigger
picture; “Anne Gus” the author of the article, was trying to subtly point out discrimination within feminism.
“White Men are in mass denial as to the severity of their illness, and
try to mask it as a preference. When interrogated, they give a number of
reasons and justifications as to why they suddenly begin crave girls of the
more Animé persuasion, the most common being ‘Asian women are more pleasant
than White women.’
Like, OMG?
Do you realize how rude that is to Asian Women? Being pleasant is NOT a good
trait, that’s a very Patriarchal way of thinking, being pleasant denotes that
you’re not fierce and strong like women should be. Asian women, how can you
tolerate this rhetoric being spouted about you?”
This excerpt
is a prime example of the brokenness in feminism today. White women dominate
feminism. I’m not saying that there are no women of color being represented,
but I can’t help but think of the fact that there are terms of “Black
feminism”, “White feminism”, and “Asian feminism” floating around. Women of
color not only experience sexism but also racism, as shown through the
satirical quote taken from the Thought Catalog article.
So in
regards to our class and the material we have covered thus far, I want to
address Feminism 101 presented in lecture. I think it’s important for us to
find equality within feminism, for feminism can’t truly be about bringing equal
opportunities to females when there are so many discrepancies within this
group. We must uncover more histories of women feminists of color as well as
create a unity by completely ruling out the ideas of Black, White, Asian, or
Latina feminism.
I also agree that there is some brokenness in feminism today. In regards to white women dominating feminism, it will be interesting to see as we continue the course to how many feminist we look at that are not white. Why is it that it feminism seems to be dominated by white women?
ReplyDeleteI think you both are pointing to an important subject: the privileging of white feminist perspectives. Later in the course we are assigning the dialogue between Lisa Nakamura and Maria Fernandes, and there is also a good dialogue on this subject between Alondra Nelson and Jesse Daniels that should be online at the FemTechNet site too. Notice how these issues arise in the W.A.R. film, especially when Judith Baca is speaking.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this concept. Taking a course on media last quarter, I came across an article "The New Face of Asian American Stereotypes on Television" by Chyng Feng Sun. This article discuss the two stereotype that Asian women face in the media, the submissive "china doll" and the "tiger lady" stereotype. Where one they are either submissive to be in control of the white man or they are overly sexual dragon lady. There is no middle grown. Female in media has always been seen more as objects than an actual human being. Asian women with the traditional culture of hierarchy, where we must obey our elders and also the idea of patriarchy that I feel like it is what makes it hard for us to break that hegemony of male power.
ReplyDeleteLike SpokenThoughts, I found it interesting how Western media has portrayed Asian women in general as extremes. They are never portrayed as complex, but rather submissive or violent, which can be seen in the various “Asian” roles found in Hollywood films such as “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Kill Bill”. It reminded me of how in the War Art Revolution film that women of color had an even bigger struggle than the white women to find a voice. I took a media stereotype class last quarter focusing on this topic and in my research the only mainstream roles I could find that were not defined as “dragon ladies” or “china dolls” were roles played by Japanese actress, Rinko Kikuchi, most notably known for being in “Babel” and “Pacific Rim”—both of which are films from the last 10 years. Kikuchi plays complex characters rather than just strong or submissive women of Asian descent. Her ethnicity does not define her problems, which I believe is a great step towards representing feminism for women of color. Women should not have to be just strong—they need to be human, which is far more complicated than just saying that women need to be “tough” like the men for equality. W.A.R. showed the American women’s struggle for gender equality and how much better it is now compared to when the movement started in the 1960s, but I also think that we need to look at it on a global scale, rather than just in America. It is astounding to see that even in first-world countries like Japan, how differently women are treated on a basic level. In the Global Gender Gap Report this year, Japan was ranked 105th out of 136 countries.
ReplyDeletehttp://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310260017
Western ideals of feminism has been vastly contested in our society. The idea of Asian women being portrayed in western media as submissive and pleasant is common. I find it interesting when Gus states, "Being pleasant is NOT a good trait, that’s a very Patriarchal way of thinking, being pleasant denotes that you’re not fierce and strong like women should be." Through this, Gus is pointing at the irony in feminism that all women have to have certain qualities and characteristics. The phrase, "like women should be" is revealing the irony in Western ideas of feminism. Feminists promote embracing individual identity; yet, often times we are told what characteristics define a feminist. I think this article juxtaposes over generalizations of western societies and argues that both white males and Asian females, and everyone else, has agency to decide things for themselves.
ReplyDeleteWith these shortcomings of feminist theory, I find it interesting of how these dynamics affect the various groups that make up "people of color". For example, being raised by a single african american mother, I can attest that the struggles my mother endured was not the same as opposed to lets say, an asian woman of color. Im not saying that one struggle is more strenuous then the other (not trying to make this an oppression olympics) but when it comes to discussing feminist theory I think that it is particularly important to understand how western ideals have shaped and given power to those constructing these ideas (I.e White Privilege). For example, While I commend the Guerrilla Girls for their devotion in fighting sexism and racism within the art world for upcoming and present female artist, the way in which the group went about disguising their identity is problematic when it comes to the identity of african americans in this country. In a historical context,While blacks in the country have been viewed as "Apes or Guerrillas", seeing the way in which the Guerrilla Girls "Fight against Racism" in the art world is can almost be seen a mockery of the civil rights movement during the 1960's. While I understand that their intentions meant no harm, the privileges of the women behind the group undermines the true power that they posses in society.
ReplyDelete