The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships

For my event, I attended the screening of “The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexuality and Relationships.” Robert Jensen, who authored a book about pornography and the end of masculinity and who was interviewed in the film, was also present for a question and answer period after the film and prefaced the screening with some commentary on the subject. The most salient aspect of the film that I took home with me was how pornography as an industry is a process of comodification within capitalism. We are all familiar with the term “sex sells,” but this film makes clear how private enterprises make money off of human needs and desires. Even more so, it is impossible to critique the pornography industry without grounding it in a patricarchical, white supremacist and predatory capitalist framework. Essentially, sex is being sold in allegiance with these dominant frameworks that perpetuate oppression. This can be seen in the various tropes used in mainstream porn, from the increasingly violent depictions of women, to the exploitation of black sexuality, in terms of showing black men in the brute stereotype and black women as sexually unbridled.

After the film was over, I was left wanting to discuss more the role that porn played in the lives of women. In terms of the roles men and women play in the pornography industry, the film maintained that men are the primary produces of and consumers of porn, and that women are always the objects being exploited within the industry itself. While I don’t doubt that these things are true of the industry, I wanted to ask Professor Jensen if he had done any research or was aware of any scholarship on the role of mainstream pornography in the lives of women. The film made clear how the pornography industry constructed the sexualities of the men who consumed it and the women in their lives whose relationships suffered due to that consumption, but it did not address how women today personally relate to pornography as consumers.

In terms of his own scholarship, Professor Jensen could not directly answer my question in terms of if his work focused on women who watch porn (it did not), but he helped approach an answer by posing another question: is it possible for pornography to be attempting to be consistent with creating a more just world, one that, in its framework, attempts not oppress queer people, women, people of color or poor people? In this sense, feminist porn may be the response to mainstream porn in terms of women trying to define and control how they produce desire, fantasy and sexuality, but when it comes down to it, Professor Jensen noted, feminist porn is simply not selling. Therefore, the ideologies of mainstream porn are feeding into and creating the desires of its consumers, which in turn demand more from these particular markets, which makes the mainstream porn industry so successful. In other words, desire is driving the economy, and the economy is just as powerfully driving desire. It appeared to me that Professor Jensen believed that in the existence of a just society with egalitarian norms and expectations, there would not even be the question of something like feminist pornography trying to create a more just world. In this sense, I agree, but in the meantime, where does that leave women and their autonomy to pursue their desires?

Postville Discussion

Bagel Brunch: Postville and Immigration and Labor Rights Discussion
11-2-08
Sponsored by MJO (Macalester Jewish Organization)
Location: Old Main (Macalester Campus)

This event was a panel discussion about the raid in Postville, Iowa on May 12 of a Kosher meat packing plant. The raid was the largest of its kind, with over 390 immigrant workers arrested and detained. The panel consisted of four people: Professor Peter Rachleff, Rabbi Morris Allen of Beth Jacob Congregation, Melissa Rudnick of Jewish Community Action (JCA), and Abby Seeskin, a student at Macalester who did an internship with JCA last semester.

The raid in Postville shed light on the way immigrant workers are treated in the United States. The workers were being paid under minimum wage under unsafe conditions. There were also a number of other aspects of this particular plant that were particularly unsavory. A family of Hasidic Jews owns the plant, however the managers of the plant were two Palestinian brothers who also sold used cars. The workers in the factory were forced to purchase cars from them in order to keep their jobs. Women were also forced to have sex with these men to get/keep their jobs. All of the training materials were in English, even though many of the workers only spoke an indigenous language of Guatemala.

The speakers on the panel filled in much of the background information about the plant in Postville, and then they discussed the ways in which the community has responded. Before the raid itself, members of the Jewish community visited Postville and made recommendations to the owners about ways to make the plant safer, as well as recommending an increase in wages for the workers. The raid has sparked many discussions regarding the Jewish community’s view of immigration, as well as a discussion regarding the kosher food industry itself. There was a huge march in support of the detained workers and their families earlier this year, which involved education about the history of the issues involved in this case. The groups working in Postville have collaborated with a local church in Postville, and they have really focused on local community action.

This raid brings up many problems regarding the food industry as well as issues involving immigration and immigrants’ rights. Because the raid occurred at a kosher meat packing plant, much of the response has been within the Jewish community, although the problems of the case are not exclusive to this one plant. Many of the issues surrounding this plant (such as pollution and treatment of workers) can be seen in many other similar plants throughout the country, and the response of the Jewish community should be a response of the American people.

Film Event: "Breakfast with Scot"

I don’t know where to start with “Breakfast with Scot”. It’s Canadian, and Scot has one t (why it’s abbreviated I’ll never know). The film itself was released in Canada in 2007, but has only recently made its way around American art house theaters this fall. It played for a limited time (only about a week) at the Lagoon over in Uptown.

The plot of “Breakfast” is pretty simple. There’s an (gay) ex-hockey player (Eric, played by Tom Cavanagh) who lives with his partner (Sam, played by Ben Shenkman) in a swanky house in a not so swanky neighborhood (is Toronto part of the rust belt now?). His partner unexpectedly becomes the legal guardian of his brother’s son when his sister-in-law dies of a drug overdose. Since the brother is in Brazil, the gay couple is stuck with a kid on their hands (the aforementioned Scot). Awkwardness, love, and searches for a true self ensue.

At the core of the film is the idea that everyone has a true self, and to what degree that true self is oppressed (maybe even erased?) is decided by external forces, i.e. society. I’m always a little wary of true self narratives, as its hard to believe that everyone is born with some inherent essence that makes them exactly who they are. I lean more towards the experience-as-self model of things. But films can be unrealistic, and characters appear in them implying that they have psychologies that have been developed through life experiences similar to mine (I won’t say ours). So uh… pick and chose, yeah?

In any case, Eric (the hockey player) is confronted with his own semi-out-ness by his partner’s brother’s kid, who turns out to be furnished with very pink clothes when he arrives at the couple’s house. In the end, a new kind of family love is born out of all of this and Eric seems infinitely more comfortable with himself and entirely accepting of his newly acquired son.

Most notable about the film’s production is that the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed their names, logos, and spaces to be used in the making of the film. This is the first time that a major league sports franchise has ever endorse a queer-themed film.

Alright Canada. Alllright.

Framing: Michelle Obama

Event: Michelle Obama at Macalester
Monday October 13th, 2008

When I heard that Michelle Obama was going to be at Macalester I got excited because I immediately began thinking about her and what she would say from my feminist perspective. In the past this would not have been the case, but I feel like I got much more out of her visit knowing what I do now, and having some skills to analyze things more critically.

As soon as I got into the Leonard Center where she was going to speak the coordinators began placing people on the risers on stage. These are the people who you see behind the big wig with their signs and t-shirts, etc. I thought it was interesting to see the types of people that were put on the stage and where on the stage as well. On the front row there were several white women who were 50's-ish and a younger white man and woman, probably college-age who were all towards the middle. But then, on each end of the front row there was a black man on the left end and a black woman on the right end. Throughout the rest of the crowd there was just a spattering of middle-aged white people. I think it was interesting how they only put two black people on the ends of the group on stage, as if they were the anchors or something. This is interesting to me to considering that Barack Obama has taken some heat for not paying more attention to his blackness and the ways in which he has associated with black voters.

As we talked a little bit about in class, I think Michelle Obama faces huge obstacles in presenting herself to the public. We talked about the way she has to frame herself; she is a wife, she is a mother. Mother, mother, mother. I felt like she really put stress on the importance of her being a mom and her daughters being number one. This would be great if it weren't for the fact that she's doing this because if she were to be too forward and appear too ambitious as a professional woman, she would never hear the end about how she neglects her kids. I also feel like she is pressured to stress her motherhood as well to make her capable of being resonated with by all the voting moms...maybe?

Overall, I was very impressed with Michelle Obama. I think she presented herself very well considering the position she's in and the way she has to maneuver through all kinds of crazy political and patriarchal bullshit.

Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3Day

What: The 3Day- A three day event to raise awareness and donations for Breast Cancer, sponsored by and benefiting the Susan G. Komen foundation. Participants each raise at least $2300 and walk 60 miles around the Twin Cities over the course of the weekend, returning to a base camp each night. Volunteer crew members also work for these three days on many different teams to keep the event and camp running smoothly.
When: September 18-21st
Where: The walk travels throughout the Twin Cities, the camp is in Woodbury (a suburb of Minneapolis)

Almost four thousand people participated in the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3Day this year, including my 21-year-old sister Hannah and I. Although we weren’t walking in the event, we are planning on walking in the event together next year and we were crew members on the Camp Logistics team this year! Camp Logistics duties are based in manual labor and include setting up hundreds of chairs and tables around the camp, but our main duty was hauling huge trash bags to the dumpsters and making sure the trash bins were empty and available. Our team was led by a woman and made up of 15 people, only three of them men. This ratio is common at the 3Day, an event that is very woman-positive and empowering, an event that benefits a cancer that affects mostly women, an event where everything possible is pink, including the signs, the yoga mats for stretching tired muscles and the sea of thousands of small tents that each walker and crew member sleep in. The 3Day celebrates women’s power, their lives and their achievements, but male crew members are still able to approach women who are successfully doing heavy lifting, rob them of their agency and make assumptions about their physical ability based on their gender by admonishing them for attempting tasks that are “too hard for you, sweetie.” Even my female crew captain, who had spent the year preparing and planning to lead us, allowed the few males on our team to freely and openly undermine her experience and authority and direct their dominant-male version of our labor. I spent a lot of my downtime on this event talking with my sister and interpreting the event through a feminist lens, and became convinced of the complete masculinization of manual labor watching my fellow female team members become equally frustrated and keep silent about it. I saw them engage in catty behavior, trash talking each other (literally while pitching full garbage bags into huge green dumpsters) because so-and-so wasn’t pulling their weight or was trying to be overbearing, but ignoring the gendered power plays. This event focuses on preserving women’s inherent female characteristics, their breasts!, while enforcing gender stereotypes and rewarding the few male participants for feeling comfortable wearing the requisite pink flare. The aggressive behavior of the men on my team made me feel uncomfortable expressing my opinion about the best way to delegate tasks and lifting folding chairs became a space to prove physical worth and ability. As a woman trying to enter a field dominated by men, if not in numbers but in behavior and tradition, I couldn’t help but get angry when the few men who walked in the event or who were on the Dining Services or Camp Services teams were celebrated for their willingness and bravery to enter a woman-dominated field. This contrast is especially important given the physical nature of the event, and the mental and physical strength and endurance that some women uncover during their 60-mile journey is incredible and inspiring. I just wish I had been able to support their experience with similar strength by standing up to my male cohorts and formulated my feminist-lens thoughts into effective articulations to challenge the norm of masculine power and dominance amid the sea of pink.

The first picture is of the whole team and our vehicles, the second picture is of me in the fake mustache some of us donned to celebrate "Spaghetti Dinner Night." Only one or two of the women on the team participated in this.

Some Truth at the RNC

Date: September 2008

Sponsor: RNC Protest(s)

Location: Downtown St. Paul

In a People’s March t-shirt and blue jeans, with shades and hoop earrings hanging just below a head of black short, spiky hair, a brown Latina women joined our class on the lawn of the Capital.

And when taking a tall, confidant stature that seemed to come so natural, she began to speak about the politics, media, and community that make up her life…

With a calm yet firm tone, one without doubt, this person, this woman, first spoke of her activist work during Hurricane Katrina’s harsh call for a reality check. “There is something different about seeing bodies,” she said when trying to describe her reaction to damages done to the already poor conditions of the area. And the lack of national response during that time, response from those currently in office (including Senator McCain and Senator Obama), reinforced her own politics, ones that almost uproot those of past and present.

According to her, they are not democratic, but elitist. Only certain people with distinguishable attributes, like being heterosexual, male, and educated, are able to get their name on presidential voting ballots. And for this to happen, some have to be silenced. They are hushed by…the American public majority or even their own communities; more importantly, they are censored, silenced, by media including national and local radio stations, news programs, and newspapers and magazines. The “media white-out,” as she called it, put a kind of price tag on people where the wealthy elitists that are invested in media outputs are calling out the directions of to camera crews and journalists.

Her politics, for example, have neither been broadcasted nor invited to any national debates despite having a legal right to. Her politics that call for a multi-racial and multi-generational collaboration to make change; for universal health care; for livable wages; for an end to the war; for LGBTQQ human rights; for adopting Human Rights; for decreasing college student debt; for dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex and abandoning the death penalty; for farmers support due to massive loss of land; and more.  So, she decided to run for office.

The running mate of the Green Party’s Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente is the first Latina women ever elected to run for office.  She is a mother, a wife, a daughter, an activist, a politician, a manager, a woman, a Latina, etc. And she looks like me.

Tapas Series: Media Representations and the Presidential Election

As one of the facilitators for this event, I was a little nervous about how people would interpret the topic and where the conversation would go. When my partner and I were brainstorming about what kind of programming we wanted to do for Tapas, we knew that we wanted to do something with the election, but we weren't sure what exactly. We gathered our inspiration from the discourse surrounding the depiction of Barack Obama featured on the cover of the New Yorker magazine this summer. I have always found this image very provocative because of its context—or lack thereof. On the one hand, the image is placed on the cover of a prestigious literary magazine with the expectation that everyone who sees the image understands it to be parodying the sensationalist and often false representations of Barack Obama by the media. Yet at the same time, the magazine is a media institution in and of itself, that, by placing this image on the cover, portrays and encourages these stereotypes and misconceptions when readers glance at the cover, or when non-readers do so while looking for their preferred publication of choice. These ideas as well as many other creative and inspiring ideas were brought up during the discussion. Michelle Obama's role in the cartoon was also brought up. Someone mentioned that while the connections being drawn to Obama as a terrorist were somewhat expected due to the way he is stereotyped and accused by some, her depiction as a “black power militant” came from out of left field. We then discussed how in being paired with Barack as a “Muslim terrorist,” her depiction as a Black Panther conflates the entire Black Power movement as a form of terrorism. Someone also drew connections between the depiction of Michelle and Angela Davis, arguably the most iconic figure of the movement. The representation of Sarah Palin was also discussed. In almost all of the cartoons of her, it is her body that is the focus, first and foremost. Many of the participants discussed the paradox of disliking Palin for her views, while also being aware of the sexism within these cartoons that allows her to be represented solely by her body. It was great to facilitate this discussion – I was very impressed with what my peers shared and the quality of their analysis.

Event Write Up

Event Title: "Going Home Ain't Always Easy: Southern (Dis)Comfort and the Politics of Performing History”: A Lecture by Professor E. Patrick Johnson, Northwestern University
Date: Sept. 28, 4:30-6 pm, Weyerhauser Boardroom, Macalester College
Sponsor: The Mahmoud El-Kati Distinguished Lectureship in American Studies

The El-Kati lectureship was established to honor Professor El-Kati's career as a lecturer, writer and commentator on the African American experience, and E. Patrick Johnson spoke about an often silenced African American experience: that of black gay men in the Southern United States. His lecture was mainly about the process of writing his book, “Sweet Tea”, which is an oral history of black gay men in the South.
He interviewed 70 men for the project, and traveled all over the Southern region of the U.S., speaking with men who were out, men who were in marriages with women, men who ranged in occupation from preacher to drag queen, men who ranged in age from 19-93, and many more. He addressed the topic of oral history methodology and the importance of understanding your positionality and having a clearly defined ethics when working with living people (as opposed to archives).
Interviewing these men, many of whom were not out to their communities, put them at risk and he had to be thoughtful about what he included in his book and how he maintained the privacy of the men. Being a black gay male Southerner himself, he reflected on the access this gave him to the population he wanted to interview, but also how this challenged him personally. He told an anecdote about going to his hometown of Hickory, North Carolina to interview a MTF transgender person named Chas/Chastity, who lived Mon-Sat as a woman and then dressed as a man on Sundays in order to sing in the church choir. Walking around publicly with Chastity, he found himself uncomfortable to be seen with her, and wondered what that would mean for his own reputation in the town. This incident allowed him to reflect on biases he wasn’t aware he had, and to approach the work with even greater sensitivity and awareness.
The real joy of Johnson’s lecture was that he is also an amazing theatrical performer, and has turned the book into a one-man show where he performs some of the men’s interviews as monologues. He performed Chastity’s story for us in the middle of his lecture. He visited my American Studies class the next day, so I heard two more men’s stories as well. His ability to capture the men’s voices and characters was remarkable. Chastity’s story was about self-acceptance and love, and what it means to live life as you were truly meant to live it. The audience in Weyerhauser was captivated, and it was clear that the men’s stories are powerful both in the book and on stage. He told us that his reason for writing was to create an archive of voices that have been silenced, to help homophobic people understand the humanity of queer people, and to provide an affirmation and community for gay black men who are struggling with their identities. His lecture and performance were revealing and powerful.

Ripple Effect - Capitol Hill

It's been overdone at this point, but I've been unable to make it to another event that I remember enough about. So, heeeere we go:

On September 2nd (2008), I went to the St. Paul capitol with Rebecca to the Ripple Effect concert. We were there from 4-6, but we didn't find the class until right after Davey D and Rosa Clemente had left. :( During our search, however, we walked all around and took in pretty much everything else at the event.
Substance (livewithsubstance.org) was the lead organization putting on Ripple Effect, though there were plenty of other groups sponsoring and supporting it. This is the description on their website: "Ripple Effect will be Substance’s first step in a series of efforts to manifest a united intergenerational front. These events are aimed at embracing the core values of the environmental and social justice movements, with a collective understanding that the solutions to these problems will require us to break down issue and generational barriers." (http://livewithsubstance.org/rippleeffect/about/)

On the main stage, I saw performances from Dead Prez and Michael Franti, and there was a speech by Will Steger (though I was away from the stage at that time, exploring). There was a smaller stage set up on the right, where the Sustainable Living Roadshow was performing, speeches were given, and music was played. In addition, there were booths set up all around with art, information, products, and they were also taking donations and volunteers. Some of the sponsors/collaborators with booths were Code Pink, OXFAM, Planned Parenthood, EXCO, SDS, WAMM, Thrifty Hipster, and lots of others that I can't remember. In addition...there was a big tent set up selling food - you could get your organic/eco-friendly/green cheeseburgers and hot dogs for something like $6 each. There was a clothesline with free art clothing hanging on it that anyone could take, and what looked like a meditation or prayer circle on the grass in front of the main stage.

It was an interesting space, and I certainly saw many aspects of the mission present. It looked as though there were many generations of activists present - from those involved, potentially, in the initial SDS movement, and other civil rights movement work, to college-aged people. If this was to be an intergenerational event, though, I certainly did not see much in the musical programming that was aimed to please all generations present. That's not to say that middle-aged and older people cannot get down with some Dead Prez (and I certainly saw a few older ladies dancing around to their set), but what about older artists...maybe some artists of that era.

Though there was fairly good representation of many age groups, I didn't see a similar diversity of race, ethnicity, and class (which was less apparent). In fact, I'd say it was largely a white, middle-class space. There were a few people of color in the audience, but I seriously only saw a few. If this event is supposed to be uniting environmental and social justice movements, why are many not represented evenly? What is keeping them from access? Is the event framed in a way that is accessible, or even worth the time of some people - some who have things to worry about like working to survive provide for families - who can't miss a day of work for an event. Or, if that's not the case at all, was there publicity in communities of color? What about transportation to the location? It was a simple busride to the capitol from Macalester's campus, and could even have been walked in an hour or less. But, if it takes an hour or more to get there by bus, is it worth is to some? I'm not sure if these are all relevant questions, but I didn't see their goal met in terms of bringing together people from different movements. So, I naturally wonder why that is.

Another thing I noticed, speaking of race, is that the artists that I saw were mostly people of color. So, what is up with that dynamic of a mostly white crowd, with a political Hip-Hop group like Dead Prez performing in front of them? What about their (the audience's) point of access to the material? Or their privilege in hearing it?

I saw a somewhat even balance of men and women in attendance. As far as programming, there weren't any female artists that I saw, and certainly the headliner, Michael Franti (and the secret guests, Rage Against the Machine) was male. Sha Cage, a local spoken word artists and activist, did MC the event, though, which was great. She's amazing. I don't know if she performed - as that probably would have been at the beginning or throughout, and I only saw her on stage once or twice. If I had to gender the space, I would say male. This was partly due to the music, and the voices and actual presence of the artists performing, but also because of the male officers that were surrounding the area. I don't know that any of the police and riot cops I saw were female. But, just the presence of police, potentially violent, with weapons and surveillance was really threatening and seemed like the state “flexing its muscles,” in a very masculine attempt to scare us/show us it was powerful.

HRC Day - Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's Proclamation

Whereas, the City of Minneapolis is a diverse population of people, cultures, languages and religions; and

Whereas, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community has established itself as a strong and vital component of the social, economic, and political activities of the community; and

Whereas, the Human Rights Campaign is dedicated to securing full civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals, and seeking responsible federal policies for fighting AIDS, employment non-discrimination and hate crimes legislation; and

Whereas, the Human Rights Campaign and its thousands of supporters are working to enhance the quality of life of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community through active political involvement and in the ongoing fight for civil rights, HIV/AIDS funding and women's health issues; and

Now, Therefore, I, R.T. Rybak, Mayor of the City of Minneapolis, do hereby proclaim September 13th, 2008 as HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN DAY and encourage all citizens to observe and participate in this important event. I also challenge all Minnesotans to take action to work and speak out on behalf of equal rights for all citizens the other 364 days of the coming year!

-Signature of R.T. Rybak-


----I have always wondered what would happen if these proclamations were found in the public sphere instead of only within the Programs for these types of events ... it should be duly noted that the mayor of St. Paul, Chris Coleman, also signed a nearly identical proclamation which is displayed on the next page in the HRC Program.

Human Rights Campaign Gala Dinner

September 13th, 2008
Minneapolis Convention Center

Although there were many sponsors, the most notable are those “Local Sponsors” that earned a 100% rating on the 2009 Corporate Equality Index:
3M, Carlson Hotels, Faegre & Benson LLP, Supervalu, Accenture, Deloitte, Merrill Lynch, Target, Cargill, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, RKM&C LLP, and Wells Fargo.

This was my fourth time attending the HRC Gala dinner. The Human Rights Campaign works on equality for GLBT folks nationally and uses these dinners as donor events.

Their current initiatives deal with amplifying voices of faith, supporting GLBT patriots, combating discrimination, advancing legislation, mobilizing the GLBT community, and electing fair-minded leaders. This year’s dinner had an exceptionally strong political tone as the “Year to Win” campaign borrowed heavily from Obama’s “change” platform.

Those who spoke at the event included HRC President Joe Solmonese; he has become an increasingly public face for the organization, which champions “angelic troublemakers”. He has appeared on prime-time television with prominent interviewers — to raise awareness for GLBT issues. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken also spoke to voice their support for the democratic campaign.

Ms. Klobuchar charged the audience by telling [the republicans] to “Read My Lipstick!”. As this event was meant as much to entertain as to raise funds — I found this to be a call out for the women in the audience who have seen this election drop Mrs. Clinton and focus back towards the men.

Another issue I recognized was that both of the politicians addressing the guests were known for their comedy — it reminded me of how many people of color are not taken seriously day-to-day, and how we are often forced to enter the mainstream through entertainment rather than intellectualism or accomplishment.

Furthermore, it was overwhelmingly clear that HRC depends more heavily on large contributions (through what is called “The Federal Club”) than on small donations — this led me to wonder how this high-value sponsorship model skews the priorities of the HRC way from the ‘average’ income GLBT person. It does not take a long time to realize that priorities can change radically with income increases — but how else is a national organization to gain enough support to challenge the establishment? With that said, HRC does to a phenomenal job at fundraising — they are constantly sending emails, calling around holidays, and soliciting where GLBT folk hang out. At least someone’s doing something!

Overall, I had a really great time dining and listening to hundreds of my community members — to see such a large crowd, nicely dressed, and Know that you are “In” — was well worth my time. As was said during the dinner, a strong community must be created so that we can pool together our energies to combat institutional inequality... the only problem I saw was the polarization political parties, dems = good / republicans = bad. There are gay republicans: The Log Cabin Republicans; community cannot be both exclusionary and effective at the same time.

One more interesting thing that happened was that one of the award recipients did not provide personnel to accept their award at the dinner -- I think it would be safe to say that few others knew the significance of the absence of an acceptance speech -- this organization's leaders were calling for more open recognition of the "T" in GLBT. Recently, work on passing non-discrimination legislation saw the exclusion of transgender folk. Like Leslie Feinberg pointed out in our readings -- the transgender warriors in our communities broaden everyone's possibilities -- and they will continue to fight to be included.

Thanks for reading.

RNC Protest

RNC Protest

9/1/2008

Location: Downtown Saint Paul, MN

Although the Republican National Committee happened a few weeks ago, it was an important experience for myself and other first years who had just arrived on campus a few days before. From anarchists to war veterans to college students, thousands of protesters marched the streets outside the Republican National Convention. Different races, sexualities, genders, nationalities/ethnicities, and socio-economic classes were present. Most were protesting the war and bashing McCain and Bush, while coming up with witty chants and phrases. One of my favorite chants was one that bashed Fox News and demanded peace. 

Powerful images were strewn about the protest. A couple of people dragged "bodies" of dead soldiers and politicians through the streets and there were free speech pens, globes, and peace signs galore. Although I did not agree with some of the displays people had, I think that many of these images made good points about the war's destruction of life and the need for change. I also noticed many gay rights activists marching for equality. However, beyond Code Pink present at the event, I felt as if there were not as many people protesting the need for women's rights and equality of the sexes. From my perspective, most of the protesters at the RNC were peaceful and respectful towards the police officers and fellow protesters present.

The media was a powerful presence at the this protest. Many were filming the militant anarchists and loud "angry" college students. Later on the television, I saw footage of angry rioters slashing tires and acting reckless. The media became a powerful tool, that warped the true sense of the protest and turned into something ugly, crazy, and intimidating. I saw first hand, how the media could take an event's message and completely alter it to suit its own personal agenda and goal. I found this quite disheartening, but it personally helped me look at media sources in a new light. 

I feel that this RNC protest was an important event to start school with and it really changed a lot of my cynical views I had on the government and the war on "terror". Participating in an activist event really empowered me and I can only feel more optimistic about America's future. This was a great way to organize a group of people to voice opinions and get thoughts across. 

Ripple Effect Concert

What: Ripple Effect Concert
Where: Lawn of Capitol St. Paul, MN
When: September 2, 2008

I am glad that I attended the RNC event with our class on September 2nd because I’ve never been to anything like that before and the experience that I got out of it was just thrilling. For some reason, I expected there to be more people and less police guards, except it was quite the opposite. Although there was a good amount of people at the concert, what got my attention, and kept me cautious and alert throughout the evening was not the different crowds of people or the anarchist, but the riot police and the snipers. There were so many of them, they were intimidating. They stood around the lawn with dark shades, arms crossed, protective gear, and guns. Ironically, the supposed to be “safe space” ended up being very unsafe for me, at least.

Aside from the whole “riot police” experience, I had a great time listening to Davy D and Rosa Clemente talk about their political views and their experience in the Hip Hop industry. Davy D, who is a Hip Hop historian, journalist, and community activist, talked about how our news coverage is saturated and misrepresented through the media. He provided us with some “behind the scene” with radio stations and the role that power and money play in how music is disperse. Everything is done in a very systematic and hierarchical way, in which only the most powerful and the richest have the right to decide what’s going to be broadcasted on radios and televisions. He then went on to talk about how the media (which are run by heterosexual elite white men) can easily alter our perceptions because of misrepresentations.

Rosa Clemente, on the other hand, is just phenomenon. I am so impressed with her accomplishment and her courage to be Vice President for the Green Party, running alongside Cynthia Mckinney, who is also a woman of color. Rosa’s talk was eye-opening, especially when she talked about her experience in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and having been the only journalist of color there to document what could have easily been covered up by our homogenous media. Rosa makes it clear that her campaign is about the poor people, many of whom are unable to speak for themselves. I was impressed with her passion and her eagerness to grow the Green Party. With the presidential election coming up, we’ve seen a lot of interesting things happening. First, there’s Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, one of the first woman and African American to be running for a presidential seat. Then, we have Rosa Clemente and Cynthia McKinney running for the Green Party. Now, we have Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate for the Republican Party. There’s no doubt that this year is the year of “Change” as Obama’s campaign slogan says. Despite the media’s negative representation of women, Rosa and Cynthia (as well as Hillary and Sarah) have already shown us that women are just as capable as men to run for political positions.

As a result, after hearing Davy D and Rosa Clemente talk, I felt hopeful about the future. I’m proud that there are intelligent and courageous people of color like Davy D and Rosa Clemente who have stood up to do something that they’re passionate about –that being, speaking for those who can’t speak and fighting for justice and equality. In addition, this class has made me so much more aware of media representation and the effects that it has on our perceptions.

Gender Queering: Drag as Activism

Event: Dykes Do Drag @ the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater

Some friends and I went to Dykes Do Drag a couple of weeks ago and watched several people perform gender. First of all, never had I ever...prior to about a month ago...viewed gender as being performative. However, as the night progressed we watched several people play with gender and sexuality in a variety of ways. While I have also been subjected of course to the gender binary that our society enforces, I have had moments where I wondered to myself things like, "why do females have to shave everything?" or "why can't I play with Barbies and my batman figurines. I guess I just found comfort, solace even, if that's the right word, in seeing gender being performed and exhibited in ways that "go against the grain" if you will.

The show consisted of several performers in skits, songs, and dialogues. From the little bit of knowledge I had acquired from just under a month of class, I found myself trying to analyze certain aspects of the show. In the end, I suppose I realized just how powerful of a venue drag shows and any type of gender performance can be when they are used as activist mediums. I think part of why it is powerful is because it forces people to question what they know and it really makes them think. Because in a show like Dykes Do Drag, the gender binary is drastically blurred and you often times find yourself wondering how you're going to classify a certain performer. Really, at the end of it all you just have to accept that people aren't going to fit into the categories that society has constructed. I think that is what's key in all of this, and Dykes Do Drag was especially effective in the way that it didn't allow for the categorization of it's performers beyond being able to label them as gender queer perhaps.

Ripple Effect Concert

Event: Ripple Effect
Date: 2 September 2008
Location: Lawn of Capitol, Saint Paul MN

The RNC’s choice of Saint Paul this election offered many opportunities to participate in activist events. The Ripple Effect was a free concert sponsored by Substance. One of the first things I noticed at the concert was the words in big bold letters surrounding the stage “Beyond the Convention, Beyond Partisanship.” The message throughout this event seemed to be encouraging peace and environmental conscientiousness. Unfortunately the peaceful atmosphere was invaded by the presence of hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, ready to jump on any chance to interrupt the event. There were many booths set up representing many organizations: from the Sierra Club to Code Pink. There were people encouraging the use of tap water instead of bottled water, and a table set up with information about EXCO the experimental college. I was asked to sign a petition about healthcare, and people were walking around with stickers saying, “Make-out, not war!”
There were many interesting artists performing such as Dead Prez and Michael Franti. There was, however only one female artist performing. The person announcing the artists was also female, but it very much seemed like they were the “token” women. The people attending the event were mostly young, many representing a “counter culture” with dyed hair and other non-mainstream ways of expressing themselves. For the most part I would guess that a majority of the audience were students, and there was not much class diversity. I also saw very little racial diversity. I did however see many young white people meditating on the grass in the middle of a huge crowd. There was also juggling and incense. There were many people smoking a variety of things while the police looked on from the fringes and the snipers watched from above.
Rosa Clemente, the VP candidate for the Green Party and manager of Dead Prez, and Dead Prez were going from the concert to a march for poor people. Students at this event were filming a documentary about the RNC and the activities surrounding it. For many of the participants this was just the second day of activism against the RNC, but for me it represented a unique opportunity to view activism in action in my own backyard.

History, Gender and Computing (or why is it always "the tech GUY")

This summer I attended a History, Gender and Computing Conference at the University of Minnesota (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~tmisa//gender/). While I was there covering the story for my internship at a freelance journalism firm, I was instantly gripped by the talks and presentations from some of the brightest minds in computer studies and mechanics.

First came the astonishing statistics: in 1984 the proportion of women awarded Bachelors Degree's in Computer Science was 37%. But since that peak the numbers have been decreasing and in 2004 only 25% of those degrees were awarded to women. At a time when women are increasingly making their mark in every other scientific profession, computer science is lagging behind. All other STEM courses have seen a steady increase in female graduates but the numbers in computer science are actually falling.

Caroline Hayes, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, put it succinctly in her presentation: ““In 1974 it [Computer Science] was an esoteric field graduating less than 5,000 Bachelors of Science. Thirty-plus years later it has become a popular profession having international economic importance, graduating almost 60,000 bachelors in 2004. However, Computer Science has experienced growing pains, particularly with respect to the representation of women”

The second notable presentation concerned the history of women in computing. The first general purpose computer in history, The ENIAC, had many women programmers on board. Yet even these extraordinary women are misrepresented. While their male colleagues are referred by name, the women are given short shrift and collectively referred to as 'the ENIAC girls'. The media at time even completely neglected to mention them, photographs of the programmers were actually cropped to include only the males.

The real kick in the teeth is that the original “computer's” were women! The word was used to describe women who would compute numbers and physically do the data entry work before a mechanical computer was ever built.

The final, and most interesting, presentation concerned the role of advertising in creating gender inequalities. Men and women occupy different roles in computer adverts. For example, men are usually shown sitting next to computer and using a phone or in a relaxed posture with a single finger on the mouse. Men are rarely portrayed with two hands on the keyboard because that is, in conventional thought, a 'womans job'.

As another visual division of labor, women are typically shown doing the manual labor of printing while men are doing the actual creation. Printers and women have a curios connection in advertisement. Printers are advertised with photographs of attractive and scantily clad women being printed out in beautiful colors from the printers.

The objective of engendering a computer in this way is to divide it among male and female. Women are kept at a distance by relating them to peripheral devices (printers and keyboards for example), while the heart of the computer, the hard drive, is reserved for the 'intelligent' male.

E. Patrick Johnson Lecture "Going Home Ain't Always Easy..."

This afternoon I had the opportunity to attend E. Patrick Johnson’s lecture called "Going Home Ain't Always Easy: Southern (Dis) Comfort and the Politics of Performing History". The lecture was part of the El Kati Distinguished Lectureship in American Studies Series and was held in the Weyerhaeuser boardroom.

A good deal of the material presented in the lecture dealt with material from Johnson’s recently published book, “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South”. The oral histories that Johnson lectured on are the heart of this book, as was it the heart of this afternoon’s lecture.

From what I could gather from the lecture, Johnson also has been performing the ethnographic interviews/oral histories that he gathered for “Sweet Tea”. I’m not entirely sure about the specifics on this, but I think the show is in a one man show format, which is really cool considering the awesomeness that I got to hear this afternoon.

In his lecture Johnson discussed the travails of conducting oral histories, which included issues of positionality, and what it means to perform (in essence reproduce in theater) the oral histories he has conducted.

Johnson also reflected on a type of passive aggressive stance displayed towards taboo issues and transgressions peculiar to the American South. Johnson concludes that this passive aggressive stance (best put in Johnson’s own words as “keeping things hidden in plain sight”) also helps to uphold the continued oppression of people who identify as LGBT in the black community.

The lecture as a whole was centered on the performance of one of the interviews conducted by Johnson with a transgender black man named Charles, Chaz or Chastity. By choosing not to go through with gender reassignment surgery, Chaz (who was explained by Johnson to be a woman Monday to Saturday, but wearing a suit to church on Sunday) was presented as breaking through the passive aggressive sort of containment that Johnson talked about as being peculiar to the American South.

I can’t realistically cover all of what was said by Professor Johnson, and my lack of knowledge about performance theory and ethnography left me kind of in the dark at times during the lecture, but it was a good lecture (and a great turnout).