My Evolving Feminism: Ashley Bruce-Rose

The last six months has really been exciting for me; it marked my last year at the University of Windsor, and my first year in the Women’s Studies program. 6 out of 9 courses needed for me to graduate have been Women’s Studies courses. This has helped change my concept, definition, and/or practice of feminism. Prior to this school year, I would have agreed with the statement: I am a feminist; these past six months, I have changed my stance and now believe that I advocate feminism. Reading and discussing material by bell hooks has greatly influenced this change. Prior to these six months, I was strictly a Sociology major; my job as a student was to critically analyze things in the World by looking at various societal factors. We never really looked at how gender can serve as a tool of oppression. That is what these past six months have done; they have strengthened me as a student, a woman, and most importantly a person who advocates feminism. I have come to realize that feminism isn’t a rigid concept, instead it is a concept that is constantly in motion. I have come to understand that the way that I advocate feminism may not be the way that somebody else does, and that is completely okay; every advocator has their own feminist voice.

Before these last six months, I was quiet and extremely shy. I never thought that my peers really got me. I always felt like an outsider looking in on a class filled with privileged students. The course Women in Protest and this semester’s fight with the Lance has proved me wrong. There has been a student who I never thought could influence me who has had a major impact on my life. She probably does not know, but she has helped change my practice of feminism. Seeing someone who isn’t directly affected by the Lance yet still fights such a passionate fight has really affected me. Looking at her, I can admit that I assumed that she just wouldn’t get it, but she does. While she will never experience life like I do, she still fights for all injustices. She knew the potential backlash that could have risen from it, and she ignored it and fought for what she believed in. Seeing that has completely changed me. Now I try and do the same thing. There have been many times where snide, racist remarks have come up and I’ve let them go because I didn’t want to fight that battle. Now, that wouldn’t happen. I am now trying to live my life in such a way that I can stand up for things that I believe in regardless of potential backlash.

In six months, I've changed a lot; cannot wait to see where the next six months take me. Wherever it is, I'm glad to know that I'll be advocating feminism.

My Evolving Feminism--Victoria

When I first started in university, I had no idea what feminism was. In my first few years here, I started to gain all this information and was still a bit confused on what to do with. Then I started to refine and apply all this information to my own life in hopes of developing my own values and beliefs based on the knowledge I have gained. I can recall that it was often all over the place and the more and more people questioned me or told me their opinions, my own feminist ideas would change. It probably wasn’t until two years ago that I understood that it is ok for my feminism to be constantly changing and evolving.

I think in the last 6 months, I would have to say that this class has helped me realize a lot about myself and my feminism. I think that creating my feminist manifesto has helped me to see and validate my own feminism. I now understand that my feminism is different than someone else’s feminism and that it is totally acceptable. I also feel that my voice journal has helped to give me a voice that I probably would not have explored if it wasn’t for me taking this class.

Now that I have come to the end of my university career, I can say that I have gained a better understanding of feminism and what it means to me in my life. I am not going to be the type of person, who is out there protesting, but I applaud those who are, but I know that that is just not me. I am quite shy and I have come to realize that my feminism will remain more small scale and on a personal level. It is like what I have learned all throughout university, the "personal is political" and it is something that will always stick with me.

"Successes & Challenges Rukia Akida

During my change of major to women’s studies, I found myself facing a lot of challenges due to the fact that many of my friends did not understand why would there be women’s studies. Most of the time I had found myself having to explain terms such as feminist or feminism, which is because what they knew of feminism or feminist, was the stereotypes and not the facts of the terms or the concept. Since, the word feminism when often is spoken it follows with stereotype words definition such as men haters, lesbians, baby haters, I found that many of my friends were having problem with me when I talk about the issues discusses in class. Male friends would answer that you all just want to be like us, and I was very upsets with such commends.

While reading the question and asked to write about the challenges and success and being open and accept others’ ideas and definitions and practice of feminism, within the past six month, constantly I thought of my friends who believe in pro-choices but don’t believe that they are feminist. I think due to societal view of women’s issue it becomes harder for people to get out of the nut shell and acknowledge that what they don’t fully understanding and would like to know what feminist do and what the meaning of feminism; however, most find it is easier to stereotype the definition than learning the true definitions and concepts and the issues that women are facing in daily basis.

During women’s Race and Social Justice Class, we talked about the stereotype that comes along when identifying one’s self as feminists. We challenged ourselves through education by understanding that not everyone can agree with feminism but we can change the stereotypes and reclaim our identity through involvement. This class helped me to accept others ideas and their thinking, without judging them. Often I find myself getting involved in the discussion so that my voice can be heard especially when comes to feminist issues. My experience as a feminist and a women’s studies student were challenged again when asked to write a paper based on what we have learned and how feminism can be apply toward our own families values, that is because most of us identified that our families did not have feminism/feminist values and patriarchy values were the norm.

It took me a while to accept others ideas and beliefs, which is because I have always been questioning everything that is around me. This was a very big challenge me and with feminism, it taught me to be patient and to be aware of who I am and what I’m doing. During my classes I did find myself thinking and evaluating concept and ideas and how they can fit in my life and the people around me. I think the challenges that I faced in past six month or more helped to develop the success in me with a lot of understanding.

Evolving Feminism- Cassandra

I have found this question challenging because I feel like there is so much to cover and be critical of in the context of my feminism and identity. I have learned and grown so much in the past year as a woman, feminist, student and individual in this society. To fully answer and reflect on the blog question posed I need to go back into my notes, writing and mind to write an honest and fully developed response. Feminist scholars, feminism in the media and my community of feminism has had a great impact on the evolution of my feminisms.

Challenging and being critical of the feminist influence in my life is a part of defining my success in feminism. My main concern is keeping my feminism, MY feminism. There are so many ideas and concepts incorporated within feminism, it is easy to get lost in the movement. I have a fear that one day I will wake up, look in the mirror and not recognize the feminist I can see. I am consciously trying to stay an individual in the global context of feminism and in the feminist collective in my life.

This response is not complete, specifically because I have not answered the question. In order for me to do so, I am going to need to take a large chunk of personal time to go through everything that has occurred this past year and reflect upon it. Feminist theorists are continually challenging and changeing my way of thinking. I have changed and learned a great amount from Women's Studies and the community around me. In order to better myself I need to recognize the change that has occurred in me. I feel like I deserve a bit of me time, however, where that time will come from I'm unsure....

Therefore, to be continued....

Successes and Challenges – Rebecca Crowley

Prior to enrolling and deciding to major in Women’s Studies, I had not really given the term “feminism” much thought, in fact, I didn’t even really understand exactly what it meant! I can now say that after being in this program for the past five years, having an understanding of feminism has allowed me to recognize so much more about life in terms of how I view situations and also about how I see myself as a woman living in today’s society.

When asked to write about the successes and challenges I face in being open and accepting to others’ concepts, definitions and practice of feminism within the past six months, I automatically think back and reflect on my experiences in the Women in Protest class that I was enrolled in last semester.

Because this course was a fourth year class, it was very involved with the notions of feminism and of protest (two things that I had not been exposed to for a long period of time). At first, I struggled to follow along with the course content, and it was also difficult for me to relate my definition of feminism with my peers’ definitions. I would not even participate in class because I felt as though my thoughts and opinions were not “right.” Looking back, I realize that I was intimidated by my peers’ definitions of feminism.

My experiences were especially challenged when we were told about our final group project. We were required to break into four different groups and work on different aspects of the final project. When our group got together, it was evident that we all had different definitions of feminism. Some girls in the group were strong advocates for women’s rights, while others were not as concerned with protesting and advocating, but still identified as feminists. I wondered how we would all work together as a group, especially with our different views and beliefs about feminism.

After much thought, I came to the conclusion that I had to remain open and be accepting of other people's views and try my best to understand other people's views of feminism in order for our group to effectively work together; after all, feminism is about being inclusive. Therefore, challenges I experienced were accepting other people’s beliefs that did not fit in with mine. This makes me uneasy, and it also causes me to question my own thoughts/beliefs (as I also did in class discussions, resulting in me not participating). Successes I experienced through this revelation gave me a glimpse into the minds of others. I believe that finding similarities between each others ideas and beliefs make feminism stronger; the more people who rally together, the stronger the force is, which was clearly evident in our final project. Our final project was a protest against the school newspaper the Lance because we found that it contained racist and sexist information, so we protested to raise awareness about these issues.

Therefore, as a result of learning to accept other people's views, I grew in acceptance by valuing people as individuals with their own thoughts and beliefs. Accepting people’s thoughts and beliefs makes me a better person because I know my limits. This new-found acceptance also allows me to gain experience in the views of others, which will also aid me as a future teacher, as acceptance and openness are important personal traits in becoming an effective teacher.

My Evolving Feminism – Amanda

During the past six months of my academic education, my feminism has grown and developed as a result of being introduced to various theories and my personal life experience. Although my fundamental feminist beliefs have remained the same, new experiences and exposure to new theories cause me to consider and view aspects of my feminism differently. During my first few years of University, the evolution of my feminism troubled me because I felt as though I had not yet refined my opinions and views on feminism. However, in the past six months, I have learned to see value in the fact that I constantly adapt my feminism. I think that one’s feminism needs to adapt and evolve with varying life experiences. In the past six months, I feel that I have become more comfortable and confident with my feminism. I attribute this development largely to numerous assignments in which I have been able to explore my feminism and examine how it pertains to my life.

Since I am at the end of my educational career, I have been thinking a lot about my practice of feminism and how it will be applicable in my career aspirations. I have been reflecting a lot on how to apply my feminist beliefs into my career as an educator. My voice project has really helped me in framing my practice of feminism in a way that will impact students and teach them core feminist ideals in an age appropriate manner. I strongly believe in the importance in teaching social justice issues to children and within the past few months, I have transformed this premise from a belief into a practice. When I attend my practicum placements, I incorporate my feminism into my teaching practices. Although my practice of feminism has developed and a lot in the past six months, I think that in the next year it will grow and develop so much more.

My concept of feminist practice has also evolved over the past six months on a personal level. I had always held the assumption that public feminist practice was more important than individual activism because it actively demonstrated that someone was dedicated and cared passionately about political and social issues. Throughout the course Women in Protest last semester and this semester in the course Third Wave Feminism, I have read various narratives and had discussions about the importance of individual forms of feminist practice. These discussions helped me to recognize the ways in which I practice my feminism. After watching a video about slaughterhouses when I was sixteen, I decided that I would become a vegetarian. As a result, I have not eaten meat in seven years and I boycott products that participated in animal testing. This is a personal form of activism because of my refusal to participate in an activity that I believe is inhuman and unjust. Even though, I have been a vegetarian for a while now within the past six months I have come to realize that it is one of the many ways in which I practice my feminism on a personal level. Last semester, I also came to the realization that practicing ones feminism on a personal level is important.

Lastly, although I have heard numerous times throughout my women’s studies education that the personal is political, within the past six months this phrase has taken on a new meaning. I no longer feel at the lower end of an activism hierarchy but rather feel validated in being able to express my feminist believes in a manner in which I feel comfortable. In the past six months, I have learned that the ways in which I choose to practice my feminism are personal and political.

My Evolving "Feminism" - Meghan Mills

I AM NOT A FEMINIST.

I adopted feminism as part of my identity almost immediately upon discovering it. My own empowerment and sense of purpose was positively correlated with my feminist identity. That is, as I became more involved with feminism, I felt increasingly empowered and purposeful.

I was not critical of my new identity; I was in need of self-validation, and feminism seemed to make sense. I gobbled up the theories and adopted feminism before I understood its inherently racist foundations, and before questioning not only who actually benefited from a feminist identity, but who had access to it. I became excited over feminist magazines, and forgot to be critical of them; who are these writers and why were they published? I did not think twice about my own privilege and how that ultimately led to my actually being able to label myself a feminist.

Evolving Conceptually : Passion is not enough. Act.

“If you want to truly understand something, try to change it.”
- Kurt Lewin

In the last six months, I have tried to change feminism, and as a result, discovered its hypocrisy.

According to feminism, the conceptualization of "feminism as politic" is not only an elitist statement, but a bad one. A response made on my last blog entry made this clear to me,

I think it’s an individual’s personal politics to claim feminism or not, and the way they claim feminism whether it be a lifestyle, politic or identity shouldn’t be criticized.

This is an exemplary feminist ideology, and something that I had severely lacked. I was not accepting of others feminism. Moreover, I denied the possibility that feminism could be elitist.

Feminism, whatever your identity - whether marxist feminist, eco-feminist, pro-choice feminist - each have a set of requirements that must be met in order to adopt these identities. This is also known as "gate keeping." If, for whatever reason, one cannot "fit" into a preexisting category of feminism, a new feminism - a new category - is born.

My preconception of my feminism as "not elitist" was flawed. Over the last six months, I have learned that feminism is an exclusive identity that many do not have access to - it is elitist.

Redefining Feminism : Feminism as Complacent

".... because I don't want to align myself with a political movement that doesn't agree with my politics."

- Nicole Beuglet

I had ardently believed that feminist practice was synonymous with resistance. According to other feminists, however, that presumption is not only inaccurate, but oppressive to other feminists!

This was when my definition of feminism - and not my actual politics - began to change: how could I tolerate one's lack of interest in seriously challenging the aspects of their own identity that could potentially contribute to another's oppression? Moreover, how could I ally myself with these individuals? For example, for a white woman to not attempt to challenge the privilege of her ethnicity, or a heterosexual woman to not challenge the privilege associated with her sexuality - both respectively condone the continued marginalization of non-white women, as well as perpetuate heteronormativity.

My definition of feminism as a progressive and ultimately empowering identity diminished rapidly as I found myself in just as much opposition with feminists as I did with non-feminists. Many feminists struggle with the stereotypes associated with that identity, and rather than question why these stereotypes are "bad", they internalize and perpetuate it. During the last Women's Studies Student Association, a student said "not all feminists are hairy legged, angry, radical, lesbians." This is a common statement.What these feminists don't understand, is that many - including myself in many ways - are hairy leffed, anry, radical, lesbians.

Therefore, it is, as Nicole has said, difficult to align myself with others who not only fiercely oppose my politics, but also shame me because of them. I have been aligning myself with a political movement that is ashamed of my politics.I therefore do not feel "free" at all as a feminist, just frustrated and disconnected.

Active versus Passive

Go out and change the world you live in, it is the only world you have! Change that motherfucker!

- Staceyann Chin

Those who do not actively resist, perpetuate inequalities. Because one cannot possibly hope to resist everything, one should constantly be working toward some sort of goal. I had once believed that this was what feminist practice was - to not only resist, but to want to resist. I was wrong. Feminism does not have expectations, and one does not need to challenge his/herself to be feminist.

In the last six months, I have been in constant opposition with feminists, and although I believe my conviction to have grown stronger because of it, it has been nevertheless exhausting. As a result, I have been forced to reconsider and potentially redefine what it means to dofeminism.

Bell Hooks, despite my initial resistance to her argument that feminism should be advocated rather than be used as an identity, has recently rocked my feminist-advocate world. I no longer feel the need to challenge others feminist practice, because I no longer identify as feminist. Identifying as anything, to me, is not enough to make serious and long lasting change in the world.