Never let the hand you hold, hold you down.
My feminism is fluid. It moves, breathes, lives. It is a constant presence, an adopted consciousness I cannot be rid of...even if I wanted to. My feminism is angry and compromised. It thrives, flourishes and basks in the sunlight of safe environments, and is stifled, silenced and shut down in the “real world”. My feminism is a negotiation; a picking and choosing of battles to fight and wars to be waged. It’s inspired by the big names before me: de Beauvior’s The Second Sex, Pascoe’s Compulsive Heterosexuality, Bartkey’s Gender Performance and Irigaray’s Sex Which is Not One, and is sustained through the student, teacher, male, female, mainstream and underground voices beside me.
Manifesto
- Listen. To others, to yourself, when you want to and when you don’t. I will listen for the silence, the accessibility, and the privilege others want to ignore. I will listen to who’s talking, and who isn’t. I will use my voice to speak for those who cannot by remaining silent. I will not speak for them or on behalf of them...I will speak to them, by shutting up and listening.
- Challenge. Yourself, yes. But others more. You’ve been given a great opportunity to connect 1 on 1 with interested individuals, testing the waters or forced to be there. Aim for them to intellectually reach a place where they can recognize privilege. Take them to this uncomfortable comfort through your examples and personal experiences. I will push them, I will challenge them, but I will do it at their own pace. I will challenge myself by holding back; allowing students to reach their own conclusions in their own time. I will not force these ideas upon them, they will come in time & I will wait patiently.
- Acceptance. I will find that middle ground. Don’t push people to get where you are Kaila; don’t wait for them to catch up. Carve out your own path, and grant access when they’re ready.
- Stop. Going to bed so late. Wake up earlier. You wonder why you’re so stressed out, it’s because you have an unhealthy relationship with your bed, it’s not like it keeps you warm at night....oh wait.
- Be grateful. Pick 1 thing every day that you are thankful for. Think about it, reflect, and write it down, publicly before sleep each day. Inspire those around you, re-inspire yourself.
- Do it. Get your 10th piercing, drink an iced cap in the dead of winter, plan that tattoo, and chop your hair off in a drunken moment of rebellion if you want. I will stop policing MY words, MY body, MY femininity, MY legitimacy. Don’t get over yourself…get into yourself.
- Go Back. I will pick up journaling again. I found you so entertaining! That blunt, dry, sarcastic humour/dialogue with yourself got you through some pretty dangerous storms...and some interesting debates over mental stability. What are you waiting for? Go back.
- Love. I will love when it’s the last thing I want to do. The farthest thing from my mind. When it seems impossible. I will not love in spite of people’s differences, I will love because of these differences and I will fucking show it.
My feminism is fluid; a constant presence, an adopted consciousness. I wear it proudly when it’s easy. I promise to wear it proudly when it’s not.
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ReplyDeleteKayla,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your manifesto, I felt as though I really identified with it. I liked that you said that your feminism was fluid, and that it is constantly changing and evolving. This is something that as a feminist, I can relate to as well because I feel like my feminism is always evolving too, depending on my everyday life experiences.
Another aspect of your manifesto that I really liked and was able to identify with was the way you organized your manifesto into certain bullet points. Doing this allowed me (as the reader) to follow along with your manifesto in an organized manner. I also think that the headings are really inspirational; some are deep and deal with listening and challenging yourself, and some are simple and talk about getting a tenth piercing or treating yourself to a cup of coffee, but they all act as inspirational headings and sayings to motivate the reader to embrace life and embrace themselves.
All in all, I think your manifesto is extremely well written, and it is obvious that you put a lot of thought and time into writing it, and maybe even ended up discovering parts of yourself that you never knew existed. Awesome job!
Kaila,
ReplyDeleteReading your manifesto, I realized that you are a very passionate person. You are very careful about the steps you take and how you want to live your life. I thought that when said, “your feminism is inspired by the big names before me: de Beauvior, Pascoe, Bartkey and Irigaray, and is sustained through the student, teacher, male, female, mainstream and underground voices beside me.” It got me thinking how great it was that you look up to these great women in history and like them you are not afraid to speak up and stand up for what you believe.
I also thought your manifesto was very well written. I really liked the fact that at the beginning of each paragraph you wrote one word in bold. And you explained how you would define that word in your life. For example, be grateful was one of the words you wrote and you explained it by saying that you would pick one thing every day that you are thanking for. And I personally believe it is important to appreciate things in life and take a step back and realize what you have because there are people out there only wish to have what you have.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading your manifesto and it was inspiring.
Kaila,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your manifesto, I felt that I could easily idenitfy it, as some of the ideas are similar to my own. I do agree that as women we need to challenge ourselves, but also to speak up and challenge others. It is something I think that individuals often do not think about and are hesitant to presue, but as feminists I think it is soemthign we need to do.
Another point that I thought was powerful was "Do it". I think that sometimes we forget take time for or do soemthing for ourselves. We need to live a little and not care about how others may see us for doing it.
Overall, I really enjoyed your manifesto. It was easy to follow and motivational.