A correction

I received a facebook message from the person whose status I wrote about in my post on the Mary statue vandalism and the LGBTQ community. The person informed me that I misconstrued the message. Here is what he said:

"Hi Heather,

I just wanted to let you know that I didn't find out about the statue of Mary's defacement until after I posted my facebook status last week. That status was the result of looking into sex-positive week and seeing events that included porn directors, discussions about sado-masochism, why pornography is good, etc. That's the reason that I changed my status, and that's also the reason that the comment left on my status was what it was.

As far as the statue goes, "the blame game" never entered my mind. My first thoughts were hoping it was someone who wanted to stir up debate or get a reaction. I also thought that if this had happened to the gay community or any other religious community on campus the response would have been very different (such as not taking 4 days to start cleaning the statue). I don't plan on putting anything into my facebook status of importance in the future, but I'd say check with me, or anyone, in the future before assuming what its about.

Thanks for not naming me, I just wanted to clarify things."

Obviously, it was wrong of me to make that assumption, so I replied and let him know that I would let my readers know about my mistake. However, I had a few other things to say about thoughts on sex positive week. Here's my reply:

"I apologize for assuming that your status was about the statue. I saw that you had posted on [other person]'s status about the statue issue to "look at my status," so I assumed that your status was about the same issue. That was wrong on my part.

However, now that i know what your status was actually about, I'm still offended by what the person who commented on your status said. I know that we have very different opinions about sex positivity and the LGBTQ community on campus ("gay community" is a misnomer and also mildly offensive to people who identify as lesbian, bi, transgender, etc.), but I think that opening up a safe space for dialogue about sex and sexuality on campus is healthy and important for students. I know that Georgetown prides itself on being a strong Jesuit institution, but the mission statement says, "the University was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding. We embody this principle in the diversity of our students, faculty, and staff, our commitment to justice and the common good, our intellectual openness, and our international character."
Discourse--that's what sex positive week is about. And while you may wonder where Georgetown's "catholic identity" has gone, I say that Georgetown's Jesuit mission is being played out in the open conversation and flow of ideas happening at sex positive week events.

Once again, I'm sorry that I misconstrued your status, and I will write a new blog post correcting that mistake."

But no matter what the status was about, the underlying theme was an anti-LGBTQ feeling, and that, for me, is the real issue.

Feministing Fame--editor favorites

Woohoo! I cross-posted my last post about the vandalism of the Mary statue on the Feministing community, and it is linked on the front page as an editor favorite! I'm so proud! The article at feministing is here. Also, I'm being interviewed for The Voice about my feministing article. So, I'll link to that when it comes out! Feel free to high five me in comments. :)

Mary, Blame, and LGBTQ identity

As most readers know, I go to Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Georgetown is a school filled with pride for its Jesuit heritage. Many Jesuits teach classes at Georgetown--often classes with some of the longest wait lists. There is a chaplain-in-residence in every dormitory, and more than one daily mass in the campus chapel. Now as a feminist, I've run into some issues with my school's Jesuit identity, particularly because they do not acknowledge the pro-choice student group on campus as a legitimate campus group; however, I love Georgetown and am proud of its heritage in most situations. Plus, the Jesuits are probably the coolest priests ever.

So, on Friday, it came to the attention of some of the students that an act of vandalism had taken place on campus. A statue of Mary on the front lawn of the school had been defaced. The face of the white stone statue had been painted black. Of course there was a facebook outcry, which I thought was necessary. It's ridiculous, in my opinion, when any school property has been defaced. Georgetown tends to be a very clean campus, and graffiti of any kind is usually cleaned up rather quickly. Two years ago after a very intense basketball game, Pitt students/fans vandalized our campus, and Georgetown quickly took action to remove or cover the graffiti. So, I was very happy to see that there was a public outcry about the vandalism of the Mary statue, because outcry generally leads to action by the University to clean up such things.

But then, the outcry about the ridiculousness of vandalizing the Mary statue became a blame game. One student in his facebook status about the incident asked where the school's Catholic identity had gone. One of his friends quickly replied that it had been "replaced by the gay identity." The first student replied that he couldn't argue, because it was true. Truth? Here's the truth: after multiple "bias-related incidents" last year (I airquote, because I think they should be called hate crimes, not incidents) involving LGBTQ students, one that ended up being taken to court as a hate crime (though later dropped), students rallied for a change. The University, after much debate, decided to create an LGBTQ resource center that would work to aid students and hopefully serve as a deterrent to such crimes. The pope was not so happy with this, and some students, obviously the ones writing this stuff on their facebook, think that because LGBTQ students have a resource center on campus, they are somehow undermining the Catholic students. Because, according to their flawed logic, creating a safe space for LGBTQ students equates to destroying Georgetown's catholic identity, and as such, relates directly to the vandalism in question.

I'm really upset about this. I'm upset that anyone finds it remotely okay to blame an entire people group, to say that people who identify as LGBTQ and allies are the reason that bad things happen at Georgetown. If we just consider historically what has happened when a single people group is blamed for all of the bad things that happen in a country/community, we'll realize how messed up this is. That is, if you didn't already realize that this facebook status and comment pair was completely bigoted and hateful. We're on the verge of sex positive week here on campus-- a week sponsored in part by GU Pride about what it means to be sex positive and about fostering a conversation on campus. And though I don't think it will help the facebook-people in question, I think that some understanding of sex positivity and acceptance is what this campus needs. And the vandalism on Mary, and on facebook, needs to be cleaned up!

You-Me Park is a hero!

So, this semester, as some of you may know, I am taking a class with You-Me Park titled "Labor, Globalization, and Sexuality." I knew that the class would be interesting because all three topics are interesting, but I had no idea that I would really learn so much and make so many connections between feminism and labor.

Let me start by saying that before this class I knew very little (I mean VERY little) about labor and globalization. I mean, I knew what out-sourcing was, and I knew about the sex-slave trade :(, but I really didn't comprehend how much economics powers the movement of people across international borders. Basically, this is one of the only times where I wish I had taken econ or been in the SFS. (Well, of course aside from my lack of econ knowledge making it hard for me to understand exactly what's going on with all of these bailouts and the stimulus package. I'm reading so much and feeling like passing AP Calculus did not prepare me for real life when it comes to math issues.) But understanding how a globalized market dominated by a lot of douchebaggery from our country leads to starvation in the third world is a pretty important and powerful piece of information to have in my back pocket.

Being able to connect the dots and to understand how the global economy affects me and a girl my age in, say, India is interesting. It's also difficult, because reading about how and why illegal workers come to this country (forced often by economic downturn in their own country caused by US policies) and how they are treated here is heart-breaking. I mean, I knew about factory raids and occasional raids on restaurants, hotels, and (rarely) wal-mart that end in deportation, families being ripped apart, etc. Miriam at Feministing has had some great posts about how immigration raids hurt women and families. I think where it gets personal for me is in my hometown and with my relatives who are pro-immigration by Europeans (we have a strong Bulgarian friend-set and my dad spends time there every year), but very anti-immigrants from Mexico and Central or South America. The racist comments spewed by my family members really get to me, because they perpetuate the "us v. them" "othered" stereotype that dehumanizes people who don't fit into the middle-class, hetero-, suburban, white, apple pie eating, American life.

And it's hard for me to talk about this at all, because I know that I come from a place of privelege as a middle-class, suburban, white girl. So, I don't have personal experience with being dehumanized for not fitting the limiting "American citizen" guidelines put out by anti-immigrant activists. But, as a caring human being, I have a hard time even reading through the hateful words and ideas posited by anti-immigrant activists. It's hard for me to comprehend how people can be so full of prejudice and hatred, and how anyone can regard him/herself as "more human" or "more worthy" than another person. Because that's what a lot of these things come down to. A lot of anti-immigrant legislation relies on limiting access to care and benefits for immigrant workers and their families, because anti-immigrant/anti-immigration activists like to say that immigrants use up all of the public service money. And of course, according to anti-immigrant activists, only "citizens" are "worthy" of using resources and immigrants are "not worthy" of such things. Legislation includes limiting access to healthcare and education. But, happily, President Obama signed the Children's Health Initiative into law earlier this month, which included an act to cut out the 5 year waiting period on access to healthcare for immigrant children and pregnant women. Woo. Now we just need to cut out that waiting period for all immigrants. And cut out all of the other ridiculous legislation that limits immigrant rights in our country. And stop the cycle of powerlessness for undocumented workers or workers on "nanny visas." Oh my, there's a lot to do. But Professor Park is always reminding us that even though as scholars we attack these things in a theoretical way, we have to get in there as activists and do what we can to work now at reaching our overall theoretical goals in the future.

I'm just so energized and ready for activism after doing readings for this class, that I felt like it was a good time to share. So, I'm looking at some Social Justice Internships for this summer. :) Please leave comments if you have any questions (I know this post is mostly stream-of-consciousness, which might be confusing) or if you have thoughts on labor, sexuality, and/or globalization.

Also, interesting reading material that deals with immigrant workers in the US:
Disposable Domestics by Grace Chang

Vagina Monologues

Vagina Monologues is this weekend!

I am performing in the monologue "Crooked Braid," which is about woman in the Oglala Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. According to the opening of the piece, the average annual rate of rape and sexual assault among Native American women is 3.5 times higher than all other races. 3.5!!!

"Crooked Braid," in our cast, is performed by 5 people, all telling a different part of the story. My part is empowering, and I'm very grateful for that, but other people's parts are heart-wrenching. And some of the other monologues like "Hey, Miss Pat" and "My Vagina was my Village" make me cry every time I hear them. I'm really excited for the performances and am so glad to be a part of this.

Also, I finally told my dad about it. He actually was speechless for a minute (a first for him), but then he was just like "okay, what is that??" When I explained what it was, he changed the subject. We haven't talked about it since. I still haven't told my mom. She just isn't really okay with being open about sexuality in any way--especially about saying vagina in public, but I'm going to tell her before Friday. My sister is cool with it, although she did ask me very candidly if I was a lesbian. I replied "No, I'm not a lesbian, but I don't see a problem with it either way." I think my entire family would understand my pro-gay rights stance more if I were a lesbian, because they don't seem to understand that I don't have to identify as a lesbian to be pro civil rights. What do people not get about believing that All men HUMANS are created equal?

Okay, so that was a bit of a rant. Sorry. But the main point-- Come see Vagina Monologues this weekend! Friday's show is sold out already, but I'm performing Sunday as well. Or come support the other cast on Thursday night or Saturday night!

Get pumped!

So, I don't have a lot of time to write tonight, because I have some homework left to do for my 10:15 tomorrow. But, I wanted to let you know some of the fun stuff you have to look forward to in the coming weeks.

1. I just finished reading "Full-Frontal Feminism" by Jessica Valenti. It's an amazing book about why feminism is still alive and important today. Erica is reading it now, and when she's done, I think a team book review will be happening. Woo!

2. I had my first rehearsal for "The Vagina Monologues" today. The play, written by Eve Ensler, is all about women's empowerment. Proceeds from the play go to Eve Ensler's foundation, V-Day, that works to end violence against women and girls around the world. So, as the show gets closer, there will be updates about that. I don't want to give too much away, because I want my friends to be excited to come see the show. If you haven't seen it and aren't in the Georgetown area, go to the V-Day website and you can search for a show near you. Performances are always around V-day--valentine's day. And what better way to celebrate the holiday than to see a play about vaginas? Also, I need to come up with what my vagina would say if it could talk and what my vagina would wear if it got dressed, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

3. I am taking 2 women's and gender studies classes this semester. One, titled "Cultural Constructions: Motherhood" actually is an upper-level English but was cross-posted under the Women and Gender Studies heading. The class is about cultural influences on modern (50s to present) motherhood. I'm really excited about the class because the professors are engaging and I can tell that there will be a lot of strong discussion and debate. I'm also a bit nervous though, because this will be my first encounter with feminist theory as opposed to feminist practice. Practice is easy, but theory can get pretty crazy, so there will be updates on this as I go along. My other class is "Labor, Globalization, Sexuality." We'll be discussing social justice, equality, and violence prevention in terms of labor, globalization, and (you guessed it) sexuality. Erica and I are taking this class together (yay for fun feminist classes), and will hopefully be rocking it. *fingers crossed* So, there will be updates, questions, and thoughts about the classes posted on here. Woo!

4. I'm hoping to start "Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape" this week. The book is a collection of essays edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti. They'll be at Busboys and Poets here in DC on February 5th to talk about the book, so I'm hoping to finish it by then. I've seen Jessica speak before (she was at Georgetown last year during the United Feminists week), and she is amazing. I'm absolutely in awe of her-- she kicks so much ass! So, there will definitely be a happy "OMG, Jessica Valenti rocks!" post after Feb. 5th.

So, there's some stuff to look forward to. Now I'm off to critique Walt Whitman, which is a daunting task!!

Happy New Year

Hey "sex? sexy? sexist?" readers! I've failed miserably at sticking to this blogging thing, but for the New Year my plan is to write at least one blog per week. So, stay tuned for some awesome feminist blogging.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!