Music icon, Janis Joplin, once said, "Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers." An interesting observation, as we consider transnational feminist praxis -how TFPX encourages active witness, and resists definition as it grows, changes and overlaps within and beyond itself.
Through our current lens of feminist activism, Joplin's remark is both an accurate commentary on academic-activist dichotomy, and is also a wonderful summary of what it is to be active and engaged as a socially conscious, self-and-world-aware woman. Joplin's words were consistently profound, honest and distinctly Janis. Joplin's unmatched sound, unique viewpoint and full-frontal passion for life made an indelible impact on the music scene, and in a broader sense, on popular culture. Her intensity and style were so well-matched for the time in which her star rose - it was as if she had a premonition that her window of opportunity would be small - and oh how she filled that too-brief vista with her mega-watt energy and talent!
The music industry was (and is still is) a very male-dominated space to make a living. It was intensely "more-so" in the 60s and 70s when Ms. Joplin was working her magic. When asked about settling down (the patriarchal societal model vs. free love and no wedding ring), Joplin quipped, "I won't quit to be become someone's old lady."
Some say Janis was inspired by great American singers such as Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Big Mama Thornton. Similar to Elvis Presley, people weren't accustomed to hearing those sounds come out of a white person. Janis' response was a wake up call for cultural stereotypes: "You know why we're stuck with the myth that only black people have soul? Because white people don't let themselves feel things."
So, was her contribution to our life, our world, our music, our time - was it activism? She definitely shaped our view through her sharing of her talent and take on race, sex, music, politics, life, and everything in between. Very few will match Joplin's impact on music, and no one will ever duplicate this person we know as Janis, but her life reinforces that activism is much more than lobbying government, writing reports and protest marches.
"When I sing, I feel like when you're first in love. It's more than sex. It's that point two people can get to they call love, when you really touch someone for the first time, but it's gigantic, multiplied by the whole audience. I feel chills." - Janis Joplin
As part of our coursework in Feminist Community Organizing at the University of Manitoba we experienced two campus tours. The first tour was created by all members of our class - we each supplied a suggestion of a space to visit on campus that was significant to us, whether for good or bad!
The second tour was the official tour that new students would get, and many of us found that we did not relate too closely to the spaces shared on the official tour.
The outcome of these tours was a better understanding of how important our environment is, and how many spaces are gendered. An obvious one, is washrooms - you might be thinking, "Duh! Of course - there's men's and women's". Well, it's not that simple - what about men who express themselves in a "feminine" way and women who identify as "masculine"? And what about trans people? A couple of our class members who self-identify as queer have encountered bullying, rude remarks, whispering and staring when they use women's washrooms.
It's even more disturbing that these women trek thousands of yards out of their way to use gender-neutral facilities - there's one on the fifth floor of Tier and one on the third floor of the Frank Kennedy Rec Centre, we've learned as part of our tour assignment. For those of you that know the U of M - it's a big campus with thousands of students, so you can imagine how hard this is for these students. If you know of any other gender-neutral washrooms at the University of Manitoba, please share with us - thank you :)
To add some more perspective on this topic, here's a link to a great article by Ivan Coyote - an update to an earlier article she wrote about her "interesting" experiences in female washrooms:
http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Bathroom_bullshit_redux-11107.aspx
By Pam Hadder
So here we are, sitting on a sandy beach and sharing one of my sunsets - that may seem more like an ending than a beginning. However, I am aware that as the sun sets for me this evening, it is rising for millions of others thousands of miles away.
And so our beginnings and our endings are really one continuum - we are inseparable, vitally connected: as day moves into night, and as one hand touches another, and as one thought is given wings by new ideas. All this activity occurs with increasing speed and frequency, thanks to virtual platforms such as this blog - which is wonderful, but can also be a hindrance when one considers the vulnerabilities of sharing our personal thoughts and information on the Internet - like everything else we inherit both sides of the coin, the positive and the negative, the sunlight and the nightfall. And connection is the core of it all - let me briefly explain.
Beginnings
I have been blogging for a number of years on different subjects and both personally and professionally - so why have I chosen to share this sun-up/sundown,beginning/ending eternal connection with you? TFPX arose out of coursework at the University of Manitoba, Canada - specifically Feminist Community Organizing: Theories and Practices, with Dr. Jocelyn Thorpe, Women's and Gender Studies Department.
Throughout our learning experience, our class sought to define the currently accepted ideas surrounding feminist activism, and strove to understand how and why recent changes in approach have gathered acceptance. At the onset, several dichotomies emerged: academic versus activism, theory versus method, and individual versus collaborative, for example. As we explored the vast and mysterious new frontier - a place of complexity and contradiction, which was at the same time intricately entwined with all of the familiar and humble things of daily life - the term transnational feminist praxis became our focus.
Imagine the idea of active witnessing, of creating spaces where we can come together in harmony and strength, of accepting that making a mess is part of learning, of accepting that theory needs to be balanced by meaningful action, and of knowing that as much as we are different and perhaps oppositional, we also share many concerns - and strengths - in areas of vital importance.
Initially, I will be sharing items of relevance in my experience as a mother, a partner, a daughter, a sister, an entrepreneur, an artist, a musician, a writer, a friend - and all of the other roles that have woven their way into my life as this female person, we call WOMAN. But the ultimate goal is to use this blog as a platform to share OUR story - our collective story; all of the touch points that define US and connect US and frustrate US.
And so, welcome to TFPX - a work in progress! Please visit often, and send your feedback and suggestions for areas of focus. Coming soon... Facebook, Twitter, and buttons - yes, lapel buttons are in the works, to wear and share.
I am excited to know and share your view - thank you for taking time to connect.
- Pam
