Sailing With Tess

By Pam Hadder

We all do it – at least at some point – we set sail with the firm belief we are the master of our destiny.  When things go awry, we push on – ignoring the small signs and the huge, rolling swells that signify “dangerous waters ahead.”  But how much control do we ultimately have?  Is it truly mind and muscle over matter?  Modern self-improvement gurus might witness our floundering and hypothesize that we are not immersed in self-belief or believing, period –  à la Deepak Chopra, or the Secret.

On the other hand, consider Thomas Hardy’s classic tale, Tess of the d’ Urbervilles – it is likely that you had to slog through and analyze the beans out of this novel in high school!  What has stayed with me post high school is my frustration with the ludicrous limitations placed upon the protagonist, Tess.   Tess has an opportunity to escape with her true love, Angel, but instead she succumbs to fatalistic views and fulfills the tragic heroine outcome.   Consider when the search party finds her sleeping on the altar at Stonehenge – woman as sacrifice; a human offering for a twisted world that frames the feminine as unstable, promiscuous, consumable, and as object – she is a stripped down caricature, devoid of agency.  

The novel’s ending was so aggravating to me as a young woman – I mean, what the hell, I would have fought a lot harder that!  I didn't have the critical awareness or the language to articulate my frustration at that time. Furthermore, the subject of sexism was not addressed by my teachers.  I now see that the book was a complete set-up of the female gender, a damnation of women as irrational temptresses, incapable of forging a worthwhile path in the world; keep those XXs on a short leash or goodness knows they’ll stab you in the heart – literally the message served up by Hardy in his characterization of Tess.

So what is it – mind over matter or wildly surfing the whims of fate?  As much as I have battled the naysayers, the misogynists, and the structures that limit womanhood, and it pains me to admit there have been too many times that I sailed with Tess, forgetting my dreams and allowing opinions and social pressures to alter my course.  I recall being very small and building a sand castle by the lake shore – as soon as I would make a little headway – whoosh another wave would arrive to dash my hopes and remind me of inadequacies I had already begun to feel; inadequacies I resisted but which my socialization reinforced as being attributed to my girlhood.  How many times have you heard “take it like a man” or “run like a girl” etc. – associations with the feminine are too often framed as the incapable, the weak, and the laughable “other.”  

It seems to me that the perils of young dreamers are very real; particularly if the  person is a girl, a woman, or identifies as “feminine.”  Rather than accepting what others frame for us as "suitable for women,"  we need to persist, follow our personal passions and interests, and we must insist upon equal treatment in all areas of life - and we must encourage and inspire others to  understand that women's rights are basic human rights.

Your Song

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

A Work in Progress

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