Women's History Month: Spotlight on Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)

I'm drawn to photographers who enter in and out of people’s lives for brief moments and capture their experience on film.  Nan Golden, Diane Arbus, Mary Ellen Mark, Annie Leibovitz and of course the iconic Dorothea Lange are some of the photographers I enjoy.  

I've often wondered how these photographers balance the emotional and personal connections they make with their subjects through the lens, especially if they are "just visiting". There is a fine line between being the outsider looking in, stealing a glimpse of someone's soul for personal gain.  With this there is also the potential risk of being called an "exploitative photographer".  With that said, I am more from the belief that photographers are ethnographers with a third eye.

Linda Gordon writes in her book Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits of Lange describing Dorothea Lange "...as a photographer of democracy, and for democracy."(W. W. Norton & Co., 2009)

The image she is most known for is "Migrant Mother" (1936) Nipomo, California

"Migrant Mother" (1936) Nipomo, California

Lange recalls her experience taking the photograph of the 32 year old widow Florence Owens Thompson; 

"She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat, in that lean too tent with her children around and seemed to know my picture might help her so she helped me...there was a sort of equality about it."  

Within days of Lange's visit published photographs triggered immediate food aid and called national attention to conditions to California's agricultural valleys.

Katherine McIntosh was 4 years old when the photo was snapped. McIntosh is the girl to the left of her mother when you look at the photograph. McIntosh speaking about her mother (Thompson); "She was the backbone of our family," McIntosh says of her mom. "We never had a lot, but she always made sure we had something. She didn't eat sometimes, but she made sure us children ate. That's one thing she did do."

So what can we learn from the democratic photographer and her subject?  I find myself referring back to  John Berger's "Ways of Seeing". For me, photographs influence what we say and how we go about trying to say what we mean.  Photography is used as a communication tool that consciously and uninhibitedly removes the blinders while cropping out the world in our peripheral vision.   All in all, photographs provide more questions rather than concrete answers.  This makes me a better critical thinker and entrepreneur of social justice.

International Women’s Day: Using “Humanist” instead of Women?

March 8^th, 2011 marks the global centenary year for International Women’s Day – 100 years since the first International Women's Day event was run. More than one million women and men attended rallies in 1911. With that said, I wanted to recap a research quest I went on recently that had me first feeling “punked” and then, near the end, left me feeling accomplished and confident that what I’ve been doing over the past three years, in my job, actually has made me more capable to handle most feminist teaching moments effectively.

After planning, organizing and adverting events for Women’s History Month and more specifically International Women’s Day over the past few weeks, I found myself pondering why a student, I do not know nor have had contact with before, found it necessary to send me an email asking me; “…when is International Men’s Day?”

Now the question seems simple enough and by itself could be a “normal” question that I might receive in my day-to-day job her at the University or in teaching an Intro to Women’s Studies class.  These are typical questions that one receives when you begin focusing on women and men separately in discussions.  Once there is a separation, students seem to be a need to bring the talk back to both as a whole in order to understand them individually.  But as things sometimes happen here in “bible-belt-conservative-USA”, not all questions are innocent in nature and I’m always on the ready for the tactics of “gotcha” politics.

Additionally, in a bit of educational irony, I assumed the person asking this question was capable of doing a search on the Internet so my first response was that of suspicion and wonder.  Did they send me this email to be flippant or sarcastic to counter the fact that there was a celebration of International Women’s Day here in their city?  Or were they asking this in a genuine manner because they understand the gendered conversations of economic, political and social inequalities between women and men?  Either way I found I needed to do some research before I replied.

International Men's Day began on November 19th 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago and was supported by the United Nations. Objectives of International Men's Day include a focus on men's and boy's health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models. It is an occasion for men to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular their contributions to community, family, marriage, and childcare while highlighting the discrimination against them. 

The overall tone of the initial question seems to be more about what is the difference between International Women’s day and International Men’s Day?  What sets them apart?  Why do they need to be separate?

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights (although with the current healthcare debate in the US and my state you could say otherwise), and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality.  Which usually leads to the old standby of “Feminism is Dead”.  The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is still being used as a weapon in war and peace. 

Although there have been great strides made over the years, one might think that with 100 yrs of celebration, education and awareness building there might have been more changes to the economic, social and political inequality between women and men.

So, I sent off my careful reply, including some of the above information and received the following email back:

“But I don't understand -- If both support gender equality, then why not throw 'em both out the window and have an international human day? Because that's what we're saying right? We're all people, we'll equal. So doesn't promoting one gender on a specific day defeat the purpose of saying we're all equal?” – Anonymous

I can see where she was coming from in theory but I encouraged her to investigate the words that are used to describe why these events exist in the first place.  I also made it a point to say that along with theoretical hypotheses, it is necessary to include real lived experiences.  I agree both use the term gender equality but what does that really mean for these two days out of the year?

Differences:

• Words used to describe why International Women’s Day exist:

-Bring about opportunity and visibility of women in business and politics
-Increase awareness of unequal pay for equal work
-End violent acts toward women in war and peace
-Increase opportunity for education of young girls and women
-Increase accessibility of health care to young girls and women

• Words used to describe why International Men’s Day exist:

-Promote positive role models
-Promote achievements and contributions to children, family, marriage, community

Even if you take just one part of these descriptors, such as violence against women, on a global level, you are sure to see the higher percentage of women and girls being effected differently than men.

I agree with the student in her desire to use the word “humanist”.  I think it’s a great word to use when trying to help bridge the conversations but I feel until the economical, political and social equality for both women and men are on the same level, humanist has an uphill battle and a longer wait before it becomes second nature in our discussions.

I also agree men are stereotyped and defined into gender roles that are problematic.  This is why I think having an International Men’s Day can be affective.  Discussing gender equality without social and cultural pressures can include; men choosing to be a father or not be a father, a man loving who he chooses to love not based on gender, choosing to work in the home or not work in the home without remorse, choosing a career that is categorized as pink collar and lower pay, and the list continues.  For me, I believe it is critical to point out that these are choices. Choices that men have and can make but face social and cultural repercussions that try to sustain patriarchy.  The difference is that a large number of women and girls are educated early in life to not choose or believe that they don’t have a choice but instead stay with the status quo of social norms.

So, what’s the teaching moment I’ve learned here? When discussing an event that focuses on women’s history and women’s achievements I will always be asked how men are celebrated and valued.  I think that’s what makes us practicing critical thinkers.  The critical part is, reaching solutions to have all parts of diverse people at the table to discuss these achievements so that more women and men can find their voice to move forward towards social justice, reaching and creating a society based on principles of equality and solidarity valuing human rights.

But in the meantime I will set aside celebration to focus on women and women's achievements because even with 100 years behind the history of International Women’s Day atrocities are still being committed towards women based on their sex, women's voices are still being silenced, and women and girls are at the heart of why I do what I do in my life choices.

Recharging the Feminist Senses: When Optimism Meets Depression

Rosie, "At My Window" by Townes Van Zandt

After a fantastic few days in Denver at the NWSA conference I find myself returning to my office with a bit of depressed optimism. Is that even possible to combine those two words together and make sense? Let’s see if I can make sense of this….

I’m always amazed at how quickly my optimistic feminist bubble and recharging experiences can quickly burst after returning from an environment that inspired, challenged, and encouraged me to think outside my creativity and myself. Thank you NWSA for reminding me why I am who I am and do what I do.

I could go on and on about how powerful the NWSA conference made me feel but this blog is about how I am coming to terms with my power in an environment and climate that limits women’s power.

I like to bottle up all that I witnessed at these types of conferences and release the contents and watch them seep into the minds and hearts of people in my community. If only it were that simple.

In the few short days that I have returned, not only do I find my words flowing uncontrollably out of my mouth to try and inspire others but I find there are some who appear, with crossed arms and over speak language, seeming to not want to hear what I have to say. Is this because they know something I don’t? Is it that they don’t want the refill of hope spilled into them to then be crushed by administrative strife? Either way, it hasn’t taken me long to settle back down into my everyday struggle of promoting, educating, and supporting gender on the lives of women and men within a climate that could care less about this topic until it brings in corporate money.

My small, meager, all-be-it important job position has once again met the ugly green monster of marginalization. Our program is undergoing another reorganization within a 12-month period. Moving this money loosing hot potato of a program out of one area into another division possibly dealing with similar criteria of sorts.

Where will this new move lead me? I am optimistic, to a point, but it may be at another’s direction. A direction that knocks me back rather than forward, swaying me back to where I’ve come from, challenging me to mobilize my voice more poetically towards progress without getting fired. Yes, there is fear in my tone because I have worked too hard and sacrificed too much to not be recognized, validated, and compensated for my dedication to promoting feminism in this place.

How do I move forward? I recognize those moments, like today, that are not merely coincidences but signs from someone or something. Here’s the story: My door was open and the lights were on. A graduate student not affiliated with the program stopped by unannounced looking for resources for his research on “women in politics” and saw that we had a lending library. He needed to know more about how he could access the library and if he needed to be in the program to do so. We talked about his research topic with a few more details and the more I spoke with him I realized how much he needed validation and support of where he was taking his research. So, even though our office is in a basement off the beaten path it made me realize that if there is a need a student will find their way.

How much of a coincidence is that? For me, the answer is clear; it was a sign. A sign that I will take with me to remind others and myself, that will listen, that feminism is alive and well in this conservative space and it is up to me to show it, embrace it, and promote it. So, with that, my optimism is back and my depression put on the back burner, at least, until tomorrow.

God, Family, Lattes and Bikini's

It’s the same old sexism with a bold new flavor.

There is a new business in this sleepy little West Tx town, using the same old ways of commerce/capitalism, turning a buck at the expense of others. Ooo La Lattes owned by Joe and Bruce, two “God fearing” and “family loving” guys that just want to put their entrepreneurial skills “out on a limb”, have opened a new coffee house. This town (approx. pop. 200,000) now has, at my count; six independently owned coffee shops competing with Starbucks which has four locations, counting the campus and Barnes & Noble bookstore at the mall.

What’s the big deal? It’s just a coffee shop, right? What could possibly warrant a blog post spent talking about coffee? If you read S. Coleman with Talk Lubbock you'll know what the big deal is with "Hooter-like jugs hanging just right". Also, the facebook page of KLBK/KMAC news channel (scroll down to June 22nd) seemed to have some folks saying that there are those "jealous folks" that need to get hip with the times, as other big cities in Texas have already done and that progress is good, if we just open up another coffee shop with men dressing similarly, in place of women.

Hear what the all female staff thinks of their work environment and dress code, oh, and the coffee they sell.

How was this new business covered on the local news channel? Couldn't get the link to be embedded so you'll need to click on this to Lubbock Online to view the story: http://everythinglubbock.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=56395

Raising eyebrows! You don’t say! That’s an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy deconstructing some young women's argument that tell me “women have come so far, being independent from influences of main stream media” that “we” are in control of how we are exploited and it’s our choice to be in those type of situations, on and on I could go; BUT this story is not your typical run of the mill “call out sexism” type post. Instead this is a story of hypocrisy as the cherry (no pun intended) on top of the sexist cake.

In a conservative town that prides itself and it’s founding morals on being “the best place to raise a family”, I’m not sure Mom and Dad will take the kids to Ooo La Lattes on their way to church for a coffee or hot chocolate for the kids. Oh, that’s right they’re not open on Sunday’s. Just when all those good Christian folk need something for that hangover! Cue “Lubbock Or Leave It” by the Dixie Chicks.

Also, what’s the big deal? “It’s a nice little spin and you need a gimmick to make money today” and don’t forget “different strokes for different folks”.

It’s not new, right? “Hooters” has been doing it since 1983 and their Internationally known and have a Wikipedia page. If it's not new then what's the big deal?

The bid deal is this:

Using women’s bodies to sell a product is sexism. The hypocrisy is that the virtuous and morally principled owners have hit on something to sell their product at the profit of constructed women’s bodies as nothing more than commodities. A typical question that comes to mind with this discussion; does this mean I’m calling for equal treatment of men’s bodies as fragments to even the playing field? No, why would I want to call for men to experience the same issues of body image, self worth, stereotypes, etc.? No, no one gender, race, class, body, orientation, age group, etc should be constructed, fragmented, pieced apart in a manner that exploits their social, political and economic worth for profit.

I’ll admit I’ve only viewed the web site and seen the fan page on Facebook. Others have told me that they drove by with their teenage daughters in the car and immediately the daughters told their Mom; “Those women don’t have any clothes on!” You see; the drive thru window is much lower than traditional drive thru windows and seems to go as far down as midway down her thigh and the top of the window reaches as tall as just under the overhang. On this day, they must have been wearing their bikini "uniform". It did make for a great conversation on the drive home that day and the Mom was struck by how her daughters could distinguish sexism, "in the flesh" (pun intended).

I’m not sure I really need to drive by or even buy a cup of coffee to know sexism when I see it? Just like I don’t have to define sexism to those that have experienced it first hand. The hand, so to speak, comes on my television on the movie screen, even in my daily walk across campus as well as face-to-face acts.

Just in case; here is a reminder of the basic definition of sexism

-noun

attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles

If the images don’t convince you maybe the way you order that special cup of “Joe” might make you think otherwise.

• Cup sizes are "B" cup, "C" cup, and "D" cup
  
• Don’t forget the catchy names of some of the specials: “Tripple X”, “The Push-UP”, “The Wild Thing”, “The Commando”; all organically made. All in all these names can be used in most any restaurant or bar but when you hear them coming from the barista at the drive thru window, flashing you a little more skin than you are used to at a coffee house, you seem to get the pun and point to why Ooo La Lattes is the type of business standing out above the rest.

So, what is the bottom line for me? What should I learn from this new coffee establishment’s “gimmick”? That *hypocrisy is alive and well in this sleepy little town, out in the environment where cotton, oil, football and sexism are KING!

*Note: Hypocrisy in this case equals the context of using women, dressed in clothing attire that would be declined in a schoolhouse but acceptable at a strip club, as a gimmick to attract customers to sell them coffee; therefore exploiting another person based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.

One last thought:

Why didn’t J&B Coffee, Day Break Coffee, Sugar Brown’s Coffee, Otto’s Granary and Grand Café do the same? Maybe they just didn’t have a sense of humor or a creative management team like Joe and Bruce

Resources on sexism by Media Education Foundation:

Dreamworlds 3

Killing Us Softly 3

Tough Guise

Women's Media Center:

"Sexism Sells But We're Not Buying It"

I Want My Feminist Music!

This blog is in response to the awesome-ness that is Fair and Feminist, someone you should follow on Twitter (@fairandfeminist) and on the blog (http://fairandfeminist.com/)

I am a 41-year-old “young feminist”. I am “young” to feminism in the way that I am using the word, feminist/feminism, more often in my everyday speak, my art making, and my career choice. I am not young to the belief in feminism and how it has impacted my life but I am young in a sense that I have found my voice much later in life.

Coming to this realization consciously, I decided to use this opportunity to share with others how I believe music and more specifically women in music was a stand in for my voice at an early age.

I was given a copy of “The Runaways”, the movie, for my birthday. As I watched a young Joan Jett and Cherie Currie kick, scream, shout, and sing their way to history, I was reminded why I fell in love with women in music. Music has been a part of my life, living as an open diary, a fantasy lover, a celebration of life, and a loyal friend I can call on at 3am.

I grew up with a small portable transistor radio, when all the hot top 40 stations were on AM radio, an eight track portable player, and a console TV with a five channel tuning knob in which I was the remote control, turning the dial till my Mom told me to stop. These were my resources to take me far away from my life in a small town (population 2,000) in Texas.

From Tanya Tucker (8-track Country) to Pat Benatar (Rock-n-Roll cassettes and MTV) I found myself learning the in’s and out’s of love in a rough and tumble type of “kiss me, but don’t think you can have me” attitude. As I look back now, I think I had many “click” moments of when I knew I was a feminist; I just kept them hidden inside.

The music was loud and blasting out of my room every chance I had. When I was old enough to drive, legally, I was always conscious of having a radio that worked. Radio was my salvation!

With every beat of the drum and grind of a guitar string or a sultry ballad, validating itself over and over, again and again, I knew that I could be and do anything I wanted. I was never told I was living in a feminist world at the price of other women that had come before me. I only knew that the women that were raising me were powerfully determined.

So, who were the women in my early life still speaking the words I wished I could, making me get out of my chair to grab my hairbrush to sing out loud and giving me the words to speak my truth? Here’s a list of just a few that come to mind as I reminisce my feminist music play list of my life. Cheers to all the women in music that remind us of our youth, our power and our passion for feminism.

Roberta Flack (my first 45 record), Donna Summer, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Tanya Tucker, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac/Solo), Dolly Parton, Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane), Dusty Springfield, Karen Carpenter, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Suzie Quatro, Debby Harry (Blondie), Heart (Ann & Nancy Wilson), Patty Smith, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett (Runaways/Solo), Lita Ford (Runaways/Solo), Madonna, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Tracy Chapman, Melissa Etheridge, Stevie Nicks, Go Go’s, Aimee Mann (Till Tuesday), Bonnie Tyler, Cher

Link to listen to a few artists listed above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqPwl8IqpU

Cleaning Up "Disappointment": Why I would be proud to work with Lt. Dan Choi

First question: why has it taken me this long to respond to Nonnie Ouch’s letter to Lt. Dan Choi? Second question: why do I care what one person living in Lubbock, TX says about GLBTQ activism? The answer is simply; for the past eight months I, along with many others, have been meeting, coordinating, fundraising, negotiating and planning GLBTQ Awareness events for Lubbock, TX. and I am financially and physically vested in efforts to bring local, state and national activist to speak.

Additionally, this letter has reached my twitter-verse and blogosphere GLBTQ/Feminist followers and I don’t want one person’s individual “disappointment” over money appearing to represent the larger body of GLBTQ people in Lubbock TX. I have read and appreciate Between Floating and Leeching: The Financial Struggle of the LGBT Activist by: Zack Ford (-promoted by Pam's House Blend) and What is feminism Worth? By Jessica Valenti. Your critiquing of Ms. Ouch’s topic was well spoken.

Once again, Lubbock has a “black –eye”, and the GLBTQ and Feminist grapevine is seeing why they might want to stay clear of our small city. I am left explaining to those potential speakers why Lubbock TX, conservative as it may be, needs and will financially support speakers like Choi to help create dialogue rather than debates.

I am one of many Lubbock GLBTQ activists that exist in this city of 200,000. I did not see the need to send an open letter regarding Lt. Dan Choi, because I was privy to more information than is public knowledge. Individual negotiation tactics were exposed and questioned. Asking these questions were additional Lubbock organizations, which understandably were willing to negotiate a fee with an agent instead of the initial liaison, first involved. Before this negotiation could take place, state media outlets picked up on Ms. Ouch’s letter. As is typical in a small conservative community, it only takes one person’s publicity to bring a whole group effort to a state of unrest. As the saying goes; one-step forward, two-steps back.

I have had the good fortune of being part of community planning for the past 10 years. In this short time I have participated in raising funds ranging from small to large, bringing speakers of this caliber to Lubbock. A few years ago a coalition of community leaders and organizers came together to form a GLBTQ Awareness Committee. These members found it necessary to come together after a short lived Student Diversity Relations Department, on the University campus, was no longer in existence. Additionally, as of 2006, there is a virtual Community Center that is coming off a fundraising high from hosting a successful Art Exhibit & Auction. These are only a few examples, of many, that support our GLBTQ heritage, history and diversity way out here in West TX.

Living in the second most conservative city in the USA (taken from the Bay Area Center for Voting Research, 2006), my GLBTQ & Allies community is small but powerful. I thank the founders of the first GLBT Community Center (1985-1992) and the up and coming virtual community center of today, OUTwest Lubbock. I thank the health providers and organizations that have been here all along in small corners and on open avenues. I thank the religious communities for surrounding themselves in the common goal of equality for all. I thank the legal community that continues to represent so many GLBTQ individuals and groups, leading to state and national coverage of the public protest against Fred Phelps and his flock. I also thank Nonnie Ouch for reminding me how powerful our community is, here in a town people pass thru on their way to somewhere else.

The bottom line is; I would be proud to work with Lt. Dan Choi and his agent to bring him to Lubbock. He would make a great addition to our already present activist community that works out of love.

For more information on upcoming events in Lubbock, TX check out OUTwest Lubbock events page:

http://www.outwestlubbock.org/events.htm

The begining...

Who-Who am I?
What-What will I say?
Where-Where will it go?
When-When will someone respond?
Why-Why blog?

All of these questions I have in mind as I begin this venture into diary/soapbox/platform of words in cyberspace.

Who am I? "Ain't I A Woman" - Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) thank you for your wisdom. Yes, pennygirlpearl is my name for the purpose of staying true to my anonymity and autonomy simultaneously. "Penny" because I never knew I grew up with very little, "girl" because I feel I found my way to adulthood too quick, and "pearl" cause I am not a diamond!

What will I say? "The Truth Will Set You Free but First It Will Piss You Off" - Gloria Steinem (1934- ) thank you and thank you again and again and always for providing words to my silence.
Most the time I balance my feminist writing with art, activism, and awareness all the while centering around education and finding my voice.

Where will it go? "Our Visions Begin with Our Desires" - Audre Lorde (1934-1992) thank you for empowerment. My words will come from a surface that has been baked, boiled, simmered and stewed to feed my soul.

When will someone respond? "Expect Nothing Live Frugally On Surprise" - Alice Walker (1944- ) thank you for telling me about myself. I will continue to remind myself that true validation of my words will have to come from within.

Why blog? "Life-transforming Ideas Have Always Come To Me Through Books" - bell hooks (1952- ) thank you for giving me my rage. In order to speak from within, I must speak out.