I've always believed in equal rights for women. When I was little, I had the fortune to have a wonderful man in my life who taught me I could be anything I wanted to be. He embraced my tom-boyish nature, and when I said I wanted to be a Mechanic (like Kylie's character in Neighbours) he let me help him "service" the cars on weekends. For a man of his generation my Granddad was amazingly not sexist. The only thing he wouldn't let me do because I was a girl, was go down into the mines where he worked with him. He told me that it was no place for a girl to be, and now I'm older I think it's because he didn't want to expose me to the other men that worked there. When, at 11, I told him I wanted to marry a millionaire, he smiled and told me "you can make your own millions". I grew up thinking that girls could do ANYTHING that they wanted to.
Because of this, I think, as a teenager I didn't really see the need for feminism. As far as I was concerned EVERYONE knew women could do whatever men could. Even when I became the victim of horrendous "slut-shaming" I didn't see the sexism. So, the process of identifying as a feminist was a slow one for me.
When I finally did begin to see the inequality around me, I still didn't want to say I was a feminist. By then, it had become somewhat of a "dirty" word in the liberal group that I was in. "Feminist" meant "man-hater", I associated it with the people who had chastised me for choosing to be a home-maker when I could "be so much more". "Feminists" went around being angry all the time and using silly, unnecessary words like "patriarchy". I saw them as oppressors, just as much as the sexist men. These were the "rad-fems", angry, men-hating lesbians who shunned me because I didn't choose a career.
Slowly, I began to see that there was another side to feminism, a side that embraced all choices. Where it was recognised that women could choose to be home-makers, could like men and still believe that we needed to argue against sexism. I began to identify (and still do) as a neo-feminist. The group I thought I belonged to was the "liberal feminist" group. I didn't perceive a huge chasm between us and the rad-fems, I figured we're opposite sides of the same coin. Until twitter.
Recently on twitter I've got to know some incredible women, some of whom are *gasp* rad-fems. These women were warm, and friendly and passionate They engaged in discussion with me, and very quickly earned my respect. They sometimes said things that I disagree with, but that's life. I have amazingly close friends who disagree with me sometimes, I don't see this as meaning that we can't be friends.
So I was horrified to see these women take a barrage of abuse from so called "lib-fems" over stupid arguments about "privilege" and "intersectionality". Let me break this down for you, so hopefully you can see how I think we fit together:
There are a number of groups currently fighting against inequality in society (for the sake of simplicity here I'm going to use the term "patriarchy" as short hand). These groups include, but are not limited to, Rad-fems, LGBT groups, race equality groups, sex workers and the lib-fems. All of these groups are fighting the same war: to destroy the "patriarchy" and achieve equality. Since they represent different groups, they have somewhat different objectives. They are different regiments in the same army. Each with a specific target. Sometimes, their targets are aligned and this allows for them to work together. Sometimes they are too focussed on their individual targets. This is OK, it happens in a war. But what is needed are the "go-betweens". A group that can see the shared issues, can help to remind these different regiments that we are all on the same side, in the same war. This for me is where the lib-fems should stand. It is our job to act as facilitators of communication. We are the ones that are meant to keep these disparate groups talking, not shut down the debate.
As lib-fems we can and often do, argue for all of these groups. At least that's how I see my "brand" of feminism. I will argue for inclusion and equality for trans* women, for women of colour, for gay men and women, and even for sex workers. I acknowledge that all of these groups are fighting the same oppression. But I can also see how the rad-fems fit in here. We wouldn't be able to have our liberal attitude where it not for our rad-fem grandmothers, aunts, sisters. They fought a long hard battle to give us the privilege to be liberal. They are still needed, because whilst us liberals are facilitating communication between all oppressed groups, someone needs to keep fighting sexism.
If you liberal-fems who have been attacking women on twitter want to talk about "privilege", lets talk about yours!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
How Twitter changed my life!
I know, I know, some of you are already rolling your eyes at the title alone, but it's true. Bear with me here and let me explain. I started using twitter as @urbantangerine, as a way of sharing my photography. I followed photographers and I learned a lot. But then I noticed all the science and Psychology people there too. I was finding amazing articles, research and people. For a while my twitter became like some sort of split personality and I realised that I needed to seperate my two passions. I kept my @urbantangerine account, but decided I would use it only for photography. For my science/psychology side I created a new twitter account: @psycho_claire. This is where the magic happened.
I ticked away quietly, following some cool people, some of my heroes of Psychology and science.I was still getting the same cool research papers, contact with the same awesome researchers etc.I interacted with some and found that twitter gave me a space to be ME. I could use this new platform as a sounding block for my ideas and the 140 character limit forced me to be creative with clarity. I really had to THINK about how to say something, and in doing that I consolidated my knowledge.
But, then something really amazing happened. This last year, Twitter really did change my life.
I saw the birth of @Science_Grrl following *that* awful EU video "Science: It's a girl thing!" I followed them immediately. I watched as they went from creating a calendar to a powerful new voice encouraging girls to do science. I was gutted to not be able to attend their first AGM. But a fellow Science Grrl I know did. She returned enthused. I attended a meeting between 4 of us local to Preston, and we decided that we were going to form the Preston chapter of @Science_Grrl. We even have a meeting with the founder very soon. (The entry for this in my diary has a smiley face next to it, that's how excited I am by this!)
This on it's own is pretty amazing! I'm part of an initiative that wants to show that science is not a gendered subject. That it is fun, creative, and most of all INCLUSIVE.
But the story doesn't end here. You see, I then came across a colleague from a different school in my institution. There was some banter happening on Twitter over the NSS and who could get the most students to complete it. I joined in, that being the sort of person that I am. What began as banter quickly became something more, as this colleague and I shared our ideas and experiences. We had what is known as a "tweet-up" (don't blame me, I didn't create the name). At this meeting we enthused about our respective subjects, bounced around ideas for cross-disciplinary working, and how we could enrich our students experience. These are now all works in progress, as we bring together the people needed to achieve our goals. Also in this meeting, my colleague suggested I check out the discussion group she was part of on Twitter on a Wednesday evening.
At first I was hesitant, I'm from a different discipline and I wasn't sure if the discussion would be relevant, or if I would have anything useful to add. So I lurked around the #eswphd hashtag for a couple of weeks, watching the discussion. I cannot remember now what the first discussion I joined in with was about, but I know that I felt welcomed, and that I found I really did have stuff to say. Although we're not from the same subject backgrounds, as academics and PhD students we share similar experiences. I've taken a lot from the #eswphd tag, new ideas, new friends, and another way of getting my voice heard. (Including this blog post, which is going to be hosted on the new eswphd website).
And then there is @TheWomen'sRoomUK. I was around for the birth of this campaign too. In reaction to terrible gender ratios of experts on BBC Radio 4 programmes (and now other media outlets, programmes etc) a group of vocal women began a database of female experts. Their aim was to provide a place where journalists and other media types could find female "experts". I supported this from the outset, and watched as their voice grew and more women signed up. But I didn't sign up myself, not for a long time. Mainly because I didn't think I was an expert in anything. Then @TheWomen'sRoomUK began to tweet about what constitutes "expertise", and I realised that I do have this in a number of areas; not least of which my PhD research. So I signed up, I'm on there and if you're a journalist looking for someone to talk to, check out my profile and my expertise categories.
I began to follow more like-minded women on Twitter, through watching who interacted with the Women's Room account. I found other voices who were trying to be heard, and I think I've grown as a feminist because of it. I've realised that some things I may have been OK with, for other women are unacceptable (check out #everydaysexism if you want to see how sexism still thrives in our "forward thinking" society, caution if you're a feminist this could cause depression and/or rage).
Then, The Women's Room tweeted that they were looking for "guest tweeters". Women to tweet from the account for a couple of hours. With some trepidation I answered the call and volunteered. When the time came on Good Friday for me to take over the account I was terrified. Suddenly I would be talking to thousands of people, not my safe little on-line world. Could I do this justice? Did I really have anything to say? Would people really be interested in my thoughts and opinions? Who the hell was I to be talking to all those people? All of this was going through my mind as I signed in to the account... All I can say is the experience was AMAZING! People joined in with discussions, they were interested in what I had to say, and having a platform to discuss my ideas with so many people was awesome.
So what? Right? Who cares? I got to do some cool stuff, got involved in some cool initiatives and got to chat with a bunch of people I don't know. How is this "life-changing"?
Let me tell you how....
I've always had stuff to say, had an opinion, enjoyed debate and mostly wanted to DO something about all the things I see wrong with the world. I have 3 main passions in my life: Science, Equality and photography. My @urbantangerine account covers the photography, it works fine for me. What my @Psycho_Claire account has done is allowed me to champion my two other passions. It's given me a platform for my public engagement with Science work, it's hooked me up with other people who are trying to do this too. It's let me engage in debate about Equality and what that means for us in the UK now, and for women the world over. It's given me new ways of working, thinking, experiencing. Suddenly, I can DO. All that energy, all that potential finally has an outlet.
You may still think I'm talking rubbish. You may still think that I'm some sort of Twitter loving weirdo. But let me tell you, as a girl who was bullied, who was told her voice wasn't worth hearing, who was made small and scared and shy - Twitter is amazing!
I ticked away quietly, following some cool people, some of my heroes of Psychology and science.I was still getting the same cool research papers, contact with the same awesome researchers etc.I interacted with some and found that twitter gave me a space to be ME. I could use this new platform as a sounding block for my ideas and the 140 character limit forced me to be creative with clarity. I really had to THINK about how to say something, and in doing that I consolidated my knowledge.
But, then something really amazing happened. This last year, Twitter really did change my life.
I saw the birth of @Science_Grrl following *that* awful EU video "Science: It's a girl thing!" I followed them immediately. I watched as they went from creating a calendar to a powerful new voice encouraging girls to do science. I was gutted to not be able to attend their first AGM. But a fellow Science Grrl I know did. She returned enthused. I attended a meeting between 4 of us local to Preston, and we decided that we were going to form the Preston chapter of @Science_Grrl. We even have a meeting with the founder very soon. (The entry for this in my diary has a smiley face next to it, that's how excited I am by this!)
This on it's own is pretty amazing! I'm part of an initiative that wants to show that science is not a gendered subject. That it is fun, creative, and most of all INCLUSIVE.
But the story doesn't end here. You see, I then came across a colleague from a different school in my institution. There was some banter happening on Twitter over the NSS and who could get the most students to complete it. I joined in, that being the sort of person that I am. What began as banter quickly became something more, as this colleague and I shared our ideas and experiences. We had what is known as a "tweet-up" (don't blame me, I didn't create the name). At this meeting we enthused about our respective subjects, bounced around ideas for cross-disciplinary working, and how we could enrich our students experience. These are now all works in progress, as we bring together the people needed to achieve our goals. Also in this meeting, my colleague suggested I check out the discussion group she was part of on Twitter on a Wednesday evening.
At first I was hesitant, I'm from a different discipline and I wasn't sure if the discussion would be relevant, or if I would have anything useful to add. So I lurked around the #eswphd hashtag for a couple of weeks, watching the discussion. I cannot remember now what the first discussion I joined in with was about, but I know that I felt welcomed, and that I found I really did have stuff to say. Although we're not from the same subject backgrounds, as academics and PhD students we share similar experiences. I've taken a lot from the #eswphd tag, new ideas, new friends, and another way of getting my voice heard. (Including this blog post, which is going to be hosted on the new eswphd website).
And then there is @TheWomen'sRoomUK. I was around for the birth of this campaign too. In reaction to terrible gender ratios of experts on BBC Radio 4 programmes (and now other media outlets, programmes etc) a group of vocal women began a database of female experts. Their aim was to provide a place where journalists and other media types could find female "experts". I supported this from the outset, and watched as their voice grew and more women signed up. But I didn't sign up myself, not for a long time. Mainly because I didn't think I was an expert in anything. Then @TheWomen'sRoomUK began to tweet about what constitutes "expertise", and I realised that I do have this in a number of areas; not least of which my PhD research. So I signed up, I'm on there and if you're a journalist looking for someone to talk to, check out my profile and my expertise categories.
I began to follow more like-minded women on Twitter, through watching who interacted with the Women's Room account. I found other voices who were trying to be heard, and I think I've grown as a feminist because of it. I've realised that some things I may have been OK with, for other women are unacceptable (check out #everydaysexism if you want to see how sexism still thrives in our "forward thinking" society, caution if you're a feminist this could cause depression and/or rage).
Then, The Women's Room tweeted that they were looking for "guest tweeters". Women to tweet from the account for a couple of hours. With some trepidation I answered the call and volunteered. When the time came on Good Friday for me to take over the account I was terrified. Suddenly I would be talking to thousands of people, not my safe little on-line world. Could I do this justice? Did I really have anything to say? Would people really be interested in my thoughts and opinions? Who the hell was I to be talking to all those people? All of this was going through my mind as I signed in to the account... All I can say is the experience was AMAZING! People joined in with discussions, they were interested in what I had to say, and having a platform to discuss my ideas with so many people was awesome.
So what? Right? Who cares? I got to do some cool stuff, got involved in some cool initiatives and got to chat with a bunch of people I don't know. How is this "life-changing"?
Let me tell you how....
I've always had stuff to say, had an opinion, enjoyed debate and mostly wanted to DO something about all the things I see wrong with the world. I have 3 main passions in my life: Science, Equality and photography. My @urbantangerine account covers the photography, it works fine for me. What my @Psycho_Claire account has done is allowed me to champion my two other passions. It's given me a platform for my public engagement with Science work, it's hooked me up with other people who are trying to do this too. It's let me engage in debate about Equality and what that means for us in the UK now, and for women the world over. It's given me new ways of working, thinking, experiencing. Suddenly, I can DO. All that energy, all that potential finally has an outlet.
You may still think I'm talking rubbish. You may still think that I'm some sort of Twitter loving weirdo. But let me tell you, as a girl who was bullied, who was told her voice wasn't worth hearing, who was made small and scared and shy - Twitter is amazing!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Goals for the year
I'm a wee bit late in getting this post out here, since it is essentially my "New Years Resolutions" post. But in typical me style, I've been caught up in other stuff and failed to make the time to sit down and write.
Aptly that is my first goal for the year:
1) Write more - I like writing. I mean really like it. I like the head space it gives me, I like the therapy of putting my thoughts down "on paper" and the order that brings. I rediscovered this recently when working on my first "official" academic paper. It's part of the scientific process that I really do LOVE. The clarity and purity of writing to communicate complex ideas is something I cherish. During my undergrad degree, I wrote all the time, and back then I would NEVER have believed if you'd told me I would miss the assignments. But I do, I miss having a reason to write regularly. Being a PhD student means that other things get in the way. There's all the recruitment, and data collection and administration and project management and......... you get the idea. So, as the new year began, I decided that my number one goal this year is to write more.
It turns out that some of my fellow PhD students decided that they were making this same resolution. So, together we founded a writing support group for PhD students (you can follow us on twitter @writewaymore and we're on facebook as Writeway). Since we started this, we've encouraged each other and managed to be more productive. So I guess it's working.
I also need to count ALL forms of writing in this goal. This means including blogging in my "writing" category. I want to use this blog as a form of diary/journal. It will document my journey through my PhD, the ups and downs. I always find writing things down therapeutic It helps me organise my thoughts and see the problems/issues/whatever more clearly.
If you're interested, then these posts will be here for you to read. But in truth, these posts are for no-one but me. I imagine that they'll be random and bizzare, because that's how my thoughts are.
I'm also going to include my Urbantangerine photography blog as writing. It's a different kind of writing again, with a very different purpose, but it reflects another side of who I am.
Which leads me into my next goal for the new year:
2) Be ALL of me - I started this post by saying that it was late because I got "caught up". Well this is something that I am aiming to change this year. I'm obsessive. This is often a good thing, but sometimes my obsession becomes everything. This is particularly true of my research. I constantly feel like I'm not doing enough, which means I'm constantly stressed out. It also means that I feel like I can never take a break. This got so bad recently that I've not been looking after myself, and have ended up sick. Still, I did not stop obsessing and I spent the first half of this week feeling guilty because I couldn't go to work OR do PhD stuff. So much so that Gary decided he needed to do something that would help occupy my mind, but allow me to rest. He gave me a photography challenge (check out the blog post for it here). That's how my photography started, with Gary dragging me away from the desk and putting a camera in my hand. So, this year I'm going to allow time for all my obsessions.
Leading us nicely into goal 3:
3) Shoot more - I LOVE photography. I love the creativity, the vision, the fact that it engages a whole different skill set and perspective of the world than my research. Stick a camera in my hand and my worries disappear. Suddenly all I'm thinking about is the images around me, about how to capture the light, the colours the emotions I can see. This is what photography means to me. I love doing it for it's own sake, but I also love sharing it. I have two weddings booked so far this year and a newborn shoot to get done. So I intend to spend more time with my camera.
So far all of my goals have been about me, but my next goal isn't:
4) Play more - I have an amazing little family. I'm lucky in that my son shares interests and passions with me, and I need to remember this more often. It's a privileged position for a parent with an adolescent, to have one that you can connect with so easily. This is also true of Gary, we share passions and interests and actually still enjoy spending time together. So this year I intend to spend more time having fun with my favourite boys.
My next goal seems in some ways a little stereotypical:
5) Look after my health: This isn't about improving my fitness or losing weight. I have a number of chronic medical conditions not least of which is terrible frequent migraines. Getting stressed increases their frequency and I end up in a horrible cycle of being ill, losing time, getting more stressed, being more ill. My doctor has increased my medication, but there are also some things I can do. For one, sticking to my goals above will help reduce my stress. But also, regular moderate exercise has been demonstrated to alleviate migraines. I have found this to be true when I've been doing Pilates regularly, but recently I "haven;t had the time" (see goal 2). I need to start making the time for exercise, and to view it in the same way I view taking my pills each day. I HAVE to find a better way of managing my health, because if I continue like this, I will NOT achieve success in my life.
Finally, I thought I'd share the goal that Gary set for us as a family this year:
6) Take over the world - I guess this is pretty self explanatory. However, joking aside, for me this goal means taking control of MY world. Being proactive to get things back on track, and getting in charge of things again.
So far this year, I've succeeded in some of these goals and failed in others. But it's still early, there's a lot of year to go.
C
xxxxx
Aptly that is my first goal for the year:
1) Write more - I like writing. I mean really like it. I like the head space it gives me, I like the therapy of putting my thoughts down "on paper" and the order that brings. I rediscovered this recently when working on my first "official" academic paper. It's part of the scientific process that I really do LOVE. The clarity and purity of writing to communicate complex ideas is something I cherish. During my undergrad degree, I wrote all the time, and back then I would NEVER have believed if you'd told me I would miss the assignments. But I do, I miss having a reason to write regularly. Being a PhD student means that other things get in the way. There's all the recruitment, and data collection and administration and project management and......... you get the idea. So, as the new year began, I decided that my number one goal this year is to write more.
It turns out that some of my fellow PhD students decided that they were making this same resolution. So, together we founded a writing support group for PhD students (you can follow us on twitter @writewaymore and we're on facebook as Writeway). Since we started this, we've encouraged each other and managed to be more productive. So I guess it's working.
I also need to count ALL forms of writing in this goal. This means including blogging in my "writing" category. I want to use this blog as a form of diary/journal. It will document my journey through my PhD, the ups and downs. I always find writing things down therapeutic It helps me organise my thoughts and see the problems/issues/whatever more clearly.
If you're interested, then these posts will be here for you to read. But in truth, these posts are for no-one but me. I imagine that they'll be random and bizzare, because that's how my thoughts are.
I'm also going to include my Urbantangerine photography blog as writing. It's a different kind of writing again, with a very different purpose, but it reflects another side of who I am.
Which leads me into my next goal for the new year:
2) Be ALL of me - I started this post by saying that it was late because I got "caught up". Well this is something that I am aiming to change this year. I'm obsessive. This is often a good thing, but sometimes my obsession becomes everything. This is particularly true of my research. I constantly feel like I'm not doing enough, which means I'm constantly stressed out. It also means that I feel like I can never take a break. This got so bad recently that I've not been looking after myself, and have ended up sick. Still, I did not stop obsessing and I spent the first half of this week feeling guilty because I couldn't go to work OR do PhD stuff. So much so that Gary decided he needed to do something that would help occupy my mind, but allow me to rest. He gave me a photography challenge (check out the blog post for it here). That's how my photography started, with Gary dragging me away from the desk and putting a camera in my hand. So, this year I'm going to allow time for all my obsessions.
Leading us nicely into goal 3:
3) Shoot more - I LOVE photography. I love the creativity, the vision, the fact that it engages a whole different skill set and perspective of the world than my research. Stick a camera in my hand and my worries disappear. Suddenly all I'm thinking about is the images around me, about how to capture the light, the colours the emotions I can see. This is what photography means to me. I love doing it for it's own sake, but I also love sharing it. I have two weddings booked so far this year and a newborn shoot to get done. So I intend to spend more time with my camera.
So far all of my goals have been about me, but my next goal isn't:
4) Play more - I have an amazing little family. I'm lucky in that my son shares interests and passions with me, and I need to remember this more often. It's a privileged position for a parent with an adolescent, to have one that you can connect with so easily. This is also true of Gary, we share passions and interests and actually still enjoy spending time together. So this year I intend to spend more time having fun with my favourite boys.
My next goal seems in some ways a little stereotypical:
5) Look after my health: This isn't about improving my fitness or losing weight. I have a number of chronic medical conditions not least of which is terrible frequent migraines. Getting stressed increases their frequency and I end up in a horrible cycle of being ill, losing time, getting more stressed, being more ill. My doctor has increased my medication, but there are also some things I can do. For one, sticking to my goals above will help reduce my stress. But also, regular moderate exercise has been demonstrated to alleviate migraines. I have found this to be true when I've been doing Pilates regularly, but recently I "haven;t had the time" (see goal 2). I need to start making the time for exercise, and to view it in the same way I view taking my pills each day. I HAVE to find a better way of managing my health, because if I continue like this, I will NOT achieve success in my life.
Finally, I thought I'd share the goal that Gary set for us as a family this year:
6) Take over the world - I guess this is pretty self explanatory. However, joking aside, for me this goal means taking control of MY world. Being proactive to get things back on track, and getting in charge of things again.
So far this year, I've succeeded in some of these goals and failed in others. But it's still early, there's a lot of year to go.
C
xxxxx
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