JOURNAL ENTRIES
Every other week a journal assignment was assigned with a prompt that asked us each to reflect on the genres that we studied within the course, we connected the genre, the assigned readings, and our own thoughts together while exploring a variety of topics that influence the creation and distribution of feminist tests. The author, audience, publishing process and barriers, and the subject of the text are examples. These are my journals.
WHY AND WHAT OF FEMINIST TEXTS
Journal Entry One
Explores the actions behind what makes a text a feminist piece of writing, and why feminist texts are needed.
FEMINIST TEXTS ARE EVERYTHING
Journal Entry Two
Whom are feminist texts written for? How does the audience impact the way in which a feminist text is created?
THE GOAL OF THE PIECE
Journal entry Three
Discusses the goals of a piece of writing, and the intersection of the intent of the writer and the need of the reader. There are many reasons for a piece to be created, and many reasons that someone may stumble upon it.
VOICE & FEMINIST TEXTS
Journal Entry Four
What type of voice is uplifted by feminist texts, and how do those voices reach out to make connections, fill historical gaps, and so much more.
THE FEMINIST BADASSSARY OF CHANEL MILLER
Journal Entry Five
Examines the use of memoir writing as feminist texts, specifically focusing on Chanel Miller's book Know my Name: a Memoir.
WHY AND WHAT OF FEMINIST TEXTS
Journal Entry One
Feminist texts are not just important, but they are also necessary. They act as the truth-tellers, the information sharers, and the unity builders. They shed light on those that have for so long been deemed undeserving of being seen. Forced into hiding or overshadowed and deemed a lie by those who hold the power as the false world majority. Feminist texts are not just about cishet Women, but all minoritized groups. They are inclusive. Embracing and addressing disability, sexuality, gender, race, body size, socio-economic status and so much more. They are the action of acknowledging that there is never a singular one-dimensional story that can ever be considered the baseline. We have no standard. It is seeing the similar and looking past in order to validate the differences and the individual, it is creating a fuller picture while never diminishing another's experience or entire life story. They do not exclude, but instead include, they are transdisciplinary, they are found everywhere.
Feminist texts are important. They share the truth instead of the power of control often seen on major networks such as Fox News (Solnit, 2019, 16). It also calls actions by what they really are, instead of being too nice. After the 2016 election of Trump, Bernie Sanders stated that not everyone who voted for him are racist, anti-LGBTQIA+, sexist, and believers in other harmful awful narratives. This has been proven untrue through studies (Solnit, 2019, 16). Feminist texts would have called those voters out as they truly are immediately, no hesitation. Feminist texts are needed because they are honest and vulnerable in ways that unapologetically say what is real. Feminist texts provide insights into the world outside of the reader’s immediate experienced space. They create homes that are built on so many different components to connect to. Through “family, history, food, love, place, body, memory, song and religion “(Nguyen, xix). Offering a range of emotions built on a spectrum starting with love traveling to hate and acknowledging every feeling you could experience in between. Minoritized people are so much more than the identities that the systems of patriarchy and misogyny say that they are. Feminist texts challenge those narratives.
Feminist texts are necessary for movements. When the protests of a movement end, feminist texts are what is left living. They are the longevity of the movement acting as the survival. The feminist texts that are bound in a physical book, documented in digital archives, saved in journals to be found later, they are the “anchor point for each new generation of activists that arises” (Macnicol, 2020). Even within the historical mainstream feminist movements, feminist texts have long been doing the hard work of pushing even the feminist movements that often have ignored the “tremendous internal differences among women of color” (Alba, 2001) by highlighting many different lived experiences of marginalized people. Feminist texts create the resurgence of the necessary work against the systems of power for those that benefit from the patriarchal systems by building connections between those that are marginalized, they are intersectionality in action. When read they are used “as a means to education and consciousness-raising, as a tool for resistance” (Wilson, 2020, 309). They bring hope, encouragement, and inspiration. They are the lifeboats of survival for many social change movements.
Feminist texts are necessary to history. They keep it honest. Brought out of the shadows, feminist texts are the writings that share the whole truths by taking action to fill in the historical blanks, they complete the tales. They are written pieces that “showcase and support intersectional literature, diverse insurgent voices, and LGBTQ authors of color” (Wilson, 2020, 307). Feminist texts are different when thinking about accessibility. Challenging the traditional knowledge production gatekeeping process both the writing and the processes in which they are published. Feminist texts aren’t made to increase book sales, or the profit margins, instead, they are meant for who they find and will wait for their proper home to come along. To increase the validity of existence, the knowledge production, the empowerment to work for change, and to ensure that the complete histories are documented.
Feminist texts are not just important, but they are also necessary. They unearth “lost” narratives, and speak truth to power” (Wilson, 308). They are continually doing the heavy lifting, all the important work, they document, share, move, create, and breathe life into the painful, the dull, and the constricting. They inspire counter monuments and counter archives while being both of those things simultaneously. They are collaborating. They are groups, they are individuals, they are journals, scripts, poetry, essays, speeches, they are stillness, and they are a movement. They are defiance. For laughing, for crying, for fullness or emptiness. They are a testament. They say we will not be forgotten; we will not be silenced; we will not be unseen.
Most importantly, they are for everyone.
References:
Alba, A. L. del. (2001). Telling to live Latina feminist testimonios. Duke University Press.
Buchanan, R. H., & Nguyen, V. T. (2018). Go home! Feminist Press at the City University of New York.
Macnicol, G. (2020, Dec 21). A publishing house, and a haven, for women: [the Arts/Cultural desk]. York Times https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/publishing-house-haven-women/docview/2471349086/se-2?accountid=14784
Solnit, R. (2019). Whose story is this? Tiptree Book Service.
Wilson, J. (2020). A love note to our literary ancestors: Then and now. WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly, 48(1-2), 307–310. https://doi.org/10.1353/wsq.2020.0002
FEMINIST TEXTS ARE EVERYTHING
Journal Entry Two
Feminist text isn’t a genre. They can be anything created as a feminist text with intent, or on accident. An academic essay, book, or journal. They could be written intentionally, beautifully crafted in a way that backs up the writer’s intent to put a feminist text in the world, or they could be written to document a moment in time that is full of feminist heroes. A piece of literature that invites the reader to understand the impacts of power over minoritized groups. A play, a manuscript, a written performance made to invite the audience, the spectator, to experience a moment, a person, a story through connection. Sutton, Oluo, and O’Reilly each demonstrate these examples, and how the audience for each change.
Sutton writes for the academic. Uses language that could be considered jargon. A person may need to research terms that appear within the text. “[cuerpo-territorio] is a practical concept that shows how the exploitation of common, community territories (urban, suburban, peasant, and indigenous) involves the violation of the body of each person… “ (Sutton, 2021, 28). What does that even mean? The arguments are made with well-researched, highly cited writings, often filled with phrases that are only understandable by those that are experts in the field that the piece exists in. There are an abstract and “Keywords: abortion/activism / Argentina / body/feminism/protest/women’s movements” (Sutton, 2021, 25), all listed right under the title, anything to allow for the quickest of searches to see if the piece is useful to the searcher. Academic writing may be a tool that may be wielded in their own work to strike down the nay-sayers. It is action and fact-based. Asking the reader to understand the events and the findings as facts with documentation. Explaining the legal actions, the laws, the protests, the ideas that could be cited by the source “Bodily self-ownership and autonomy are common frames in abortion rights discourse, traditionally invoked to support women’s ability to make reproductive choices (Sutton, 2021, 27). Always a document to point to that says here; look here to see how accurate I am. In academic writing, the sources are so important, it is not opinion, is not thought, it is proof to prove accuracy. This type of writing doesn’t mean that there isn’t an opinion within the written text, it means that the writer must use the cited facts to prove the opinion, to urge the reader to agree through understanding the intent of the paper.
Oluo is for the person who is seeking to gain knowledge and to learn more in a way that may allow them to grow. It isn’t to change minds or to sway, it is to validate the reader and the writer. Passion on the page, while backed up by facts, it is interwoven with questions and thought-provoking statements. Oluo pushes the standards of United States history, pushing the boundaries of buffalo bill, explaining what happened to the American Buffalo, and even the remorse that a Mediocre white man could experience if he lived long enough to realize his mistakes (Oluo, 2021). Oluo invites the reader into her own thoughts while asking them to analyze their own. There isn’t a need to highlight words that need context or definitions… no additional work is needed to understand the information as presented. It isn’t written to persuade anyone to “switch sides” or completely change their mind. It is a relaxed relationship between author and reader to expand on already agreed-upon thoughts. Exploring space in the world, a system, a group of people, and the impacts that there are on those that are minoritized.
O’Reilly writes to the spectator; with the intent to be seen, in all the different layers, in all the different ways a person could exist. Offers a description of each Frida in each painting, with drastically different words (O'Reilly,2016). O'Reilly asks the reader to be all and nothing, to simultaneously see themselves in performance, and everyone else around them. All existing at once as if time and space have folded into one moment. The words are for everyone, as feminism is for everyone. Creating distance, and connection all at one time. It is written for the main character to be watched but felt. To spectate is a relationship to build a connection. This is created for someone who is willing to open their ears and hearts. To FEEL the words emotions impact them. Specifically, with this piece in multiple voices, which are also singular experiences, it is created knowing that the people who are showing up to the experience, drawing in the crowd that it was meant to.
Most importantly each of these styles of writing aims to do the same thing, in different ways, and for different audiences. They want the covers pulled off those that are hidden. And not for them to step into the light to be seen but uncovered so that their light can shine as bright as it is meant to. These authors expertly display how important feminist texts, are and how they belong everywhere, and need to be created in every space to be found as soon as someone needs to be seen… to leave them a message… I see you.
References:
Oluo, I. (2021). Mediocre: The dangerous legacy of white male america. Seal Press.
O'Reilly, K. (2016). The 9 Fridas. In Atypical plays for atypical actors: Selected plays (pp. 142–176). essay, Oberon Books.
Sutton, Barbara 2021. “Reclaiming the Body: Abortion Rights Activism in Argentina.” Feminist Formations.
THE GOAL OF THE PIECE
Journal Entry Three
Feminist writing exists at an intersection of what the writer is intending to put out into the world, and what it is that the reader is looking for. Some may want to take otherwise complicated theory and present it in the simplest of ways to gain allyship. Showing young Girls how strong they are by sharing the tales of the people that actually look like them, have lives like theirs, or share the same stories. Others are invitations for connection, putting a call out to the world, I exist here and kind of feel alone, I don’t want either of us to feel alone… can we connect? The goal of the project shapes it’s process, the word choice, the way it is distributed, and the form it takes.
The Transfeminist Manifesto beautifully takes theory and explains it in such a way that it is understandable, easy to follow and thoughtful. Emi Koyama takes the reader on an educated path of learning, by breaking the essay into identifiable sections and offering explanations. Instead of forcing the reader to rely on dictionaries or glossaries, Koyama makes a point to explain to the reader how certain terms will be used throughout the text. Ensuring that the reader and the writer are working with the same ideology of trans, trans women, and trans men (Koyama, 1999, 244). Describing what transfeminism is, and what it is not, before taking the reader on the adventure of primary principles. While focusing on the “patriarchal binary gender system” (Koyama, 1999, 246) there is a connection built between all feminists and how the system “denies the uniqueness of each woman” (Koyama, 1999, 246) trans and non-trans. Koyama continues through the principles and addresses expected responses, and potential arguments against the transfeminism theory – specifically around male privilege and how some see it as a benefit that Trans men and Trans Women have. The piece asks Women to not hold so tightly to their own forms of oppression caused by the patriarchal binary system of gender and thinks through the ability to be comfortable with one’s own body, in our own skin. While acknowledging the violence against Women, the room is made to acknowledge the ways in which Trans Women are just as vulnerable, just as harmed by relationship violence, and statistically are in even more danger (Koyama, 1999, 253). The audience is for the person who wants to understand, the writing is in plain language, it is easy to get engulfed in, it is possible to just absorb the words off the paper and feel that it has changed the way that you see the world as the reader.
Children shouldn’t want to be anything other than who they are and must be shown that that is okay. This messaging can be made in a variety of ways, but in feminist writing that can be children’s books. Sondra Simone Segundo brings to life the beauty of Indigenous storytelling in her book Killer Whale Eyes. Created from traditional Haida stories, the reader is invited to understand the story with a short introduction explaining the belief of ones spirit becoming “one with the ravens, eagles, wolves, bears, salmon, seals, killer whales, frogs, and other beautiful life that surrounds” (Segundo, 2019) the beautiful tribal lands. There is also an introduction to the Haida words within the book. This introduction is added to introduce non-Haida peoples to them, it is a wave hello, a welcome if you will. The book continues telling the story of the village’s dagwaang (dear one), she is every girl. She is the representation of the Haida girls and is also an inspiration to those that are invited as guests while reading. There is an intent with the writing to be for those whose lives are depicted in the art, while inviting outsiders in to understand. Feminist writing as children’s books is the best way to show young children that they are not alone while sharing the uniqueness of all young Girls, and Women.
Zines take on a different tackle. They could be a call to be seen. I AM HERE I EXIST they could be saying. They could be a call to action, a creation of a collective, a call to connect. The intent of the outcome influences the creation. Queercore zines brought together queer kids and bands, creating community through their creations (Darms, 2013). The creative process of hand-making photocopied zines and finding places to distribute them, at shows, in mailers, leaving them around to be found by the right person. They were created with the intent to connect. Form alliances to accomplish political action, find friends, discover movements, music, and more. The intent of the creator made the outcome of the product distinctively unique while still being clearly part of what is now called The Riot Grrrl Movement. Mixing photography, art, and the written word there was something for everyone to connect to. It is also the power of being seen, without big publishing. The underground scenes, the non-mainstream folks, benefit from this rouge self-published, self-promoted, sharing, to be found by those who needed to feel seen - “I'm with her. Bring it on. Revolution Girl Style Now!” (Laing, 2013).
The goal of a piece of feminist writing changes the way that it is put into the world. Choices to explain theory with no jargon creating more access to understanding, inviting children’s books that explain what is needed, while focusing solely on the main characters’ life, or printing off pieces of yourself to find people who can help create a community. If the intended reader can’t understand what the feminist text is doing, then it was written for the wrong audience.
VOICE & FEMINIST TEXTS
Journal Entry Four
“The voice of the voiceless.” I have no idea where I first heard this phrase, but I know that I have never cared for it. Feminist writing has centered that feeling of unease for me to the point of understanding why that feels so incorrect. Through the art of memoirs, poetry, and novels the voices of marginalized people are raised above the noise of those in power that may be acknowledged by so many more than ever thought possible. Claiming space, screaming, bringing joy, rage, and compassion, making it so the reader can drown out all the noise and be inspired, feel seen, not alone, and empowered.
Laurie Frankel expertly uses fiction to open the eyes of the readers to the how the world impacts young Poppy a beautiful transgender child who just wants to be themselves, and her family in This is how it always is. While Claudia Castro Luna uses poetry to share the horrific reality of so many Women that have had their lives stolen in Killing Maria’s: A Poem for Multiple Voices. Chanel Miller bravely shares her story of sexual assault highlighting the extensive harm done not only by her assailant but the people who play roles within the system that is supposed to protect in Know My Name: a Memoir. Each of these stories is about someone, and everyone, as if time and space have folded to be stories of multiple people in different times, at different places, across space – while also being uniquely their own.
A transgender child is learning how life can be so supported and not supported in so many and vastly different ways, and sometimes simultaneously. A school supporting a kindergartener as they discover their own gender identity while also only offering a strict binary choice, a therapist with larger-than-life positivity about a child’s decision to voice their intent of themselves, one parent being incredibly accepting and supportive while the other is second-guessing every single decision (Frankel, 2019). A beautifully crafted piece of fictional dialogue that tells so many stories to connect and to influence new understandings, parents use made-up fairy tales in the story of Grumwald and Princess Grumwaldia Stephanie whose life challenges oddly match those of the children listening (Frankel, 2019, 41). Carmelo the grandmother purchases pink bikinis and offers all the encouragement to be true to oneself (Frankel, 2019, 47). Even through fiction, there is an amazing synergy bringing the reader directly into the story, it’s a beautiful avenue to be a form of activism, a safer way to share a story, an uplifter, and an eyeopener. Sharing stories, and uplifting voices in its own imaginative precious way, while also having the ability to create the imagery of the world that the writer or the reader would love to be a part of that isn’t an unrealistic fairy tale.
Poetry as an intent to speak in power, in remembrance of those who are no longer with us, to those we never knew, to those we did, and to those whose stories should be told. “María Elba Queen of Angels: Did someone ever tell you, that the winning lottery ticket was you?” (María, 2017, 18) as messages to the person that once was, a memory at a fingertips reach away, read as a silent prayer to reach the Woman that was before. “María Rocío Cosmic Vision: beloveds, consider the privilege of reading these lines” (María, 2017, 36) a clear reminder to the reader, the beloved, to ground themselves in the moment of being alive amid words of rage, of trauma, of violence against Women through the stories of the María’s all listed in the back of the book. Outrage to at those that did the killing, of those that continue the killing, and those that robbed the world of such greatness of Women. Feminist writing gives voice to those that have been silenced through violence.
A memoir is a way to control the narrative. Take the power away from those that are speaking over you. A loud response that states a refusal to be silenced. Chanel Miller pushes against the misogynistic way every part of mainstream everything discusses, interacts with, and even when attempting to protect Women from sexual assault. Know my Name: A Memoir is the definition of the action: punching someone, or something, with words. It is a hard hit of truth, a FUCK YOU to the patriarchal misogynistic system made up of overly sensitive ball sacks, that all bodies live in. Chanel decided to not be Jane Doe, and to not let each person within the system that she was told would protect her (Miller, 2020) while finding her own voice. Writing the stories that are untold is the inspiration that all marginalized people need… that we all need.
Now, I know why I get the ick from that phrase so much, “the voice of the voiceless.” There are no voiceless, only those that are silenced, muted, or left out of the mainstream stories on purpose. People who say they “are the voice of the voiceless” are just speaking for someone, and not doing the work of feminist texts – they uplift, call attention to, highlight, they spread the words of the attempted silenced, they scream back that “we shall be heard” and do what they can to ensure these messages, stories, works of art, moments of history are all shared with as many people as possible. They are the power of the protests, the marches in the street, the demands outside of the courthouses, the are that form of activism in writing.
References:
Frankel, L. (2019). This is how it always is. Flatiron Books.
María Castro Luna Claudia. (2017). Killing marías: A poem for multiple voices. Two Sylvias Press.
Miller, C. (2020). Know my name: A memoir. Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
THE FEMINIST BADASSSARY OF CHANEL MILLER
Journal Entry Five
I sat in a meeting and listened to the head of campus safety, a prior police officer, attempt to justify having armed police officers on campus. He then weaponized the existence of survivors as a justification… he said something along the lines of asking everyone present to imagine there was a sexual assault victim and they had to wait for the police to show up. After reading Chanel Miller’s book Know My Name: a Memoir I want to buy that man his own copy and chuck it at him. This memoir is the story, the voice, of so many survivors and in direct contradiction to those in power, an accurate accounting of the truthfully horrendous way that survivors are treated and not only by their assailant, but the press, the police, and every part of the legal system, apart from her own lawyer. This memoir is expertly written with great intention to be a voice, a voice for many, that refuses to be silenced any longer. Even the title is an act of defiance, after being referred to as Emily Doe throughout the duration of the trial, the choice of Chanel’s memoir to be KNOW MY NAME (Miller, 2020) as she refuses to not be seen and heard.
Chanel Miller’s bravery in her storytelling is more than just a documentation of her own individual story, it is a voice for all survivors and an act of defiance against the systems of patriarchal power that never believe, and always victim blame when interacting with sexual assault survivors. With honesty the real process of collecting what the general public would know as, a rape kit is shared. How nurses and doctors can try to make an awful situation tolerable, but it doesn’t really do the trick. Offering small talk as they explain each step of the process in an attempt to prevent further feelings of violation. Chanel chose to leave out the details of the parts of this process that are known to the general public (Miller, 2020, 13). Chanel describes the process in court to people she does not know and shares how at that moment she felt lighter, was able to share her own truth unapologetically, and felt that she held on to a bit of power she had to take back (Miller, 2020, 115). This is an act of defiance against the narratives that are pushed when it comes to sexual assault and relationship violence.
There was a witness. There was a witness, and no one would tell her what happened to her. Sharing this part of the story encompasses the issues when people refuse to believe survivors. At first, they tell Chanel that they don’t know what happened and that it is “hopefully nothing” giving her a false reality to live in (Miller, 2020,17). This came up many times in her story, referencing transcripts where she would say that other people said that something had happened to her, but that she did not understand (Miller, 2020, 25). Being used in a manner to cast doubt on her story and left her vulnerable to the rest of the world. Chanel, while eating a sandwich on her lunch break, scrolling on the internet, was faced with a new article about her sexual assault (Miller, 2020, 33). She discovered part of her truth from a person who had never met her, who wrote an article for the views. Chanel shares the experience of being a survivor, and not being believed, in a manner that highlights the treatment of survivors, and how no one wants to believe that someone could do something so awful. There was a witness, and that monster only serves 3 months
“I did nothing wrong. I am strong. I have a voice. I told the truth “(Miller, 2020, 101). Imagine if the systems of power, the misogyny, the patriarchal bullshit didn’t have control. Imagine that instead all survivors were believed by each person that made up the system. That the laws were on the side of the survivors? Would anyone ever have to start their healing by combating all the existing language of reminding themselves that they weren’t asking for it…? Everyone should read this book. EVERYONE, but especially those who work in law & public service, police officers, judges, news writers, and all the entitled men and their sons. This is a feminist text, memoirs like this are feminist texts, they are the voices of those that the systems of power attempt to silence, they are the voices that are attempted to be overpowered. They are the truth. They are the joy, the heartache, and the demands for change. Feminist memoirs are the connection – Chanel may have named her book know my name, but it isn’t just Chanel’s name; it is know OUR NAMES.
I end this with words from Chanel that encompass all the reasons that memoir writing is a feminist action, the reminder that we are not the problem, those in power, who are so afraid of facing their own wrongdoings, driven by the fear of losing their stronghold are the ones who are evil in their actions or in their complacency. Chanel shares the reminder that we are all important and deserve to be cherished: “I hope you understand you are worth fighting for. Your character is not what caused your hurts to happen. You are not a statistic or a stereotype, so when they minimize you, dehumanize you, objectify you, you must push back with your whole weight, with your lifetime of experiences. To the faceless, the ones who remain anonymous. We each have a name. You have taught me to be proud of mine” (Miller, 2020, 337).
References:
Miller, C. (2020). Know my name: A memoir. Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.