Paper Abstracts: Sessions One - Two - Three - Four
Session One: Bodies Under Siege
Kathryn Marie Smith, Florida Atlantic University, “Racial(izing) Reproductive Rights: Black Women and Birth Control.”
Many feminist scholars have theorized about the state's involvement in black women's reproductive lives. One of the most well-known of these authors is Dorothy Roberts, who maintains that “[w]e are in the midst of an explosion of rhetoric and policies that degrade Black women's reproductive decisions” (3). I use Roberts' theory to buttress my argument that, historically and in the present, the state has exerted unmerited control over black women's bodies, including the implementation of controversial birth control methods into legal welfare requirements. I integrate a historical focus in this paper, because it gives a foundation for reproductive rights abuses and establishes a pattern of institutional racism. A woman's racial, sexual, and class background continues to affect the health care and treatment she receives. In particular, this essay looks at the decades of the eighties and nineties, a time in United States history when the FDA was approving controversial contraceptives and the government was rapidly implementing these measures into welfare reform. Given my feminist perspective, however, this essay also looks to black women's agency, incorporating the voices of black nurses, single mothers, and black activists who have challenged and continue to challenge the system.
Cassandra Carter, University at Albany, "Look at Those Poor People: Detrimental Constructions of African People."
For many years Africa has been viewed as a continent in need of assistance from the “first-world.” The image of poor, savage, and starving people have been used for decades to elicit financial support from government officials, companies, and private organizations. This same image is often used to attract students to volunteer their time in poor African countries. This presentation will introduce Operation Crossroad's Africa (OCA) as a student volunteer program. It will discuss their recruitment strategies as it pertains to race, and detail how their class-based recruitment strategies tend to send white students into black countries throughout Africa. This presentation will demonstrate how race in America gets translated in Third World countries. It will discuss the detrimental impact that racial imbalance may have on the people of these countries. First-hand observations, taken from a six-week summer program at the Ndologe Hospital in Tanzania, will be used to demonstrate that race matters—only to feminists. "Look at Those Poor People" will uncover how U.S.-based constructions of individuals in Africa serve to harm Africans, especially women.
Stephanie Rodriguez, University at Albany, "News Feed, We Starve: The Exploration of Selective Media Intake and Its Effect on the Urban Body."
I decided to focus on the topic of violence specific to the Downtown Albany area for a Journalism class. To my surprise, not many people were aware of the level of violence that occurred right under their noses. However, I was met with the attitude that this was not close enough to the Albany student body to be recognized as an issue. Monday, October 20, 2008, UAlbany Student Richard Bailey was found dead on the sidewalk one block from my apartment, shot once in the head. There are no suspects in custody. Living off-campus, I traded in party flyers for urgent police notices and MISSING posters instead. NOW students are afraid! My questions now taunt me like an easy multiple choice question, too easy, so easy that I began to furiously rationalize every other choice as the right answer. A. Is this a personal piece? B. Is this a conversational dispute? C. Who is my audience? D. What is my message? Or E. all of the above. The answer is E. all of the above. This is a conversational dispute that will be presented with the use of both word and imagery (video, work of art), my audience is everyone who is breathing, and my message should inspire societal evaluation and much needed discussion in hopes to evoke a realization of community responsibility and awareness, awareness of violence, community deterioration, and abandonment in relation to Race. I want to explore the different ways in which people, and institutions, make conscious decisions on what news to be receptive to and what information they choose to omit (i.e. gate keeping). I plan not to restrict my study to the incidents mentioned above nor to the Albany area, even as I localize this issue.
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Session Two: Violence at the Intersections
Maureen Stutzman, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, “Rape in the American Civil War: Race, Class, and Gender in Union Army Court-Martial Cases.”
In the context of the Civil War, which shook or uprooted many social institutions, studying rape, the quintessential expression of patriarchal control over women's sexuality, can reveal much about how the social ideologies of the antebellum period were changed by the war. In this paper I analyze three court-martial cases in which men were charged with rape or attempted rape during the American Civil War. In this research military court-martial cases of rape have been analyzed from a feminist perspective for the first time. The cases of Martha Gregor and Abe, Catherine Campbell and Frederick Wagner, and Harriet McKinley and Perry Pierson reveal valuable information about the intersections of race, class, and gender in the courtroom and how these intersections shifted due to the social changes caused by the war. For example, in the case of Harriet McKinley, an enslaved black woman, against Perry Pierson, a white solider, his lawyer objected to her testimony on the grounds that “she was not a qualified witness, being a colored woman.” After deliberation it was decided that she would be allowed to testify. This was a groundbreaking moment for black women and their legal rights. I argue that in these cases we can see class discrimination towards poor white women, the first chance for black women to pursue legal justice for crimes against them, and the beginning of the move toward severe punishments for black men accused of raping white women.
Derek Warwick, University of Alberta, “Sexual Colonialism: Aboriginal Women and Gendered Violence.”
Through feminist analyses of gendered violence, race has (and often still) goes ignored. In this paper, I will argue that gendered violence is racialised and based in colonialist practices. As gendered violence is inflicted differently upon all women, I will focus my argument on violence against Aboriginal women, appealing to theorists such as Bruce Feldthusen, Sherene Razack, and Andrea Smith. It is my intent to demonstrate that much of feminist thought has propagated essentialist analyses of gendered violence that treat race as an intensifier of gendered violence, rather than take an intersectional approach that acknowledges the inseparable role race has in gendered violence.
Angie Aguilar, University at Albany, “Culture of Misogyny as a Result of Globalization: A Case Study of Guatemala.”
Globalization has unleashed a culture of misogyny in the Global South. On an international level, it is a common understanding that globalization is the process of commercialized goods traveling across borders, specifically western multinational corporations integrating other nations into a world capitalist market. As a result, there have been positive and negative effects; unfortunately the latter has preceded the first. One externality that has derived as a result of globalization has been the lack or exclusion of human rights, specifically women's rights. The disregard for human necessity in the marketplace and the laissez-faire mindset has led to an epidemic that most consider of second-hand importance. Feminicide, better known as the killing of women, or hate crimes against women, has been a growing phenomenon in the last century. Feminicide is not only perpetrated by men; political, economic, and social institutions all encompass Feminicide. The state and judicial structures located in the global south, along with multinational corporations, have helped normalize the concept of misogyny. This research project seeks to establish why and how institutions help create the culture of violence against women, specifically examining Guatemala as a case study. Aside from analyzing the role of the institution in Guatemala, I seek to establish the role of gender inequity embedded within the culture that helps fortify this phenomenon.
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Session Three: Race, Gender, and the 2008 Presidential Elections
Anisa Ali, Virginia Tech University, “Race and Gender in the 2008 Presidential Elections.”
Given the diverse group of candidates in the 2008 elections, it is no surprise the racial and gendered dynamics have heavily impacted the campaign. With an International Studies and Women's Studies background, I am keenly interested in analyzing the racial and gendered dynamics of this campaign. Obama's biraciality poses a variety of confusion around his identity in the campaign. Elizabeth Martinez describes the dilemma of the bipolarizing “Black-white” racial model in the U.S.; you are either black or white, nothing in between. Given this model, it is apparent why Obama is frequently labeled as black, disregarding his white heritage. However, would he be perceived differently if he had a lighter complexion? Would white and black Americans then change their opinions? The campaign's gender dynamics demonstrate that many still today believe in the sexual division of labor. Through the sexist media representations of Clinton and Palin we can see how women are ridiculed when running for a prominent office and how their gender makes visible gendered hierarchies within the formal realm of politics. Although I am not equating their credentials, both Clinton and Palin are ambivalent figures in terms of gender. What does this suggest regarding women in the public sphere? In my presentation, I will draw on literature on the international studies of the sexual division of labor and critical race feminisms to investigate the racial and gendered ambivalences of Obama, Clinton, and Palin.
Carolyn Matthews, Dominican University, “Historic Recollections: An African American Woman's Perspective on the 2008 Elections.”
Speaking from the perspective of a “loyal democrat” having to decide between two qualified candidates was difficult. It came down to either supporting a female candidate or supporting the brother. Race and gender each played its part in the decision. Historically, white women have not always understood or knew how to support Black women in their struggle to gain their rights. On the other hand, society made it almost impossible for the Black man to protect Black women, but Black men have not always supported Black women. Sarah Palin's entry into the race brought difficulty, not related to choice, but with regard to status. Sarah Palin represents the elevated status white women possess over a Black man no matter how much more qualified the Black man might be in comparison to the white female. There has been little if any discourse on the issue of her being the symbol of white womanhood elevated and protected.
Nikki Minard, University of Central Florida, "Intersectionality 2.0: A Model for Feminist Theory and Organizing in a 'Post-Racial' Society."
To contribute to the discussion of race and feminism, I would like to offer a brief history of the theory of intersectionality in feminism, discussing both past and contemporary applications, including, but not limited to, the way intersecting identities have shaped the Democratic nomination and the presidential race of 2008. In addition, I will make an argument for why this theory is still relevant and important in creating comprehensive and useful feminist discourse, even in a "postracial" society. In offering such an argument, I will also explain and prove that, though great strides have been made toward racial equality over the last thirty years, "postracial" is a misnomer when used in reference to our society. We, instead, live in a silently racialized society and one wherein it is unpopular to discuss racism in casual or political contexts as it challenges the notion that race is no longer socially real.
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Session Four: Challenging Racism
Lisa Covington and Natasha Douglas, San Diego State University, “Two Strikes: Being an African American Woman in Women's Studies.”
Two students at San Diego State University share their experiences with race and feminism on campus. Lisa Covington will discuss being a Black feminist in a faux feminist community through the following: being one of two remaining students of color in the MA program, the process of rewarding silence, tokenization, penalization of students who "claim their education" and her experience as a Graduate Teaching Instructor for Women's Studies 101. Natasha Douglas will discuss her research on strategies of resistance to racism in Women's Studies and feminism.
Geneviève Szczepanik, University of Quebec at Montreal, "'Feminism First, Every Other Issue Second'? Talking about Feminism and Antiracism on Feminist Blogs."
The presence of racism in the feminist movement limits possibilities of unity and common struggle between women. Many white feminists are reluctant to engage with questions of race and racism, favoring struggles and theories based on sex and gender. Consequently, many non-white women and non-white feminists do not identify with feminism as defined by white feminists. Using black feminist and feminist postcolonial theories, I will explore how racism remains a difficult issue to address and to integrate in feminist struggles and theories. To this end, I present a selection of discussions that took place on feminist blogs during the Spring of 2008. These discussions point to the importance of making issues of race and racism central to feminist struggles and theories, rather than restricting them to non-white women's and non-white feminists' problems.
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