not dead just fractured

Caravia (beautiful name btw) - i think this is a good question that needs continually to be asked. I personally see that feminism isn't dead in the west and all the same issues (poverty, inequality of wages, etc etc) are there and haven't been solved here yet. But we've been unable to fight together recently, as we have fractured into smaller and smaller and more divisive groups - we can't agree amongst ourselves and there as many feminisms as there are women these days - we've won a few battles, but are getting to the point where those battles need to be re-fought - esp. in the US and around the world. As I Canadian, I've watched my sisters in the US (under George Bush) lose a lot of ground in women's shelters and services, abortion issues and the right to choose have been set back state by state, as well as many other critical issues that are being silenced - some of those issues like losing women's services have also happened in Canada in some provinces (like mine which is one of the conservative ones in the west). I am glad to know that women are fighting for their rights in other countries, but as fundamentalism gains power and sweeps both the America and the Muslim world (in their own ways) - not only do we need to feel fearful because we aren't in the war rooms (as you mentioned), but we need to be fearful in many other critical ways - The Handmaid's Tale might be worth a re-read by many of us - as it seems more possible than when it was first released. in the early 90's. New Media Artists, just like all artists and other people who use their practice to make commentary and critique on world affairs, have a role to play in educating the young and those who are not aware that we are still not safe, this need to continue to take place, as complacency, or the concept that we have somehow "arrived" or we are somehow equal in the west recently, is rampant(and dead wrong)and needs debunking - esp. now that the threat of fundamentalism, turning back the clocks, is upon us. It seems like we're at the brink of chaos a civilization - like the dark ages after the Roman/ Greek empires - lets not let ourselves be dragged back into darkness, subjugation and ignorance. We need to unify again and find ways to find commonality of women's struggles within difference and not let the special interests or specific feminisms keep us small, divided and powerless against the waves of misogyny and ultra-conservative or 10th century values, that seem to be taking over in places. We must find energy + strength out of the current complacency - I think a storm is coming and we need to be prepared. or maybe I'm just melodramatic....

Cassandra

Hi Ana, Well it's great to read your account here of the Women in Black conference. In the proposal document (in English) that can be downloaded here I read The legend of Cassandra, whose word warning of war was not heeded because it was the word of a woman and, then as now, lacked social significance and transcendence, has been used in writings and performances of Women in Black as a example that illustrates this paradigm. The figure of Cassandra has been in my mind for a while now. I feel her powerlessness in my gut. She is able to act as a witness to a catastrophic future but beyond that, unable to act in a way to change it. She represents a model of flawed and dysfunctional agency and intensely flawed wisdom. Especially if one believes that right knowledge is right action, and I think I do. This syndrome is not confined to Feminism...In my day job I work with product design undergraduate students and I often see this kind of urge to right action, coupled with confusion and despair. They are often initially drawn to the design profession because they want to create beautiful, practical solutions to the problems of living in the world- then they realise that the world is FULL of products (and the culture of products) that are contributing to the problems of living in the world. There has been lots of hard work done by many of these students to carve out alternative (possibly non-hierarchical, non-corporate, non-consumerist) ways for them to operate. But the most skilled and accomplished are quickly snapped-up by companies who value their energy and intelligence but have their own business agendas, usually very much at odds with the student's slowly-seeding sensibilities and ideas. The problem is in knowing where one can place that lever in order to move the world. And then knowing where others are placing their levers so that you don't flip the planet off its axis and send it spinning into oblivion. But then this is a very masculine, mechanical approach no? So what am I saying? Where is feminism heading? I have no idea but what I would like to see and contribute to is : - - a way to build and sustain solidarity amongst women of the world in the context of political, social, religious and commercial forces that are always exerting huge pressures to split them apart. - a sustained witnessing, critiquing and prophesying by women of the injustices, cruelties and stupidities that exist along the scale of global power; from the courts and corporations of the USA and China to the bombed markets of Baghdad. - a sustained and documented, listening and exchange between these people. - a variegated approach to separateness that recognises the value and place of "women only" action and activism in certain contexts but that doesn't make it an ideological cornerstone. - a growing resource of documented successes- that measures, reflects upon and where possible celebrates the effects of right actions and passes them on to others. And a big thanks to you for inviting us to think about this.

Are you sure you are asking the right question, Ana,

or did you mean it to be purposely provocative? To begin with, I want to second Celeste's response, "It's alllllliiiiive!!!!!!. At the same time, your description of the conference triggered my memories of another international women's conference that was held in Austria some years ago. At the conclusion of the conference with some 300 women gathered in a large hall, it was inspiring, moving, empowering to hear the concerns and actions and movements that all these women represented briefly named one after another with such energy and dedication. Some time later, though, as I was working on preparing subtitles for a video documentation of this conference, I listened to these women again – over and over and very carefully, of course, to translate their words – and I found myself losing hold of that feeling of energy. There were just too many concerns, so many different situations of injustice, violence and oppression to be combatted, and all of these wonderful women who were working so hard for change all urgently needed support and solidarity to be able to continue their efforts – but where could that support and solidarity come from, if every one of these three hundred women was already pouring all her energy and efforts into changing a different situation? I think it is still vitally important to call attention to all these different kinds of efforts and struggles whenever and wherever that is possible, not only because of the need for solidarity and support, but also – and perhaps equally important – to continue to work on developing a framework for reflection and (self-) critique. For example, Celeste refers in her post to a sense of connection based on a fear of rape that women are taught from an early age, and I think she makes an important point, but I also think it is necessary to question that sense of connection and its basis in fear, in order to avoid the trap of reinforcing the very same attitudes in which violence against women is rooted. In early 1999 I posted a long response to the mailing list Faces (responding to criticism of a lack of response to reports of violence against women in Indonesia) attempting to describe my experience with committees formed across all political differences in Austria to "help women" in former Yugoslavia: "violence against women". Where solidarity and support are needed, the kind of "help" that only defines women as victims can be counterproductive and seriously damaging. As an old feminist, I continue to place my hope in shared ideals of mutual respect, acknowledgment and encouragement among women – trying hard not to get sidetracked or bogged down in futile controversies over defining "women", which is, in my opinion, beside the point.

feminism sighting: spain

(interesting that this is curated by a guy; but it has what looks like a good programme of talks by women - too long to copy here but should be on the web site somewhere) "Gender Battle. Lectures, theatre and debates about the rules of gender, sexuality and the impact of feminism in the art of the seventies" 25 to 27 September 2007 Galician Center for Contemporary Art Santiago de Compostela Galicia (Spain) http://www.cgac.org The exhibition Gender Battle, curated by Juan Vicente Aliaga, will be opened in the Galician Center for Contemporary Art on September 13th and around it CGAC presents "Gender Battle. Lectures, theatre and debates about the rules of gender, sexuality and the impact of feminism in the art of the seventies". The goal of organising this cenference is to take on, as far as is possible, a whole spectrum of subjects and problems related to certain fields of feminist movements, the incorporation of the concept of gender as a category to be analysed and the social questioning that started to take force in the seventies related to the barriers between what is considered femenine or masculine. Three intensive days have therefore been organised with three lectures and three round table discussions in which artists, teachers, and activists with an interest in the subject will present to the public of Santiago their point of view about the complex questions of gender and how it materialises in daily life and in art.

feminism sighting: finland

The artist group Megafån (Fredrika Biström, Freja Bäckman, Heidi Lunabba) is inviting feminist works to the living-room/bookshelf at our Feminst Wallpaper exhibition in Galleri Sinne in Helsinki, 26.10.-11.11.2007. www.megahem.info We are putting together an exhibition with and about our recent project Feminist Wallpaper and in this context we also want to present works by other feminist artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and feminists in general. This part of the show is going to function as a living- and reading-room, a space for a femnistic discourse, where the visitors can sit down and watch a DVD of their own choise, pick a book or magazine from the shelf and read, or maybe leave something behind for the next person. We hope to get a big variety of material, so please send us your videos, films, music, books, fanzines, magazines, articles, stickers or anything else that is possible to present in a bookshelf or on a table. Movies and videos should be on DVD, with the title and a discription of it on the cover. They are going to be shown on a monitor, no video installations e.g. Music on CD. Send us your works before 1. of October 2007. (Note the short notice!!) Megafån c/o Heidi Lunabba Villa Snäcksund 10600 Ekenäs Finland For questions contact: freja DOT backman AT gmail DOT com

feminism sighting: uk

The new feminists - guardian article