Issue 58, May 2013
BROAD Cover art: “Circle of Time” by Gayle Carloss
A Feminist & Social Justice Magazine
The Green Issue
A feminist is a person who answers “yes” to the question, “Are women human?” Feminism is not about whether women are better than, worse than or identical with men. And it’s certainly not about trading personal liberty--abortion, divorce, sexual self-expression-for social protection as wives and mothers, as pro-life feminists propose. It’s about justice, fairness, and access to the
BROAD
range of human experience. It’s about women consulting their own well-being and being judged as individuals rather than as members of a class with one personality, one social function, one road to happiness. It’s about women having intrinsic value as persons rather than contingent value as a means to an end for others: fetuses, children, the “family,” men. ~ Katha Pollitt
broad | brÔd | adjective 1 having an ample distance from side to side; wide 2 covering a large number and wide scope of subjects or areas: a broad range of experience 3 having or incorporating a wide range of meanings 4 including or coming from many people of many kinds 5 general without detail 6 (of a regional accent) very noticeable and strong 7 full, complete, clear, bright; she was attacked in broad daylight noun (informal) a woman.
broad | brÔd |
slang a promiscuous woman
phrases broad in the beam: with wide hips or large buttocks in broad daylight: during the day, when it is light, and surprising for this reason have broad shoulders: ability to cope with unpleasant responsibilities or to accept criticism City of broad shoulders: Chicago synonyms see: wide, extensive, ample, vast, liberal, open, all-embracing antonyms see: narrow, constricted, limited, subtle, slight, closed see also broadside (n.) historical: a common form of printed material, especially for poetry
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BROAD Mission: Broad’s mission is to connect the WSGS program with communities of students, faculty, and staff at Loyola and beyond, continuing and extending the program’s mission. We provide space and support for a variety of voices while bridging communities of scholars, artists, and activists. Our editorial mission is to provoke thought and debate in an open forum characterized by respect and civility.
WSGS Mission: Founded in 1979, Loyola’s Women’s Studies Program is the first women’s studies program at a Jesuit institution and has served as a model for women’s studies programs at other Jesuit and Catholic universities. Our mission is to introduce students to feminist scholarship across the disciplines and the professional schools; to provide innovative, challenging, and thoughtful approaches to learning; and to promote social justice.
The Green Issue
Y
This issue explores the topics of environmentalism, including ecofeminism, environmental activism, fracking, recycling and reusing, respecting nature, the intersection of class, race, gender, and environmental issues, and how our bodies are related to the earth. Look for the [GI] symbol for contributions on our theme!
BROAD People:
Emma Steiber
Contetnt and Section Editor
Karolyne Carloss Co-Editor in Chief
Katie Klingel
Co-Editor in Chief
J. Curtis Main Consulting Editor
CONTENTS FROM YOUR EDITOR by Katie Klingel
[GI] Una Cultura Mestiza Janelle Jones
[GI] My Three Mothers
Jerry Podgorski
WLA RE-ANIMATED 1932: “Higher Botany” BOOKMARK HERE Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life MIDDLE EASTERN MUSINGS Solar Mamas by Abeer Allan
QUEER THOUGHTS Progressing Past Gender: A Statement on Intersectionality
by Emma Steiber
[GI] Eco-feminism
by Audrey Kelly
[GI] A Reflection About My Mother and Your Mother, Mother Earth
by Anthony Betori
BROADSIDE Sailor, Sailor by Alex Layman
QUOTE CORNER Wangari Maathai WORDS ARE USELESS Antelope Canyon, Page, AZ
by Alex Layman
WORDS ARE USELESS Olympic National Park: Port Angeles, WA by Alex Layman
WORDS ARE USELESS Red Rock Canyon: Nevada by Alex Layman
FEMINIST FIRES Charlotte Perkins Gilman
by Natalie Beck
[GI] Conscious Consumerism: Raising the Issue of Poverty to Consumers by Ashley Lindemann
WORDS ARE USELESS Angel’s Landing: Zion National Park, UT by Alex Layman
WORDS ARE USELESS Granite Falls, WA by Alex Layman
[GI]
The Haves and Have Nots: Eating Green
Julia DeLuca
FEMINIST FIRES Greta Gaard QUOTE CORNER Vandana Shiva BROADSIDE Somedays a Twig by Alex Layman
WORDS ARE USELESS Altered Life by Ausrine Kerr
INSIDE R OUT?
Environmentalism or Looking Out for Humans? What Would Other Species Do?
by J. Curtis Main
WORDS ARE USELESS Circle of Time by Gayle Carloss
WORDS ARE USELESS
Grayson Thomas; Sarah Mendiola
EX BIBLIOTHECIS Thinking About Our Planet and Your Future by Jane P. Currie
MADADS Green: The New Niche and its Effects [GI] Ghost Lake, TX by Alex Layman
WORDS ARE USELESS by Cassandra Magana
ALUM ALERT Barbara Schwabauer CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES
Seeking submissions on mass media, popular culture, feminist reflections on popular culture, how feminism is depicted in media outlets, romance novels and movies, blogging, feminist publications and podcasts, how queer identities are depicted in pop culture, the representation of women in video games, racial diversity in pop course, and the discourse of victimization in the media. Send your poetry, artwork, and reflections to broad.luc@gmail.com by June 24th!
1) Diversity & Outreach Editor
Responsibilities include assessment and implementation of diversity and outreach in BROAD magazine’s content, staff, contributors, themes, sections, and more. This position will work in collaboration with BROAD’s existing editorial team and serve a specialized role, promoting the magazine, targeting outreach to include a diverse range of contributors, and offering feedback regarding BROAD’s mission, successes, and weaknesses in inclusivity and reaching fringed voices and populations. This person must have a strong sense of self and commitments to social justice movements, in addition to a broad and detailed understanding of cultural competence and outreach to new and underrepresented areas and people.
2) Website & Archive Editor
Responsibilities include management and maintenance of website and archives as they relate to the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies website, Issuu online publishing platform, file back-up, the Women and Leadership Archives Collection, and LUC organizations and departments, among others. This position will work in collaboration with BROAD’s existing editorial team and serve an important role in maintaining BROAD’s presence and future in digital formats. This person must have excellent organizational skills and technological abilities in web design and navigation, digital storage, knowledge in transferring digital files from one form to another, and a passion to present and archive BROAD magazine to the public in a variety of ways, including finding new avenues to broaden BROAD magazine’s reach.
DUE Monday, June 17
Email Curtis Main (jmain@luc.edu) your cover letter and resume in addition to any other materials you would like to be reviewed for your candidacy. Positions are eligible for LUC course credit in WSGS and COMM classes with approval. Interviews will be conducted after applications have been received. Positions start the last week of June and run until May 2014.
From Your Editor
Dear Readers, As springtime finally reaches Chicago, many of us find ourselves noticing the environment more and more. Just think of the schema we associate with spring: tulips, warm weather, animals waking out of hibernation. “April showers bring May flowers.” A google image search for “springtime” brings up colorful gardens and landscapes, the sun shining, trees blooming, women out and about in their summer dresses. Spring being the time that we as a society seem to value the environment the most,
it seems appropriate for BROAD’s May issue to focus on environmentalism and eco-feminism. As a kid growing up in the Midwest, I was always outside. I was one of those adventurous, slightly tom-boyish types. If it was above 70 degrees outside, you could find me out searching the creek or the woods, climbing trees, or playing with worms. While I spent plenty of time in the outdoors, I never really had an appreciation for it, or an understanding that it might not be there
one day. As I got older, and my seasonal allergies started to kick in, I began to spend less and less time outside. Air conditioning became my best friend when I moved to Southern Florida, and the closest I got to “nature” was laying out by the pool. Even the ocean was something I avoided. As I look back at my experiences with nature, I realize that I was never very appreciative of it. Yes, I enjoyed my time playing explorer in the neighborhood, and soaking up the sun, but I was using what our Earth has to give for my own advantage. In a sense, I was exploiting the land for my own means. While this might seem like a harsh criticism to lay on a young girl, it most accurately describes what I thought of nature, something to bring about my own enjoyment. Thankfully, my views have changed, and I now know the importance of seeing Earth in a different light. While researching these topics, and the concept/ persona of “Mother Earth,” I became fascinated with the views of Haunani-Kay Trask, a native Hawaiian woman who writes criticisms of the Hawaiian tourism industry. For her, and for many other native Hawaiians, the land is their mother, and they are her children. Following this, she is very defensive of her motherland, and opposes many of the outside forces, including Americanized tourism, that turn her mother into “a female object of degraded and victimized value.” For Trask, environmentalism, and how it relates to Hawaii, is an inherently feminist issue. The environment, the land, the country, are all part of one female entity. I encourage you, our readers, to view our Mother Earth in this way. By recognizing that she is pillaged, destroyed, taken advantage of, and disrespected every day, similar to the experiences of too many other women, we can see how environmentalism and feminism have much in common. So, readers, I challenge you to read this issue with specific attention to yourself, and your own relationship with our Mother Earth. Do you take the time to smell the roses? If you do, what do you think of? The pleasure it brings your senses?
An amazement at what nature can do? An appreciation for what our mother has to offer? Or a concern to continue the necessary and beautiful aspects of the world we live in? Maybe even it brings about a warm feeling of connectedness with nature. This issue of BROAD, like all of our issues, should prompt much reevaluation of ourselves and our communities, especially in how we interact with and view our Earth. While this issue is not a step-by-step intro into how to be a greener individual, it has much more to offer than just that. Here we fully delve into what it means to be an eco-feminist, and why such a stance is important. Join us as we critically analyze the “green” industry, reminisce in some beautiful memories concerning nature, and recognize how environmentalism, like feminism, has many cross-sections with other social justice issues. My hope is that each reader ends up with a greater and more appreciative understanding of what eco-feminism is, and how we can more deeply connect with our communal mother, Mother Earth, on a spiritual, political, natural, and even familial level. As they say, it ain’t easy being green... Or is it? Stay strong, Katie
The Green Issue
Una cultura mestiza
By Janelle Jones
IOrganic farming? What a white girl’s sham. “There’s no such thing as organic farming in Mexico, Mariposa,” addressing the Japanese intern Shanobu. They had deemed her Mariposa, a strangely appropriate name for the timid creature. Was it because they couldn’t pronounce it? Maybe. Would they have called her Shanobu even if they could? Probably not. I was called by
my given name. Gee-nel. Janelle. “The ladies” or so they called them, were the sum of three parts, Margarita, Herberta or “Berta”, and Kim, none exceeding five feet. I was the fourth wheel that summer. What a white girl’s sham. These are your new coworkers. Introductions etc. etc. etc. Look at the harvest chart, don’t loose
track of how many bundles you have, and you’ll cynic. “Same caca Gee-nel, different día”. need to bring a harvest knife tomorrow, call me if Berta has left her unfaithful husband “Hombre you have problems. I lock eyes with the women malo.” I imagine the space she inhabits, a oneI am now sharing a spinach bed with. They are bedroom apartment. Two children. A portion at least twenty years my senior dressed in denim, of her space is now my own, her words are turtlenecks and hats. They only allow the sun evidence. I was totally immersed en lo mexicano, access to their brown hands, a rural, peasant, isolated, their livelihood. We haphazardly mexicanismo. Mexican By turning to string together pleasantries in in nothing but industry. English, while the Spanish seems The line I’m straddling is extremism, some to linger, unspoken. A linguistic surprisingly tranquil. feminists often lose void they know at first glance I will leave unfulfilled. We do not Eating a lunch feast themselves in the engage fully. We do not make prepared in my honor hierarchal society use of our full faculties. “Why the ladies are absent. I you here, if you go to school?” go back to school next that originally They are friendly but reserved. week. I am forced to oppressed them. Wading. spend my final hours on the farm answering It is hotter than fucking Hades and I’m weeding formulaic questions from the non-laboring staff. the tomato green house. I am all alone and “Oh women’s studies? That’s interesting. What thinking thoughts suited for a correctional facility. are you planning on doing with that?” Petrified, We shiver in separate cells in enclosed cities, she cannot respond, her face caught between shoulders hunched, barely keeping the panic los intersticios, the spaces between the different below the surface of the skin…Get a normal worlds she inhabits. Conversation is contrived. I job Jan, your liberal image is not worth this want to bring my meal to our usual venue. indentured servitude. I rack my brain for excuses, illnesses. I pray for an injury. Revelation: Lunch. It’s our time. They don’t tolerate tardiness. Physical labor is profoundly mental. The ultimate Twelve sharp. “Gee-nell lunch loca!” We sit in drudgery, it wears both body and mind to the shade against the barn. Compost is to our left. exhaustion. I need “the ladies” who I don’t know Cardboard boxes between our tired limbs and the and can hardly speak to. Jose, the irrigation guy, dirt. Margareta brings pictures to show Mariposa, shows me how to prop open the “windows”. I who now takes refuge in our spot. Slightly could have married him. It’s only my second day. browned pictures of Mexico mix with pixilated photos of grinning children. Amidst the rubble 45+ hours a week. Monday through Friday 7am a cultural history reveals itself, disclosed within to 4pm. Washington State Law, agricultural a setting of disorder. Mexico. Japan. America. I workers are exempt from overtime wages. So will have to stand and claim my space, making a don’t give me your tenets and your laws. Amy, new culture—una cultura mestiza—with my own my manager, tells me that Agricultural laborers lumber, my own bricks and mortar and my own on large commercial farms are not allowed to feminist architecture. The ladies. speak while working. Time is literally money in the business of vegetables and it takes time to talk. Don’t give me your lukewarm Gods. Praise Janelle Jones is a rising senior at Loyola, double dinero before dignity in the eyes a law. I am now majoring in English and Women’s and Gender invested. Studies. When she is not producing the Vagina Monologues or organizing with the Gannon Their brown faces change form. The ladies are Scholars she enjoys knitting, listening to public no longer an inextricable group. Margareta radio and sitting in her rocking chair for hours on nurtures. “Is your novio católico”? Berta’s a end.
The Green Issue
My Three Mothers By Jerry Podgorski It was my first mother who gave me life, my second who saved it, and my third mother who showed me how to live it. I loved all three of them. On Mother’s Day, I’ll thank them in silent prayers for their priceless gifts. Mother’s Day gives us the opportunity to gather the heartfelt thoughts we have about our mother and say them to her, however we can. Joan, my biological mother, was a 25-year-old
patient in the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium when she gave birth to me in 1938. She died there nearly three years later. I have only one vague memory of her picking me up, but I’m not even certain it was she. My sister and I saw Mom only on the occasional home visits she was allowed if her contagion level was within safe limits. When I was born, my father and twoyear-old sister lived with my grandparents in their
small home along with my dad’s two unmarried sisters.
rich diet she provided. I lived with Auntie for five years until my father remarried and took me to my new home. My father knew it would be painful for Auntie to give up “her little boy,” but he was fulfilling a promise he made to my mother as she lay dying, that my sister and I would grow up together.
For the first four months of my life, I lived in the Saint Vincent DePaul orphanage in Chicago. My father said there simply was no room for another child at home, but I suspect my grandparents feared that Happy Mother’s coming from the TB sanitarium and from the womb of my sick Day Auntie. I love mother, I would contaminate the you for saving my household.
life and for all the you
I treasure the photos I have of loving care Mom, especially the one of me sitting on her lap with my hand gave me. in hers. We know she was a kind and gentle person from the accounts of others and from the tone of letters she wrote to her sister who lived in a convent. In one letter, Mom unintentionally describes herself: “When I read what you wrote about me in your letter to Edwin [my father], those are just the things I always saw in you, so refined, so gentle and ideal in your ways.” Our aunt, Sister Agnese, saved Mom’s letters and passed them on to us. I treasure these letters that help me feel closer to Mom; I sometimes re-read them on my birthday. My mother died in the TB sanitarium when she was 27 years old, and I was almost three. I sometimes wonder how her guiding hand would have influenced my life. I love you Mom. I’m sorry your wish to be with us couldn’t happen. Happy Mother’s Day Mom! My dad’s Aunt Frances, “Auntie,” became my second mother in time to save my life. She and my Uncle Billy rescued me from the orphanage, when after four months I was diagnosed as “failing to thrive.” Auntie’s family doctor counseled her, “don’t blame yourself if he dies. He’s a sick baby from a sick mother.” I think Auntie took this as a challenge and worked hard to bring me to health. When I look at pictures of me under Auntie’s care, I see a fat and happy baby thriving on the
Happy Mother’s Day Auntie. I love you for saving my life and for all the loving care you gave me.
I was five when my dad married Florence, the young woman who would become my third mother. “Mother,” was only 21 when she became my dad’s wife and an instant mother to a five and seven year old. I can only imagine how overwhelming her new roles must have been. It was Mother who would guide me through my early school years; I still remember her patient tutoring as I learned to read. It was Mother who much later told me how proud she was when she attended my master’s degree graduation. Thank you Mother for all your hard work and guidance. I’m sorry you had to leave this world when you did. I wish I could tell you in person now what I failed to say when you were here. I love you Mother. Happy Mother’s Day! These are my three mothers to whom I’ll be forever grateful. I hope that somehow they’ll hear my silent prayers. And perhaps I can do something else. That is, urge anyone whose mother is still alive to take the time, while she is still here, to hold her hand, look into her eyes with genuine love, and tell her how much she means to you. Do it now before you can only do it in memory! Jerome (Jerry) Podgorski. He earned an MA from Loyola University Chicago in 1984, in the Center for Organizational Development (CORD). He now lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife Joan
[GI]
WLA Re-Animated Artifacts from the vaults of the Women’s & Leadership Archives 1932: “Higher Botany” Description: A group of women take their botany lessons in the solarium skyscraper lounger at Mundelein College in 1932. Commentary: These group of women take their botany lessons with the resources provided them by Loyola University of Chicago. Studying tropical specimen and more, these female students set an example for how far women extended their education within the early twentieth century. WLA Mission Statement: Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, organizes, describes, and makes available materials of enduring value to researchers studying women’s contributions to society.
First Published: 2007
Current Publisher:
Bookmark Here
HarperCollins
MSRP: $10.66
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life By Barbara Kingsolver
Genre:
Non-fiction
Summary: “The average food item on a U.S. grocery shelf has traveled farther than most families go on their annual vacations. True Fact. Fossil fuels were consumed for the food’s transport, refrigeration, and processing, with the obvious environmental consequences. The option of getting our household’s food from closer to home, in Tucson, seemed no better to us.” This non-fiction work details a year of Barbara Kingsolver and her family as they attempt to eat only organic food that they grew themselves or bought locally. Starting a farm in Virginia, v and her family grow tomatoes, raise roosters, and eat food that is only in season. Overall, this work is a commentary on the struggle between organic farms and factory farms that chemically “harvest” food in order to preserve it.
Pros:
This non-fiction work received wide acclaim from news sources, such as Time magazine and The Boston Globe, for its prose-like telling of discovering a healthier way of living. Set against the backdrop of the United States’ industrial drive and chemical preservations, Kingsolver asserts that food defines how one lives and organic living is a group effort. Kingsolver and her family’s commitment are seen through her narrative voice. .
Cons:
This story illustrates that a family can turn organic by finding a farm and living the organic, processedfree lifestyle. While this is inspiring and influential, Kingsolver’s story is told within the mindset of a middle to upper-class family. Thus, this raises an important question; can this be achieved within a lower middle-class or poverty-stricken family? Although Kingsolver does not uphold an elitist point of view, this change in lifestyle cannot be easily extended across class.
by Abeer Allan
Middle Eastern Musings A Dive into the Dead Sea
Solar Mamas It is common that we combine the term feminism with cultural, social, political and economical issues, but it is rarely that we relate feminism to nature and ecology. Thanks to the French writer Françoise d’Eaubonne in her book, Le Féminisme ou la Mort (1974), she started this whole connection and pointed out the vital role of women towards nature.
Women’s roles cannot be ignored, not anymore. They raise generations as they are in charge -most times- of spreading awareness among their kids and passing values to them; to guide them on how to use water, to plant flowers, not to cut trees, to value the environment and much more. This is why the role of women in environmental matters should not be neglected.
Bunker Roy, an Indian social activist and her heart full of sadness, anger, and a million educator who founded the Barefoot College, other feelings that we would not understand, she refused to give up on women; he acknowledged packed and went home. their role in environment so he went personally to convince women from all over the world to But this woman turned out to be stronger than participate in his new project of turning illiterate anyone of us thought, she went back to Jordan women into solar engineers. but only to fight for “Solar Mamas” is a documentary her right to finish the With her that shows the lives of two internship, and so she did. Jordanian women who come determination she from the village to join the With her determination went back to India and other women in this project. she went back to India and Convincing two illiterate Bedouin joined her new friends joined her new friends at women to travel to India and the workshop, after fighting at the workshop, leave their husbands and families for her right to travel, learn, behind is never an easy mission, to become a solar engineer after fighting for her but Bunker Roy did it; and he and to make a difference right to travel, learn, convinced their families to let in her daughters’ lives and them travel to India. These two the lives of the women in to become a solar women thought of solar energy as engineer and to make the village. a path to change their lives and the lives of other women, and Rafee’a did it... Umm a difference in her have decided they are leaving Bader did it... daughters’ lives and and will come back to make a difference. the lives of the women They came back to the village as solar engineers in the village. Rafee’a Anad, 32 years old, was carrying hopes and so fed up from the life that had been much to teach to all of the forced on her, a life without an women in the village who education, a job or a purpose, so she decided to were so excited to welcome the engineers back join this program to be part of something bigger; and to have the chance to learn from them. she hoped to come home with a project in hand to make a difference. Sadly, these successful women did not find the right funding for their project, but Rafee’a will Rafee’a went to India against her husband’s will, not give up, and neither will Umm Bader, even leaving her daughters with her mother since their after her son Bader stole some circuits and pieces father would rarely visit them as he is busy with (worth 15000$) from the workshop and sold his first family. Rafee’a and Umm Bader went on them to the black market as Mr. Raouf Dabbas, this journey along with Umm Bader’s son Bader, the senior advisor to the Ministry of Environment since women from that village are not allowed to in Jordan claimed. Even after her husband travel alone without a male family member. divorced her because he refused to believe that Umm Bader would get a job and actually work, After Rafee’a left to India, her husband started she still won’t give up. Umm Bader stands now calling constantly trying to find excuses to make hand in hand with Rafee’a hoping for this project her come back. When he gave up on all excuses to see the light. that didn’t seem to get to her, he used the big word threat, divorce. To learn more about the documentary and watch a trailer subtitled in English, kindly visit Yes, he threatened to divorce her and to take http://www.itvs.org/films/solar-mamas away her daughters if she didn’t go back. With
By Emma Steiber
Queer Thoughts A Transgressive Approach
Progressing Past Gender: A Statement on Intersectionality
Ecofeminism is the link between feminism and African American women must not be ignored ecology that emphasizes the shared oppression in the fight for women’s rights. Ecofeminists between Western domination of land and should learn from Truth and not ignore the patriarchal domination of women. Vandana multiple identities that equally find importance Shiva, an advocate for preserving the land and in spiritual connectedness and in protecting the activist against Monsanto’s GMOs, expresses the environment. critical connection between women and the environment By turning to extremism, By turning to that is continuously ignored by some feminists often lose patriarchal society. This is true, themselves in the hierarchal extremism, some for women have dominated society that originally feminists often lose holistic and ecological oppressed them. One can preservation of nature. Yet, forget, by attempting to find themselves in the while Shiva puts an emphasis an equal level between hierarchal society on the importance of women’s men and women, that “roots” to nature, it is often these terms are based on that originally forgotten that cooperation the premise of hierarchy. oppressed them. between humans and the land In order to find a balance is a necessary aim. We focus with the environment, on gender empowerment in order to overcome society must also find a balance with the human hierarchy and, consequently, head back into a population; one that is not centered on matriarch hierarchal realm. This is seen in the contention and patriarch. Let us look at a basic principle of between matriarchy and patriarchy. philosophy as an example; philosophy allows ideas to branch into other fields of study. In This statement (I’d rather call this writing a Bertrand Russell’s philosophical work The statement, for it is nowhere near the length of Problems of Philosophy, he stated, “[A]s soon an in-depth essay or discussion) is not meant as definite knowledge concerning any subject to destabilize the mystical quality of the becomes possible, this subject ceases to be called environment. Nature provides experiences that philosophy, and becomes a separate science.” enlighten the mind and clear the head. Social This is often a misperception with advocacy, ecologist Janet Biehl frowns upon ecofeminism’s more specifically with feminism. Ecofeminists spiritual relationship between women and the find themselves distinct from ecological advocacy environment. However, my aim is not to contest and other feminist-centered groups. This is true, the spiritual. I question ecofeminism’s exclusivity but it does not work the same way as philosophy. within the relationship between women and Intersectional awareness must not be forgotten in the environment. Intersectionaility is a critical the expansive landscape that is feminism. concept that must not be ignored. As feminism has progressed through its many movements, intersectional cooperation seems to be left behind. I do not intend to overlook that some movements, such as queer or crosscultural movements, have not forgotten this ideology. However, I reiterate this importance because it is crucial to ecological sustainability and environmental preservation. We cannot leave behind in the march those who do not define themselves as feminists or who straddle the lines of different identities. Sojourner Truth highlighted at the Ohio Women’s Convention in 1851 that
The Green Issue
Eco-feminism
By Audrey Kelly
When I identify as a feminist, I am sure to articulate that the causes I support are not exclusively “women’s issues;” rather, these causes have the greater good of humanity, and the earth itself, in mind. So, I generally like to make clear that I identify with eco-feminism, not strictly feminism as a movement. This is because the eco-feminist movement is more centered in the way that the respect (or lack thereof) of women is
contingent on how humanity respects the natural world, and vise versa. A movement that focuses on the unity of respecting all things—from people that are different from ourselves, to the resources that sustain our way of life—is essential to an ideological shift in society that will bring us away from the exploitative practices we engage in to a
society that respects the processes and functions of all life forms, not just what those processes and functions can give us. In that, I see eco-feminism as a movement that is fighting for the respect of all people, regardless of race, class, or gender, which by consequence, would mean respect for the earth.
always been connected, and in that, it provides an outline of how change in one aspect of society actually could have positive effects on many other aspects of society. Ultimately, eco-feminism is about respect. If society as a whole does not respect its source of If society as a whole The way that humanity currently life (the earth), how should exploits the natural resources it be expected to respect does not respect its of the earth, and disregards all other living things (people) source of life (the other parts of the natural world that also find their source that do not have an obvious of life to be from the earth? earth), how should monetary (human-based) These two things come it be expected to value, in a way justifies the hand-in-hand, and once that exploitation of other humanconcept is embraced and respect other living beings. Resource exploitation understood, then whites and things (people) that generally justifies, or at least blacks, men and women, leads to, the exploitation of and culture and nature, will also find their source different groups of people. An understand that they all must of life to be from the example of this is the current walk hand-in-hand in order battle for clean drinking water. to fulfill the same goal: basic earth? Because certain countries are survival and happiness for able to afford to go beyond all. their nation to obtain drinking water, other lessendowed nations end up struggling to obtain any sort of drinkable water for themselves. This problem occurs because wealthier nations are Audrey is majoring in WSGS and English, I’m irresponsible with how they use clean water, but currently working on making money this summer since they have already exploited other resources because I am studying abroad in Vietnam this and are now wealthy enough to exploit more, fall and a fun fact about me iss that (on the latest the cycle persists. Therefore, certain groups of count) I have over 20 sweaters in my thrifted people do not suffer for their actions, while the sweater collection. environmental and social consequences of their actions get displaced onto already suffering groups of people. Riane Eisler’s novel, The Chalice and the Blade, lays out the implications of a world that respects nature. If humanity is able to respect the earth, the one thing that unifies us all in that it provides us with the means to survive, then humanity would also respect itself. That idea alone is beautiful; the unity of the environmental movement with the feminist movement makes the unity of man and women, man-kind and nature, possible, and it promises a future where no one (nor thing) is exploited for selfish gains. I think that eco-feminism is important because it is all-encompassing; it connects issues that have not
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The Green Issue
A Reflection About My Mother and Your Mother, Mother Earth By Anthony Betori
A long time ago, when I was much younger, She withers in heat and is suffocated by carbon I was in the basement moving boxes and this and pollution. porcelain platter fell off a shelf and broke into two or three pieces. My mom came downstairs to Her land yields warm earth to my hands as I see what had happened, and then she cried. She dig in to plant seedlings, and I hear her sigh was crying because the platter in relief when I water my had belonged to her mother, plot, a gesture of love that She is the most who about ten years before only begins the thanks that had passed away. This platter, broken, the dying one, I should have always been something that remained longer giving her--for a world worth the one whose peace than the cancer, longer than the living in, for mountains, house Mom grew up in, part of for clouds, for history, for remains a shattered a larger collection of porcelain, peace. platter on a basement was now making its slow transition into memory, where it Anthony Betori is a barista floor as drilling and is now. and community organizer fracking and wars in Rogers Park. Anthony is Ten or so years later, my mother organizing a radical free rage on. gave me two very important library for the neighborhood. gifts: a set of teacups and a teapot, and then later, a twelveperson china set that previously belonged to Mary Alice, that same grandmother. When the young men of my Dad’s side turn twelve or so, they are given a cookbook filled with the recipes of the ancestresses of the family. This cookbook is meant to be given to the wife of each son. I am the first out gay man on that side of the family, and it remains unclear to whom my cookbook will be given, especially if I never marry. At Christmas, my grandma was cleaning up and I was trying to get her to stop because she is getting very arthritic, and I took that moment to ask her about her family. She came from Slavic peoples before the Slovenia, before Yugoslavia and the Soviets. She told me about her German side too, the wine shop they once owned in the mother country. I was looking out my window during the thunderstorm last night and my mother, Mother Earth was thrashing and waving her trees in the wind. She is my loudest and largest mother, the one who is oldest, with the most stories. She is the most broken, the dying one, the one whose peace remains a shattered platter on a basement floor as drilling and fracking and wars rage on.
[GI]
Broadside Expressions in Poetry via Street Literature Style
Sailor, Sailor
By: Alex Layman
Sailor, sailor, come take me home, I’ve been stuck on this island for so long; Stuck in this place and oh, so alone. Sailor, sailor, come set me free. I thought I was escaping myself, But I am shackled to my history. Sailor, sailor, come tell me it’s alright. That there’s more than this empty sunshine, And the loneliness of night. Sailor, sailor, come save my soul, Stop the affects of these elements, Taking such a toll. Sailor, sailor, where have you gone? I saw you passing so many years ago, Following your own siren song.
But sailor, sailor, who sings for the lost? The deserters and gypsies Searching for “home” at all costs. Sailor, Sailor, hear my pleas. My island is sinking, Water up to my knees. Sailor, Sailor, come take me home. I’ve been stuck on this island for far too long; Stuck in this place and oh, too alone.
Alex lives in Austin, TX and is currently seeking representation for a manuscript about his travels (and misadventures) throughout the Panamanian countryside. When not writing, he can usually be found rock climbing or hiking in the Texas hill country. Read more of Alex’s work at his website, http://scribbledwanderland.weebly.com/ or follow him on Twitter @AlexLayman
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In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace. You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.
Quote Corner Wangari Maathai, Environmental and Political Activist
Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you In Kenya women are the first haven’t done a thing. You victims of environmental degradation, because they are just talking.
are the ones who walk for hours looking for water, who fetch firewood, who provide food for their families.
We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the If you process heal don’t raise our own - indeed, your voice, then to embrace the whole your environmentalism creation in all its diversity, means nothing; it’s mere beauty, and wonder. This will tokenism or opportunism. happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process.
Words are Useless Photographer: Alex Layman
Antelope Canyon: Page, AZ
Artist: Alex Layman
Olympic National Park: Port Angeles, WA
Artist: Alex Layman
Antelope Canyon: Page, AZ
Artist: Alex Layman
Red Rock Canyon: Nevada
Artist: Alex Layman
Angel’s Landing: Zion National Park, UT
Alex lives in Austin, TX and is currently seeking representation for a manuscript about his travels (and misadventures) throughout the Panamanian countryside. When not writing, he can usually be found rock climbing or hiking in the Texas hill country. Read more of Alex’s work at his website, http://scribbledwanderland.weebly.com/ or follow him on Twitter @AlexLayman
Artist: Alex Layman
Granite Falls, WA
The Green Issue
The Haves and Have-Nots: Eating Green
By Julia DeLuca
For the past three years, I have converted to a pescetarian diet. No meat, but on occasions I will splurge on fish. To me, I could not justify eating meat if I was against the exploitation and mistreatment of people, and animals. How could I rationalize being against the beating
and starvation of a helpless animal or a person, and five minutes later sit down to eat a burger? The way society treats its animals is a reflection of how we as a whole regard how we treat people overall. However, I have not been able to bring myself to completely let go of fish,
including salmon and shellfish. Not only is the taste something hard for me to live without, but it is the only way I can survive reunions with extended family as they live in areas where vegetarian lifestyles are not heard of, let alone accepted. In fact, some of my extended family sees me as bizarre, partially for trading hamburgers for patties made Many from beans or lentils.
now a new factor added to demonstrating the growing gap between the haves and the havenots.
people live in neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores to buy fresh or canned produce, and instead rely on stores which sell not only meat but snacks such as potato chips and cake, and often the processed kind which is dangerous to one’s health.
Yet I know a pescetarian, vegetarian, or vegan lifestyle is not feasible for many for whatever reasons (i.e. love of meat, availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in one’s neighborhood). Just like with anything, our dietary habits have become another marker of the haves and have-nots. As someone who works on the south side of Chicago, I can honestly say the “food desert” epidemic is a truth, and is becoming worse. Many people live in neighborhoods where there are no grocery stores to buy fresh or canned produce, and instead rely on stores which sell not only meat but snacks such as potato chips and cake, and often the processed kind which is dangerous to one’s health. Not even applesauce or raisins. To be able to have the option to eat food which will nourish our bodies and provide them with vital nutrients for generations to come has ceased becoming an everyday purchase, and has become now a marker of who has money and who does not. To be healthy is a have and have-not class issue.
Many generations ago, having meat was a status symbol as only the wealthy could afford to eat meat (many needed to keep their animals alive in order to have milk and eggs available regularly). Now having vegetables, the food provided by nature, is our generation’s new status symbol. Health and healthy green eating is now the luxury few can afford, and that gap is increasing everyday. It is the new way we are judged. We are either seen as weird for swapping hamburgers for beans, lentils and produce, or looked on as classist for having healthy and natural food which was provided to humankind by nature. Food is
Feminist Fires Greta Gaard, Writer Major Works: “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism” (1997) “Women, Water, Energy” (2001) “Vegetarian Ecofeminism” (2002) BooksEcological Politics (1998) The Nature of Home (2007) Inspired By: Gaard was inspired by the Green movement, which formed in the West in the 1970s. Tied in with grassroots democracy and social justice, this movement aimed at creating a sustainable society. From there, Gaard became a co-founder of the Minnesota Green Party.
Was An Inspiration to: Gaard has influenced the fields of ecoeroticism and ecocomposition through her feminist contributions, ideologies and theories, and her literary critiques. Personal Life: Gaard was born in Hollywood, California in 1960. Becoming a huge advocate and educator in intersectional subjects, such as in ecofeminism and queer theory, Gaard additionally became a feminist activist for animal rights. She is currently an English professor at University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a community faculty member in the Women’s Studies department at Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. In addition to her major works, Gaard also writes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Importance to Feminism: Gaard believes that more headway has to be made in the integration of ecofeminism and queer theory. She advocates for “queering” the heteronormative structures of colonialism, Christianity, and other social norms. Furthermore, Gaard has written essays on feminist ethics across cultures, as well as on the triple oppression of “environmental sexism,” “environmental classism,” and “environmental racism.”
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Quote Corner Vandana Shiva, Environmental Activist and Anti-Globalization Author
You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder. It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you.
We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth or we are not going to have a human future at all
I do not allow myself to be overcome by hopelessness, no matter how tough the situation. I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that itself creates new potential
Nature shrinks as capital grows. The growth of the market cannot solve the very crisis it creates.
Whenever we engage in If you are consumption or doing the right production patterns which thing for the Earth, she’s take more than we need, we giving you great company are engaging in violence
Broadside Expressions in Poetry via Street Literature Style
Somedays a Twig By Alex Layman
Some days, I am nothing more than a twig, hiding in a tree full of branches and leaves. It is on these days when the gentle Texas winds breathe deep and rattle me clean, shaking me bare as my first day on earth. My skin knots and stiffens in the breeze, bristling beneath the canopy of gold and green. Naked and outstretching for the sun’s warm hands, I can’t help wondering what stories lie buried beneath the steel breastplates of my peers, what wounds their armor conceals. Some days, I ponder harshness and forgiveness and how the meek seem so outnumbered, which doesn’t bode well for me.
The storms blow my hair, careless hands grasp my forearms, and I am redirected—left twisted to my core—but in tact. A limb here, a belief there, what I lose only returns in fractions. Despite my best efforts, the successive years of winter and summer extremes turn the scars harder. When I was younger I was more resilient, more malleable; it was easier to adapt. Now? Now I cannot stop tripping on my own roots. Some days, I am nothing more than a twig, splintered from its unforgiving host. But each time I am broken, I rejoice, because I know at first light I will begin to re-grow.
Words Are Useless Featured Cover Artist: Ausrine Kerr
Altered Life
About the work: The philosophy behind this installation is such that everything that was made some time ago could be refurbished, transformed, redirected in a many ways by meaning, shape and function. Art makes into the “ bloom� any forgotten object, nothing else. Just as our imagination creates something new and unseen before from the old and worn down piece and gives another lifetime or two to whatever it touches. Website: www.ausrinesartsroom.net
by J. Curtis Main
Inside R Out? White? Male? Feminist? YES.
Environmentalism or Looking out for Humans? What Would Others Species Do?
peaceful, glowing, lovely, etc. Sure, we make I love the dirt. And trees. And the smell of them out to be this way, and so do I at times. plants and rain and mud. I can watch any Again, plants are competing to replicate their animal—turtle, fly, bacteria, snail—for hours and own DNA. Plants are constantly, albeit slowly, continually be amused and in awe. I majored blocking one another’s sunlight, soil access, in biology and worked in labs and went on water access, roots, and so on in a fight to field trips because of my love of wildlife. I survive. In other words, plants, too, kill one have always gardened, outdoor and indoor, and another. Ever see a tree crave soil in my hands. I adore eating fresh fruit and vegetables I believe we are doing grow taller than others, eventually blocking other’s straight off the plants—plants nearly the same as sunlight? Like it or not, I appreciate and respect. For they are vying for the same years I have fed birds and most if not all other resources. Sure, plants have squirrels at work and home and different niches. But when watch them for hours. Since a species-trying to those niches overlap, you child, my fascination, passion, survive and propagate can be certain plants are not and respect for wildlife and making compromises nor nature abounds. our DNA into future sharing nor looking out for I recycle. I walk to work. I generations in greater one another. Again, they rarely throw away or waste are trying to survive. And and more fit numbers. like in humans, fighting for food. I do my best to use reusable tools and dishes and survival can and does result clothes and so on. I do not in competition, death, and litter. When possible I try to have discussions so on. with others regarding ways to live in the world Now look at humans—especially our and enjoy the world but not ruin it. I keep up environmentalists—and see us “caring” for with news regarding nature and biology and other species. Taking them in, “helping” them environmentalism. And, all in all, go ahead, call reproduce and not die off, worrying about their me an environmentalist. futures, cautioning each other to look out for But there is a grand caveat to my them. Are humans naturally altruistic, especially environmentalism: I do not believe humans are toward other species? I say highly doubtful and destroying the earth, and also, I do not believe most likely no. Why? Because true altruism is nature is peaceful nor should humans “save” selflessness. In all environmentalisms, unless other species. Animals, be they dolphins, worms, one believes in an end to humans and one’s snakes, fish, cattle, or whatever, do not care self, there is some level of human selfishness. about humans as a whole. Wildlife is just thatAnimals, usually just some animals, are nice to wild. Competition is fierce, dark, tough, deadly, have around. They are good company. Dolphins and most importantly, it most often if not always are smart. Chimps have feelings. Flowers are boils down to replicating DNA and battling other beautiful. Horses think. And so on. DNA that does not help that process. Forgive me for perhaps being dark or keeping Consider Chicago right now. Humans and our it real, but I feel that it is important. I am often crap our covered in yellow and green pollen. aggravated for what I consider to be a fake Which is what exactly? Plant sperm... gross? environmentalism- one that claims that humans Maybe. Or just plants trying to reproduce. Plants are not looking out for their best interests first literally spray their sperm any and everywhere in AND/OR one that hypes wildlife as peaceful, a battle to continue their DNA. I will not even whole, and loving as the reasons for that make a comparison to humans doing similarly, environmentalism. Again, no offense, but show but hopefully you get the point. That is but one me an environmentalism that puts humans example of reproduction and competition in second, or even last? And even if there is one, nature we rarely consider. which I believe would be difficult, is that what other species would do for us? Would, if another Yet this example takes us to another superb species took over the world, meningitis bacteria, example. Humans often think of plants as for example, look out for humans if our numbers
If some people want to save nature and the earth grew too small? Okay, that example is too and wildlife, be my guest; I think the work is obvious. Would cats? Okay, again, too obvious. great and I respect it. But just remember that Cats would make us into slaves. Seriously, think when you put yourself and human interests of other species. Maybe they don’t have our first, who are you saving, and why? Is that what mental capacities, but would they, like many nature intended? Are we all one big happy humans are trying to do, save us? I believe family? Most of all, what would other species the answer is most likely no. Not that humans do and what are they should not do it; this is more about doing? why are we doing it? For what If humans did indeed reasons?
wipe out all life on
And this brings me to my main point. I hear all the time that humans are earth but the tiniest of NOT doing what we should be bacteria, those bacteria doing—that we are destroying the earth and taking it over. This is would evolve into tens where I disagree. I believe we are thens thousands the doing nearly the same as most if not all other species- trying to survive millions of new species, and propagate our DNA into future generations in greater and more fit as has happened numbers. Perhaps we, as humans, before and will happen make it more complex than this sounds, but ultimately, we try to again. survive and live and make better for future generations. Making “better” is not necessarily saving the earth and wildlife, but rather, saving the earth and wildlife for ourselves. Nothing wrong with that, as is the case for so many other millions of species. I will continue to not waste, for selfish reasons, for future humans, and because I prefer not to trash the world. I wholeheartedly accept the idea that it is okay for humans to take over the world, kill off as many species as we ultimately end, and spreading our species around. Why? It is what animals do, and we are animals. I am fine with us being animals. After all, this idea that we are ending nature and wildlife as we know it is untrue. We are affecting our natural world (the animal kingdom) in intense ways, but we are changing it, not ending it. Cockroaches, ants, mold, viruses, rats, algae, mice, chickens, pigeons, Asian carp, cattle and thousands of other species are benefitting from humans in that they are in record numbers. Is this bad or good? No, it is neither, it is natural. It is evolution. If humans did indeed wipe out all life on earth but the tiniest of bacteria, those bacteria would evolve into tens then thousands then millions of new species, as has happened before and will happen again.
Words Are Useless Featured Cover Artist: Gayle Carloss
Circle of Time
Biography: Gayle Carloss is a professional artist and beloved art teacher in Sugar Land, TX. She received her B.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Texas and has sold a number of her works in galleries and auctions across the Houston area. Gayle specializes in oil and water-based paints as well as pastel. She has taught in the Texas school system for 15 years and has four wonderful daughters. Gayle believes that “Women should reveal their talents. Art is mine and I cherish it, as it has given me that area of life that knows no true boundaries�.
Words are Useless Artists: Grayson Thomas, 8th & Sarah Mendiola, 8th:
Ex Bibliothecis
Thinking About Our Planet and Your Future Cudahy Library’s reference collection contains a beautiful set of volumes titled American Nature Writers and in it many woman authors are featured. A selection of their works may be found on a WorldCat Local catalog list that I created. You will find lots of great summer reading there. I created a second list of recent books on women and ecology, ecofeminism, and the role women have had in the environmental movement. Not all of the books on the lists are in our library collection but many are and those that are not may be requested by interlibrary loan.
Access starts with obtaining your alumni card. Information about services for alumni is at our website. I hope that you will also discover your local library’s resources and services, wherever “local” happens to be. Many public libraries, and not just the big ones, have a selection of research databases as well as a borrowing network that provides not only a local collection but a larger, regional one. You are entirely welcome to send me an e-mail asking for more information about the libraries in your new home, public or academic. I’ll look into what is available and send a reply with suggestions.
For the graduates, I have some ideas for looking ahead. Remember to use libraries! Alumni are welcome in Loyola’s libraries--our print collections remain available for checkout and research databases are accessible in-house.
It has been my pleasure to serve as subject librarian for the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies Program this year. I hope that you will continue to send me your questions and suggestions at jcurrie@luc.edu.
By Jane P. Currie
From Loyola’s Libraries to you. Assisting you in your search for information.
MADADS Busted Advertising, Bustling Economy
Green: The Ne its Effects
Are these advertisements accurate portrayals of what it means to live green? What demographics are these advertisements looking to target? Do these advertisements seek to mislead individuals who are not as familiar with environmental activism? Are these products really green? Do these ads fuel the fires of consumerism and needless waste already present in contemporary American society? What do you think?
ew Niche and on Society
MadAds contributed by Katie Klingel
The Green Issue
Ghost Lake, Tx
By Alex Layman
Today smells of change. Air sticks to my forearms like consequence, smearing with each calculatedly apathetic pass to wipe it from my body. A thirty-degree uptick outside has brought summer to our doorstep with a vicious flurry, but I say let the daylight burn. It’s time for molting, anyhow; this skin has seen better days. Soon I’ll be heading west to escape the Texas heat. It is becoming a personal tradition in the
ilk of our forefathers, who have always attached words like “majesty” and “destiny” to our western shores, and written about them with even more admiration. Our capacity for dreaming has long been tethered to the notion of wide-open spaces and fresh sea air ripe for the taking. The Pacific Ocean is an American haven, a vault to safeguard our misplaced or forgotten moralities, as if we can retrieve them at our leisure.
man-made. This number will begin to dwindle Yesterday, I left metaphors behind as I hoisted because water, like languages and cities, will sails onto a mast for the first time in tepid, central continue being consolidated into reservoirs for Texas waters. An old, refurbished catamaran with the masses as urbanization (or globalization) thirty-foot high rainbow sails, which my friend spreads. purchased for less than the cost of a new kayak, was our vessel for the afternoon. Ghost Lake, TX, its water I took helm of the jib, adjusted to While we do not level below ten percent of shifting winds upon his command its capacity, will likely die and sprawled my body to rebalance control the way sooner than later, save for hulls as they neared their tipping the winds blow, we a flood of epic proportions. point. There is something to be said It may be gone by the time about having a rope in one’s hands; do hold the ropes I return to Texas, but either something intensely gratifying about that dictate which way it is likely my last visit having tangible control of balance. to its brown waters. In way it carries us. my mind, its memory will Yet, despite the invigoration of setting become a synecdoche for sail, the direness of the sunken lake my molting state. Texas is with which we cut across—eighty rebranding itself for the feet below its livable level—was future. Much has been jarring. I could not help but feel I written about our drought, but honestly, as a was squeezing life out of forsaken earth. We whole, there is little importance placed on saving were getting our kicks on what equated to Texas’ ghost towns while metropolises like Austin and version of the hyena’s shadow lands in Disney’s San Antonio swell in size and demand. Like I The Lion King. Twisted PVC pipes covered in said, today smells like change. While we do not hardened mud reached desperately from their control the way the winds blow, we do hold the canyon-topped mansions. Their exposed, addedropes that dictate which way it carries us. on joints only expounded their inevitable, and eventually realized, ineptness. Rusted oil Thoughts of tomorrow, though, harken back to drums, old cars, busted boats, dilapidated docks yesterday. Once home from the murky lake, the and twisted grey treetops have sprouted from mirror revealed an arch of scorched red skin the ground in the three years since the water’s across my shoulders where I’d failed to apply recession began. For the lake, married to old sunscreen lotion. It was an egregious misstep, contracts to sell off its water and void of refilling one that I feel deeply today. That said, this pain rain, there has been no abrupt end to its suffering, is fortunately, and disconcertingly, temporary. but rather a death still being realized—the slow The red will fade quickly, and despite my best evaporation of a resource, the agonizing erosion efforts, I’ll undoubtedly get burned again. So goes of a community built upon a fluid foundation. History, and our velocity to forget its lessons, until the day we can no longer rub consequence In Ghost Lake, TX, we’re carrying on tradition: from our skin. ghost towns are as entrenched in America’s history as our persistence to prosper. (There are approximately 1,200 cities in Texas , and 800 ghost towns ). We have a tendency to slash and burn or dig until the land is charred and hollowed beneath our feet. With more dry mouths to quench, and less room for error, a fine line is being drawn on the dusty banks. But let’s retreat for a moment to the beginning: Texas has 6,736 reservoirs and more square-footage of inland waters than any other state in the contiguous U.S. All but a handful of these are
Words are Useless Photographer: Cassandra Magana
Biography: Cassie Magana is an 8th grader at Peck Elementary School. She worked hard throughout middle school and earned a spot at ChiArts next Fall. Cassie enjoys drawing, painting, art, photography, animals, and singing.
Artist: Cassandra Magana
Alum Alert Re-connect with WSGS Alumnae Tell us a little about yourself and your time at Loyola. My name is Barbara Schwabauer. I am originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and I graduated from Loyola in 2004. As a student at Loyola, I majored in History and Women’s Studies, minored in English, and received a Certificate in Urban Studies. I was also a Gannon Scholar, which was one of the richest experiences of my time at Loyola. Not only did I develop invaluable leaderships skill that have been essential to my career path, but I also made lasting friendships and connections with other women who shared my passion for social justice. How were you connected to WSGS? What are some of your favorite memories from the program? I became passionate about Women’s Studies and decided to double major because of the amazing professors I had who taught me to think critically about gender, race, and class. Although I had always been encouraged to think critically as a student, I didn’t really understand what critical thinking meant until I started taking Women’s Studies courses in History that taught me about the impact these issues can have on social and historical change. My coursework in Women’s Studies shook up my worldview, and I loved the challenge of developing a new perspective on the things I’ve always been taught and the things I’ve taken for granted in my life. I think one of the moments I am most proud of from my time at Loyola is when the Women’s Studies program put on a production of The Vagina Monologues, which was a very powerful and moving experience for many on campus. At the time, many Catholic leaders (and other Jesuit universities) were severely criticizing students who performed it. However, by creating a dialogue and through tireless advocacy, the students, faculty, and leadership in Women’s Studies and the Gannon Center gained the blessing of Father Garanzini for our performance, and he very vocally supported it despite the resistance in the Catholic community.
Tell us what you have been up to since graduation. The Women’s Studies program put me on solid footing when I entered the job market after graduation. I was considering going to law school at the time, but felt uncertain about what a career in the law would look like. As a Women’s Studies major, I had the opportunity to do an internship for credit during my senior year with the Domestic Violence Legal Aid Clinic (which was called Pro Bono Advocates). I spent a semester working side by side with attorneys assisting victims of domestic violence who were seeking orders of protection against abusive partners. After my internship ended, I was offered a full-time job as the clinic coordinator once I graduated. During my time working for DVLC, I began to see in practice what I had learned in my studies, and in particular, the ways in which gender, race, and class shaped the ability of the victims I worked with to seek the relief they needed. I was resolved to become an attorney, but I also felt that I needed additional tools to address the inequities I perceived in access to the legal system. I decided to pursue a master’s degree in Women’s Studies, with a focus in public policy, in order to better understand the complexities of gender, race, and class and the impact they have on the law. After graduating with my M.A. in Women’s Studies from Ohio State University, I attended law school at Ohio State University as well.
Barbara Schwabauer
B.A. History & WSGS
Where are you currently working? How did you get the job? Did you use your degrees, specifically WSGS, to get the job? What do you do? Since graduating law school in 2010, I have been working as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. My practice area is employment discrimination, and I represent the United States in enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. I bring cases against state and local government employers who discriminate against their employees in violation of Title VII. Both of my Women’s Studies degrees have helped me in my career. In significant part, these degrees have made clear to all who read my resume that I am firmly committed to social justice and that I am very focused on issues of equality, which are central to serving the public interest in eradicating employment discrimination. I have also put the critical thinking skills I have gained through my experience in Women’s Studies to the test every day as an attorney.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your education? What could have been better? What helped? How do you apply feminism in the everyday? I think one of the difficult things about being a feminist or having a background in Women’s Studies is the disconnect you can feel from other people who don’t understand (or are unwilling to accept) the systemic nature of sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism, and classism. It can be tiring to be one of a few people willing to take a stand on these issues, and you can often be pegged as difficult or rocking the boat. Discussing these issues can also be alienating to others because it is uncomfortable to interrogate privilege and to think critically about the impact that “differences” from the “norm” have on everyone’s lives. I think that one of the great things about WSGS that is not often taken advantage of enough is the ability to focus on creating and fostering a sense of community. Having a community of feminist friends and allies is essential to avoiding “feminist fatigue,” particularly when you are outside of an academic setting. Lastly, tell us what to do...your suggestions for current Loyola students. What do you miss? What would you do the same? Differently? There’s the saying that you should be the change you want to see in the world, and I think that many of my Women’s Studies classmates and Gannon Scholar cohorts spent our time at Loyola trying to live by that motto. But don’t underestimate the importance of institutionalizing that change so that it can go on after you leave campus. If you’re the one person who is doing public education at Loyola on date rape or reaching out to community centers in Rogers Park, then chances are no one is going to serve that role once you graduate. It’s important to build community around your activism and to make it a part of the culture at Loyola with support from a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff. Alum Alert contributed by Julia DeLuca
WSGS graduate Nicole Carrasco’s podcast series, Negotiating Space, is preparing to launch a whole new format, with brand new content. Stay tuned and keep up with Nicole on Facebook and Twitter! You can follow Negotiating Space on Twitter, @ NegotiateSpace, read the blog and listen to episodes at http://negotiatingspace.tumblr.com/, and connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ NegotiatingSpace.
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Contributor Guidelines Principles: i) Feminist Consciousness:
(a) recognizes all voices and experiences as important, and not in a hierarchical form. (b) takes responsibility for the self and does not assume false objectivity. (c) is not absolutist or detached, but rather, is more inclusive and sensitive to others.
ii) Accessibility:
(a) means utilizing accessible language, theory, knowledge, and structure in your writing. (b) maintains a connection with your diverse audience by not using unfamiliar/obscure words, overly long sentences, or abstraction. (c) does not assume a specific audience, for example, white 20-year-old college students.
iii) Jesuit Social Justice Education & Effort:
(a) promotes justice in openhanded and generous ways to ensure freedom of inquiry, the pursuit of truth and care for others. (b) is made possible through value-based leadership that ensures a consistent focus on personal integrity, ethical behavior, and the appropriate balance between justice and fairness. (c) focuses on global awareness by demonstrating an understanding that the world’s people and societies are interrelated and interdependent.
Expectations and Specifics: • You may request to identify yourself by name, alias, or as “anonymous” for publication in the digest. For reasons of accountability, the staff must know who you are, first and last name plus email address. • We promote accountability of our contributors, and prefer your real name and your preferred title (i.e., Maruka Hernandez, CTA Operations Director, 34 years old, mother of 4; or J. Curtis Main, Loyola graduate student in WSGS, white, 27 years old), but understand, in terms of safety, privacy, and controversy, if you desire limitations. We are happy to publish imagery of you along with your submission, at our discretion. • We gladly accept submission of varying length- from a quick comment to several pages. Comments may be reserved for a special “feedback” section. In order to process and include a submission for a particular issue, please send your submission at least two days prior to the desired publication date. • Please include a short statement of context when submitting imagery, audio, and video. • We appreciate various styles of scholarship; the best work reveals thoughtfulness, insight, and fresh perspectives. • Such submissions should be clear, concise, and impactful. We aim to be socially conscious and inclusive of various cultures, identities, opinions, and lifestyles. • As a product of the support and resources of Loyola University and its Women Studies and Gender Studies department, all contributors must be respectful of the origin of the magazine; this can be accomplished in part by ensuring that each article is part of an open discourse rather than an exclusive manifesto. • All articles must have some clear connection to the mission of the magazine. It may be helpful to provide a sentence or two describing how your article fits into the magazine as a whole. • The writing must be the original work of the author and may be personal, theoretical, or a combination of the two. When quoting or using the ideas of others, it must be properly quoted and annotated. Please fact-check your work and double-check any quotes, allusions and references. When referencing members of Loyola and the surrounding community, an effort should be made to allow each person to review the section of the article that involves them to allow for fairness and accuracy. • Gratuitous use of expletives and other inflammatory or degrading words and imagery may be censored if it does not fit with the overall message of the article or magazine. We do not wish to edit content, but if we feel we must insist on changes other than fixing typos and grammar, we will do so with the intent that it does not compromise the author’s original message. If no compromise can be made, the editor reserves the right not to publish an article. • All articles are assumed to be the opinion of the contributor and not necessarily a reflection of the views of Loyola University Chicago.
We very much look forward to your submissions and your contribution to our overall mission. Please send your submissions with a title and short bio to Broad People through broad.luc@gmail.com.