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k n i th n e r e f f i d What Is Intersectionality? It makes sense in many ways that those of us with identity privilege would have a harder time including in our feminism those who are oppressed. Privilege conceals itself from those who have it, and it’s a lot easier to focus on the ways that we are marginalized or oppressed. But without an intersectional lens, our movements cannot be truly anti-oppressive because it is not, in fact, possible to tease apart the oppressions that people are experiencing. Racism for women of color cannot be separated from their gendered oppression. A Trans person with a disability cannot choose which part of their identity is most in need of liberation. Yet there is regularly confusion about what intersectionality really is.
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Renowned law scholar and critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term in 1989 in her paper “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of
ntly
Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.”
She noted that “problems of exclusion” of Black women from both mainstream antiracist politics and feminist theory “cannot be solved simply by including Black women in an already established analytical structure. Because the intersectional experience is
greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated.” While her immediate focus was on the intersections of race and gender, Crenshaw highlights in “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color” that her “focus on the intersections of race and gender only highlight the need to account for multiple grounds of identity when considering how the social world is constructed.” In short, intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences and that compound and complicate oppressions and marginalizations. We cannot separate multiple oppressions, for they are experienced and enacted intersectionally. Thus, in the words of Flavia
Dzodan, “My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit.” Understanding Intersectionality in Context To better understand the concept of intersectionality, let’s look at one of the most cited pieces of evidence for the oppression of women: violence targeting women and girls. Using conservative estimates, between 25% and 50% of women experience gender-based violence (sexual violence, intimate partner violence, street harassment, or stalking) in their lifetime. But to cite that number without disaggregating the data hides the ways that multiple oppressions compound this violence. For instance, women (and men) of color are more likely to experience these forms of violence than White women or men and that wealth privilege can help to insulate some women from some forms of violence. We also find that bisexual women are far more likely to experience sexual violence than other women. And of those murdered in LGBTQ-based hate incidents, 78% were people of color, and Transgender people are 27% more likely to experience hate violence than cisgender people. In short, all women are at risk for gendered violence in the United States, but some women are far more at risk. And if we just talk generally about violence against women (or other issues like the wage gap), we fail to address the actual issues at
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stake, and as a result, we cannot envision
feminist movement. By including race, class,
solutions that dismantle the intersectional
sexuality, and other identity markers in feminist
oppressions at play.
analysis, some say, intersectional feminists are
At a more personal level, though, feminism
spreading the movement thin and undermining
without intersectionality keeps us from
its unity.
fully expressing who we are! A lack of
The trouble with this line of thinking is that
intersectionality leads to an erasure of people
a one-size-fits-all feminist movement that
and their identities. In preparing for writing this article, both of us, as the authors, recognized ways that heteronormative expectations restrict us from
focuses only on the
“We have to be willing to take up the critical thinking and self-work necessary to push back against our privileges and to create an intersectional ethic and lens through which our feminism is crafted.”
living outside of a
common ground between women is erasing rather than inclusive. Even if all women deal with sexism, not all women deal with racialized sexism, or transmisogyny, or
binary of attraction and love. We’ve both found
cissexism.
that if we are not actively dating people who
Glossing over the issues faced by specific
share our gender, we are expected to live and
groups of women for the sake of unity centers
act as if we are straight even though that may
the feminist movement on those who have the
not be how we fully identify.
most privilege and visibility. It allows those
Even in feminist and anti-oppressive spaces,
who already take up a disproportionate amount
strict gender roles define so many aspects of
of space in the movement to look as if they’re
relationship that parts of our own identities are
making room for others without giving up any
erased.
themselves.
Intersectionality is not only about confronting
One-size-fits-all feminism is to intersectional
more obvious problems like violence and
feminism what #AllLivesMatter is to
economic inequality. It’s also about allowing
#BlackLivesMatter. The former’s attempt at
people to live more fully in their being and to
inclusiveness can actually erase the latter’s
have a voice in our movements!
acknowledgment of a unique issue that
One misconception about intersectionality is
disproportionately affects a specific group of
that it encourages division and exclusion in the
people.
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CONTENTS
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Intersectionality Literature
THINK DIFFERENTLY An intruduction to Intersectionality and how it can shape your day to day thinking.
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Fashion & Beauty
NATIVE AMERICAN FASHION Inside Bethany Yellowtail’s new collection and how she is taking the fashion world by storm.
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Fashion & Beauty
BUTCHBABY & CO. Vanessa Newman and Michelle Janayea talk to us about their line of genderqueer maternity clothes.
21
Art & Culture
BEYOND THE BINARY We talk to writer, performer, and solidarity activist Alok Vaid-Menon about their self love journey.
25
Art & Culture
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION 101 The ultimate guide to cultural appropriation; where it came from and why you should never do it.
30
Art & Culture
#BLACKLIVESMATTER The women behind the hashtag talk about their intentions, visions, and inspirations.
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Cover Story
I’TS NICKI MINAJ. A critical discussion about Nicki Minaj’s unapologetic sexuality, her general bad bitchness, and how she is slaying the rap game.
Native American Fashion Without Cultural Apropriation It’s bigger than fashion. That’s the first thing to know about Bethany Yellowtail’s work, a vibrant, elegant melding of classic style and the staples of her Native upbringing. Elk teeth line the sleeves of one gown, drawn with intricate floral beadwork, that drapes, glistening black, on the body of Jade Willoughby, an Ojibwe model from the Whitesands First Nation in Northern Ontario, Canada. All of Yellowtail’s collaborators are indigenous: Thosh Collins, the photographer, is Onk Akimel O’Odham, Wah-ZahZi and Haudenosaunee. Martin Sensmeier, another model, is Tlingit, Koyukon and Athabascan. Promotional video director and poet Tazbah Rose Chavez, is Nüümü and Diné.
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And all have converged behind Yellowtail’s
That personal element is what makes Yellowtail’s
vision, a fashion collection that bears the
work so rich. Raised on the Crow Nation and
unmistakable mark of Native American
Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations in
influence and history, but with a twist — it’s
southeastern Montana, Yellowtail developed
actually made by a Native American.
an interest in fashion in high school, where an
This is rarer than one might assume. Indigenous
art teacher saw the designer’s potential from
designers are scarce in this space, and for
an early age. “She said, ‘You could be a fashion
most of its existence, the mainstream fashion
designer,’” Yellowtail explains. “And at the
industry’s relationship with Native peoples has
time there were no Native fashion designers.
been one of appropriation and — put bluntly —
We don’t see Natives like that in media, or in
theft.
typical mainstream roles. My family is mostly
Today, this trend is apparent every time Pharrell
ranchers. My dad runs a cattle ranch. With the
Williams graces the cover of Elle magazine in
kinds of challenges and poverty we face on the
a warbonnet or Heidi Klum arranges a Project
reservation, I never thought of this as an option.”
Runway fashion shoot starring white models
After graduating from art school in Los
in face paint, feathers, headdresses and animal
Angeles, Yellowtail worked for various labels
pelts. “My brother is a chief, and those warbonnets are how we honor him,” Yellowtail told Mic in an interview. “You don’t just run around and parade in it.” Perhaps the most vivid example of appropriation from Yellowtail’s own experience occurred at this year’s Fashion Week in New
“It’s beautiful to see the continuity of our people from then to now. I wanted to convey that with my collection — we’re still here, we’re still a reflection of our ancestors.”
York City. In a widely documented incident, London-based design label KTZ sent a model
and designers before embarking on this latest
onto the runway wearing a dress that bore
project, her first clothing line under her own
striking similarities to one Yellowtail herself
brand. She’s named it the “Mighty Few,” the
had designed — including a multi-colored print
name of the reservation district she’s from.
bearing the distinctive hourglass pattern native
Her inspiration, she says, is encapsulated in the
to her Apsáalooke people.
vision board she created before designing the
“That design I did comes from a bag that my
pieces — old black-and-white photographs of her
great-grandmother made,” she told Mic. “I can’t
grandfather, Hawk with the Yellowtail Feather,
even describe that feeling — here I am, trying to
and of her aunt performing a rare women’s
reclaim our voice and represent myself, and this
warbonnet dance in the 1940s juxtaposed with
designer acts as if [Native women] are not alive,
her sister participating in the same ceremony a
like we can’t do this ourselves.
few years back.
“It felt personal. It really lit a fire under me.”
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“ALTERN When Vanessa Newman was a sophomore in
“At one event, I said, ‘Oh, I’m working on
college, she would attend career networking
an androgynous maternity line,’ and people
events where she didn’t like saying she was
loved it. They were giving me their cards and
a student. Instead, she’d pretend she was
stuff, and I was like, ‘Hm, this is a really good
actively working on various business ideas
idea.’” Last July, Newman was invited to an
that existed only in her head to see what the
LGBT summit at the White House with a call
reaction was.
for 30-second pitches, where she decided to test the idea on a more prominent, targeted crowd. “It was the only pitch after about 30 pitches that got an applause,” she says. Now, at age 20, the Washington, D.C.-area native is getting ready to launch Butchbaby & Co., the first line of what she calls “alternity” wear for pregnant masculine, transgender, and queer individuals. The company’s motto is “Don’t change just because your body does,” and its philosophy is that pregnancy and motherhood should and do have a wide variety of definitions and identities. Newman’s design partner is Michelle Janayea, currently a senior at Columbia College in Chicago in fashion design and fashion business, whom she met through a mutual friend. “I asked if she knew any black queer fashion designers who would be interested in this,” says Newman. “We really just hit it off from the beginning, and so we’ve been working together pretty much since day one of that introduction.”
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NITY” The pair started by hosting surveys and
interviewing moms and moms-to-be to find out their pain points in maternity shopping, along with what they wore most often
when not pregnant. The focus has been on
“designing the perfect fit for women between maternity wear and menswear and women’s wear,” says Newman, noting that there’s a sector of the fashion industry growing around tailoring masculine clothes for all gender identities and body types, but not yet in the maternity space. Other companies that have inspired Newman include Saint Harridan, Tomboy Tailors, and Androgyny. Butchbaby’s designs aren’t public just yet, but the first line includes “work,” “play,” and
“We would always joke about, ‘Oh, I can’t wait until we’re old and we’re going to have babies at the same time so they can be friends, too,’ and the thing was always like, ‘Oh, but what are we going to wear?’ We joked about it, but in the back of my head, I’m like, ‘What am I really going to wear?’”
important because I know a lot of women or people who identify on a more masculine scale usually have issues with women’s jeans already,” says Newman. “They like very deep pocket space because we don’t really carry
“rest” categories with everyday pieces like
purses. Stuff like that, or having a straighter
jeans, a button-down, a pullover, a nursing tee,
leg, they don’t have to worry about taking
a sports bra, and boxer briefs. “Jeans were
away from their aesthetics.
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With the sports bra, and then the boxer briefs, it’s something that a number of people in our community are more comfortable in, but also things that aren’t necessarily out there [for pregnant people].” Butchbaby will be raising money for a sample line next month, and expects to go into production over the summer, with a crowdfunding campaign launching in August. Clothes will hopefully be available on the company’s website by October. The price point is to be determined after some decisions are made about material, but Newman knows she doesn’t want the line to be too high-priced or exclusive. As for the branding, Newman says it’s important to her that the name Butchbaby so perfectly reflects the
“Being a person of color, I know that people of color disproportionately make less money, and they get pregnant, too,” says Newman. “I want people to know that we can make quality clothes at an affordable price.”
mission of the business. But not everyone has been comfortable with it. “Where I’m at, or where I was raised and how I was raised, I consider myself butch,” she says. “I feel like this term is being reclaimed by younger queer people, but I know that it has very negative associations for older queer people. When we first started getting attention on our website, I would get a number of letters that are like, ‘Uh, you should think about changing the name because my perception of the word is negative and I remember so-and-so.’ But I think there are a lot more of us now that are saying, like, ‘No, it doesn’t have to be a bad word.’ Hopefully something like this will contribute to changing those connotations.”
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A HOODIE FROM THE PLAY CATEGORY “It has the side panels and the tucks, but the hoodie also has some hidden compartments and additional pockets. You can wear it when you’re pregnant, pre-pregnancy, post-pregnancy, and you always have that extra space for holding all of your belongings.”
NURSING BRAS FROM THE REST CATEGORY “The nursing bra has a few adjustable components to it. On the shoulders you can adjust it, so that way it’s not pressing too close to your chest, which is important for when pregnant people start to lactate [so] their chest isn’t confined. We have the adjustable side straps as well as the adjustable hook in the back.”
BOXER BRIEFS FROM THE REST CATEGORY “We incorporated is a basic underwear lining inside. One of the things [with] pregnancy is there is bleeding. Having that underwear lining allows for people wearing the boxer briefs to attach pads when they need to, so you’re not spotting through your clothing, and you’re comfortable wearing the underclothes that you want to wear.”
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byellowtail.com
NICKI MINAJ: on ‘Anaconda’ and Respectability Politics
The hype over Nicki Minaj‘s
When
“Anaconda”
a
credentials came under fire by
long process. It started when
feminists in the past year, there
the
was hell to pay. It was fire-
a
cover,
has
been
which
controversial
featured
image
Beyoncé‘s
feminist
of
and-brimstone kinds of hell,
Minaj’s behind, leaked on the
too. People who expressed
Internet to much dismay; it
distaste for the “Mrs. Carter”
continued to play out after
tour title or Beyoncé’s subtle
the track’s audio release as
sexuality
the lyrics were heralded as
question as fellow feminists
feminist gold, and it all came
lifted her up to prominence
to a much-needed climax in
as the epitome of Goddess.
the form of the music video
Look, I’m all for Beyoncé and
featuring Minaj, some backup
I used to listen to “Why Don’t
dancers, and Minaj’s ass. Oh,
You Love Me” on repeat, but
and Drake was there. Folks are
her feminism is not everyone’s
now, as usual, scrambling to
feminism. Beyoncé is married
decide: empowering, or not
with a child — married to the
empowering? If anyone had
man she’s been assumedly
actually been paying attention
exclusively sleeping with and
to Nicki all these years, they’d
dating for pretty much my
already know the answer.
entire life.
were
called
into
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“Whenever black women own their sense of sexuality and it appears to not be controlled by the hetero-male gaze, the whole world gets into a tizzy”
17
In terms of the image Beyoncé
Minaj has been showing her
conjures up in the minds of men
teeth in her climb to the top of
and women across the nation,
a male-dominated genre. Both,
it’s pretty clear that it’s one of
in the process, have expanded
moderate
and
our society’s idea of what an
responsibility. Beyoncé is not
empowered women looks like —
Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj is not a
but Minaj’s feminist credentials
woman who easily slides into the
still frequently come under fire.
roles assigned to women in her
To me, it seems like a clear-cut
industry or elsewhere. She’s not
case of respectability politics and
polished, she’s not concerned with
mainstreaming of the feminist
her reputation, and she’s certainly
movement: while feminist writers
not fighting for equality among mainstream
raved over Beyoncé’s latest album
second-wave feminists. She’s something
and the undertones of sexuality
else, and she’s something equally worth
and empowerment that came
giving credence to: a boundary-breaker, a
with it, many have questioned
nasty bitch, a self-proclaimed queen, a self-
Minaj’s decisions over the years
determined and self-made artist. She’s one
to subvert beauty norms using her
of the boys, and she does it with the intent
own body, graphically talk dirty in
to subvert what it means. She sings about
her work, and occasionally declare
sexy women, about fucking around with
herself dominant in discourse
different men. She raps about racing ahead
about other women. (All of these
in the game, imagines up her own strings
areas of concern, however, didn’t
of accolades, and rolls with a rap family
seem to come into play when
notorious for dirty rhymes, foul mouths,
Queen Bey did the same.) Minaj’s
and disregard for authority and hegemony.
perspective
While Beyoncé has expanded feminist
multi-dimensional;
discourse by reveling in her role as a mother
forward as an immigrant, as a
and wife while also fighting for women’s
black woman, as a female rapper,
rights, Minaj has been showing
as a sexual being, as an artist, as
respectability
has
always she
been comes
every inch of skin. Black women especially, are
often
criticized
for
expressing
themselves sexually despite the repression a storyteller, as a survivor, as a bad bitch.
those expressions fight with every inch of
She comes forward in order to tell her
skin. To say Nicki Minaj is modest would be
own story, be it one of domination or
a damndable lie; Minaj has been scantily
declaration. Minaj has even come forward
clad and sexual since the beginning. The
as a feminist. She’s actually done it over
integral spirit of defiance that exists within
and over again. And yet, instead of simply
Minaj’s self-imagery is undeniable. The
embracing her own discourse on the topic,
perfect example of this defiance is the
Feminists often can’t wrap their heads
video for “Lookin’ Ass,” in which Minaj
around it. it frustrates me that feminists
poses in a revealing outfit while literally
can so obliviously overlook a perspective
destroying the male gaze. She owns and
rooted in self-determination, and it grates
defines her own sexuality, time and time
on me because the reason is rooted
again — be it in conjunction with or in
in
“Anaconda”
opposition to the desires of men, desires
was praised for being a track that both
which she repeatedly calls into question.
reclaimed the gaze-inspired “Baby Got
And when feminists make the mistake of
Back” and also for reversing the narrative
questioning Minaj’s depiction of her own
of human sexuality in which women’s
sexuality, they fall into oppressive and
bodies are worthy of appreciation only
problematic matrixes which situate sexual
when they please men. And when the
pleasure as antithetical to self-respect or
“Anaconda” album artwork premiered
empowerment. This is what brings me to
online, feminists were quick to claim the
the latest feminist point of contention in
Minaj ass-shot heard ’round the world’
Minaj’s career: her lap-dance with Drake in
album artwork premiered online, feminists
“Anaconda.” Throughout that lap dance,
were quick to claim the Minaj ass-shot
Minaj is the one in control, and she’s acting
heard ’round the world as revolutionary,
on her own sexual desires. She’s simply
despite much debate over how the image
expressing her sexual desire. Her lap dance
of her behind played into the male gaze. “If
is an act of seduction, not of submission. It
black women aren’t allowed to own their
isn’t the male gaze, dominant narratives of
sexuality, then who does it belong to?”
sexuality, or hegemonic femininity which
respectability
politics.
Black women especially, are often criticized for expressing themselves sexually despite the repression those expressions fight with
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reigns true throughout Minaj’s work. It’s her
puts pressure on her career every day, be
own sexual state of being. And when Nicki
it in music or in interviews. Early on, Minaj
Minaj struts out in a string bikini or exudes
declared herself apart from the other, more
her own sexuality in the middle of something
submissive girls of the world. She declared
otherwise empowering, it isn’t an inherent
her intent to “Go Hard.” She was open in her
contradiction or a cause for debate. It’s simply
own self-doubt on “Can Anyone Hear Me?,”
a reflection of how many women feel comfortable and in
with
empowered their
choices
and are living their sexual lives. That’s what the
central
to
revolutionary
aspect of Minaj’s work: She’s never been shy about her
articulating
She’s never been shy about her own sexuality, nor has she been subtle or polite about it. Her lyricism has been consistently vulgar, shocking, and delightful — and often, has embraced a more realistic narrative about sex than songs which describe it using only metaphor.
own sexuality, nor
her
desire to stay true to herself as she progressed as an artist. She spoke out about her intent to make room for other
women
in
rap in “Still I Rise.” In “Here I Am,” she an
describes abusive
relationship
and
has she been subtle or polite about it. Her
articulates her own self-worth as she breaks
lyricism has been consistently vulgar, shocking,
free from it. She spoke frankly about her
and delightful — and often, has embraced
power to represent unseen and unheard
a more realistic narrative about sex than
voices in popular music in “I’m the Best.” In
songs which describe it using only metaphor.
“Fly,” she spoke about breaking out of the
Whereas Beyoncé might say “it’s sweetest in
constraints placed on her in her industry.
the middle,” Minaj is more likely to say, “I let
The proof is in the pudding, respectability
him play with my pussy then lick it off of his
politics be damned. Nicki Minaj is a feminist.
fingers.” Same sentiment, but with a much
In the long run, what Minaj has contributed
different place in the matrix of respectability
to the existing and ongoing dialogue of
politics, gender politics, and mainstream
women’s oppression is the perspective of
music. Despite the debates over “Anaconda,”
someone who refuses to be defined by any
Minaj remains one of the few artist willing
categories she doesn’t claim for herself or
to explicitly confront the gender parsing that
constrained by the desires of other people.
19
20
I
often walk around the city wearing a beard
trans television series even won an Emmy. But
and a skirt. This is when I’m most myself,
prominent trans figures still tend to fall squarely
but it’s also when I’m most afraid of people’s
on one side of the gender binary – that is, they
reactions. As a South Asian nonbinary person
transitioned from one side of it to the other.
– someone who does not identify as a man or
Think Caitlyn Jenner’s pinup look in Vanity
a woman – I have grown accustomed to people
Fair or Ian Harvie’s lumberjack aesthetic on
being disgusted by me, to strangers calling out
Transparent.
on the street, “What the hell is that?”
But not all transgender people medically
Media outlets – like Time magazine on its 2014
transition into an opposite gender, contrary to
cover featuring Laverne Cox –proclaim that
how the mainstream media is telling this story,
we’re at a “transgender tipping point,” a time
nor do we want to. Many of us do not change
of unprecedented visibility for trans people.
our names or documents, do not undergo
Yet at moments when I’m facing aggression or
hormone therapy and do not seek to pass as
contempt from strangers, I recognize that putting
cisgender (when someone’s biology and self-
trans celebrities on pedestals doesn’t translate
identification align).
into safety for those of us who are visibly gender
For me, the “trans tipping point” tends to be yet
nonconforming.
another form of exclusion because it recognizes
Our culture still holds an ingrained suspicion of
only those trans people who make claims to
gender nonconformity, as if people like me exist
“real” womanhood or manhood. Transgender
solely to deceive and harm others. I remember
people who present a fixed male or female
all the times I have been called a freak, an “it”
identity are regarded as representative of all of
and ugly. To refuse to participate in the gender
us. And I wonder if their acceptance by society
binary –the idea that there are only “masculinity”
is less a reflection of progress than a question
and “femininity” which exist in opposition – is to
of palatability. Indeed, while celebrities like
be considered a monster.
Jenner challenge the idea that gender is innate,
I do recognize that there have been some
ultimately they don’t challenge society’s mandate
promising changes. The number of Americans
that we all must exist as either male or female.
who report knowing a trans person has doubled
The rest of us – whose identities are more fluid,
in the past seven years. Obama has hired his
more difficult for strangers to comprehend and
first trans staffer; major Democratic leaders have
relate to – may not be visible in media but are
voiced their support for transgender rights; a
more noticeable on the streets.
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BEYOND THE BINARY It’s a moment of unprecedented visibility for some transgender celebrities, but individuals who are gender-nonconforming still face harassment, hostility, and fear. 22
Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans/national South Asian writer, performer, and solidarity activist.
A
s it stands, according to a nationwide
restrooms. A trans-activist photo campaign called
survey by the National Center for
#WeJustNeedToPee responded to the proposed
Transgender Equality, nonbinary
laws with photos of trans people looking out of
people, especially those of us who
place in restrooms of the genders to which they
are people of color, are more likely than binary
were assigned at birth: a trans woman with long
trans people to attempt suicide, be harassed by
ringlets and red lipstick in front of urinals, a trans
the police, live in abject poverty and be sexually
man in a cowboy hat and beard looking stoic next
and physically assaulted. What has become
to a woman at a bathroom sink, with the caption
evident is that so many of us who do not pass as
“Do I look like I belong in women’s facilities?”
male or female are still regarded as disposable
The campaign successfully highlighted the
by both cis and trans communities. Too often,
ridiculousness of the “bathroom bills”, but it did
efforts to gain acceptance and rights for trans
so by leaning on old-fashioned gender rules:
men and trans women has meant ignoring
shock that someone who looked like a “woman”
those of us who are not as easily categorized.
could be in a “men’s” restroom and vice versa.
Take, for example, the issue of trans-inclusive
People like me were erased from this framing,
public restrooms. Recently politicians in Florida,
even though we often experience the brunt of
Texas and other states have attempted to pass
gender policing, because society continually
laws criminalizing trans people for using public
misgenders us. Rather than challenging the idea
23
that you can tell someone’s gender from what
You see, we grow up in a country where we’re
they look like (or the notion that bathrooms
taught that there are only two genders. We are
should be gendered to begin with!), many trans
told that femininity is for “girls” and masculinity
activists and allies accepted the idea that certain
is for “boys,” but there is no space for people
people who look certain ways belong in certain
like me: We who fall outside of these binaries,
bathrooms. Nobody should have to look a particular way to pee safely. I wonder if we can understand this “tipping point” less as a moment of triumph and more as a call for reflection. Society’s message to trans people feels like: “Congratulations! As
Society’s message to trans people feels like: “Congratulations! As long as you look like a conventionally attractive, respectable, thin cisgender model.”
long as you look like
we who grow up not having the language to describe ourselves, we who are often erased from our cultures and histories and told that we are not supposed to exist. Even in many LGBT spaces, we gender nonconforming people are told that we’re not “trans” enough, that we’re not
a conventionally attractive, respectable, thin
“visible,” enough, that we should just choose
cisgender model. Otherwise expect to continue
one gender or the other, that our genders are
experiencing discrimination, hostility and
only valid if others say so. Sometimes it feels
violence – and to be blamed for it.” This is not the
just as frustrating and as violent as it did growing
fault of individual binary trans people; it is part of
up — to not have control of my body, to have
a larger system of gender binarism that requires
it always shaped by others’ assumptions. I am
us to assimilate into discrete categories of “man”
fighting for a world where everyone, no matter
or “woman” to be worthy of recognition and
what they look like, can self-determine their
safety. Instead of requiring trans people to modify
gender. I believe in a future where we don’t have
how we look, our society can work to redefine its
anyone telling us how to express ourselves — be
limited ideas of what masculinity and femininity
that the bullies at school, the police, or even our
are. Let’s push beyond the “tipping point” and
own friends and families. I want every person
ensure justice for the full range of our identities.
questioning their gender out there to know that
The thing about gender-policing is that often you
you are enough. That there is no one way to be
learn how to do it better than the people who
a boy, a girl, or even transgender — that there
started to do it to you in the first place. Over time,
are as many genders as there are people on this
I learned to apologize for my body. Every time
planet. Gender-policing isn’t just about individual
I would hear a recording of my voice I would
slurs, policies, or bullies; it’s about a culture of
wince, embarrassed at the tinge of effeminacy,
assumptions. The only way we’re going to end
disappointed in my failure to be normal. This is
it is if we stop just saying we shouldn’t make
what gender meant to me: learning to deepen my
assumptions (that’s easy!), but actually also
voice, learning to hide myself in a button-up shirt
commit ourselves to the slow and deliberate work
that felt like a straitjacket.
of doing it.
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CULTURAL APPROPRIATION Cultural appropriation is when somebody adopts aspects of a culture that’s not their own.
But that’s only the most basic definition. A deeper understanding of cultural appropriation also refers to a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.
have the power to decide if they’d prefer to stick with their customs or try on the dominant culture’s traditions just for fun. When the last living survivors of massacred Indigenous tribes are fighting to save their language before it dies when they do, and Native students are suspended for speaking in their own Indigenous languages, mirroring the abusive US boarding schools that tried to wipe out Native American
That’s why cultural appropriation is not the
cultures up until the 1980s, it’s clear that not
same as cultural exchange, when people share
every person who speaks English does so by
mutually with each other – because cultural
choice. In other words, context matters.
exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic.
Which means it’s not about saying that you, as
It’s also not the same as assimilation, when
an individual, are a bad person if you appropriate
marginalized people adopt elements of the
someone else’s culture. It’s a complicated issue
dominant culture in order to survive conditions
that includes our histories, our current state of
that make life more of a struggle if they don’t.
affairs, and our future, as we act to eliminate
Some say, for instance, that non-Western
oppression, instead of perpetuating it. So if
people who wear jeans and Indigenous people
you’re still baffled about why people would get
who speak English are taking from dominant
upset about this issue, consider the following
cultures, too. But marginalized groups don’t
contexts.
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1
It Trivializes Violent Historical Oppression
The fans and the NFL are emotionally and financially invested in the name and don’t want to take extra time and money to change it. And that makes sense. But consider this: When violence systematically targets a group of people through genocide, slavery, or colonization, the resulting trauma lasts through generations. So here’s what’s at stake for the Native people: The term “redsk*n” comes from the time when the colonial and state governments and companies paid white people to kill Native Americans and used their scalps or even genitalia (to prove their sex), aka “red skins,” as proof of their “Indian kill.” Given that history, is it a surprise that so many Native people are angry about football fans who think they’re “honoring” Native people with this mascot and their excuses?
2
It Lets People Show Love for the Culture, But Remain Prejudiced Against Its People
Here, recent transplants to the area write Yelp reviews in search of “authentic Mexican food” without the “sketchy neighborhoods” – which usually happen to be what they call neighborhoods with higher numbers of people of color. The Yelpers are getting what they want, at least in terms of the neighborhood, as gentrification rapidly pushes people of color out of their homes, and white-owned, foodie-friendly versions of their favorite “ethnic” restaurants open up. That’s how it goes with cultural appropriation: not sharing so there’s more for everyone, but taking advantage of the power imbalance between groups to have more for well-off white people, and less and less for poor people of color. And this can happen because we live in a world in which racist white people can essentially say “We want your stuff, but we don’t like you” by taking people’s traditions while being biased against who they are as a person. Cultural appropriation shows that you don’t have to like a person or respect their identity to feel entitled to take from them.
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3
It Makes Things ‘Cool’ for White People – But ‘Too Ethnic’ for People of Color
The US is a white-dominated society, and for proof of that, search no further than the way immigrants, Indigenous people, and people of color are criticized for the things that distinguish us from white Americans. For example, standards of professionalism hold back all kinds of people who aren’t white men. As a Black woman, there are many jobs that would bar me if I wore cornrows, dreadlocks, or an afro – some of the most natural ways to keep up my hair. So for me, wearing my hair naturally is a meaningful declaration that I believe in my natural beauty. It’s risky to make this declaration in a society that says I must aspire to whiteness have value. Compare that to fashion magazines’ reception of white teenager Kylie Jenner’s “epic” cornrows or “edgy” dreadlocks. When Black women have to fight for acceptance with the same styles a young white woman can be admired for, what message does that send to Black women and girls? It says that our natural beauty isn’t beautiful at all – and that our features are only appealing when they’re adopted by white women.
4
It Prioritizes the Feelings of Privileged People Over Justice for Marginalized People
You should have the right to express yourself however you want to – and you do. Nobody can force you to stop taking things from other cultures. The marginalized people whose cultures are appropriated don’t have the institutional power to force you to stop, even if they wanted to. But claiming that the dominant culture has a right to take freely from disempowered groups sounds a lot like the lie of the “white man’s burden” from the past. Colonizers used this concept to claim they had a “duty” to take land, resources, and identity from Indigenous people – trying to justify everything from slavery to genocide. If the choice is between your freedom to wear a costume because it could be fun, or an ethnic group’s ability to maintain the sacredness of a tradition that helps them resist harm, it’s clear that skipping the costume puts you on the side of anti-oppression. And, hint: That’s the side you want to be on.
27
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black THE WOMEN BEHIND THE HASHTAG Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi
Cullors, 31, director of Dignity and Power Now,
co-founded the Black Lives Matter Movement
an organization focused on helping incarcerated
when George Zimmerman was acquitted in 2013
people and their families “went off” when she
for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin. They created
found out about Zimmerman’s acquittal.
the hashtag, which spread like wildfire. “I was hopeful — and probably naïve — that “This isn’t the beginning of a movement, this
Zimmerman was going to be convicted and when
is the continuation of a struggle that’s been
he wasn’t convicted I sort of went ballistic,” said
happening for at least 400 years,” said Garza, 34,
Cullors. “And this generation goes ballistic in
who works as the special projects director of the
public, on social media.” Garza wrote the words
National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Black Lives Matter on
30
social media, and Cullors fol-
the movement’s social media
ing for a guilty verdict. “At the
lowed with the hashtag #Black-
presence, helping to engage
same time knowing that a guilty
LivesMatter. Later that day, they
and connect people.
verdict wasn’t going to mean
decided to start a movement, on
Tometi was at a screening of
justice. It wasn’t going to bring
the streets and online.
Fruitvale Station in 2013, a film
Trayvon Martin back.” Garza
Tometi, 30, executive director of
based on the events leading up
said she, Patrisse, and Opal
the Black Alliance for Just Immi-
to the shooting of Oscar Grant,
wanted to connect Black people
gration, an organization focused
when she found out that Zim-
because their lives depended on
on Black and Latino immigrant
merman was acquitted. Tometi
it. They wanted to reach Black
rights, joined them. She built
said her community was hop-
people in a society that doesn’t
Patrisse Cullors Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi
31
try to do that. “We each deeply believe that
Tia Oso, 33, national coordinator of the Black
Twitter is not going to save us,” Garza said.
Immigration Network and organizer of BAJI
“Twitter can be a vehicle that connects us and
Arizona, copyedited content for Tometi and
helps bring us together to strategize around
Black Lives Matter’s social platforms in 2013.
how we’re going to build the kind of power that
She said prominent figures and media would
we need to transform the world that we live in.”
talk about the movement, but not the people behind it. She and others used social media to
Mark-Anthony Johnson, 31, director of health
remind people of Garza, Cullors, and Tometi’s
and wellness at Dignity and Power Now, worked
work.
closely with Cullors for more than 15 years and has known Garza for about a decade. Johnson
“Twitter and other social media outlets are
has organized for the movement since it started
where we purposefully lifted the three of them
as “Justice for Trayvon Martin, Los Angeles.”
up,” said Oso. “It was like, ‘Hey, if you’re going
He became the California coordinator for the
to have a conversation about Black Lives Matter
freedom ride to Ferguson after Darren Wilson
and what it means as an idea, as a rally and
shot unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown.
cry… at least acknowledge who the creators
According to Johnson, protesters from 16
are.’”
different states and Canada witnessed how Garza, Cullors, and Tometi brought 600 different
“Our people and our movement largely
people together in Ferguson.
are ready for the type of leadership
“I think they’re central,” he said. “The character of the folks that we were bringing out I think was really important in terms of having a group
that we embody, and we are who we are as the two of them being queer Black women unapologetically, and me being Nigerian,”
that was significantly women, significantly queer, having Black transgender people in the space. And that’s possible because of them and the national team that they built up
According to Cullors, Black women have always
around them.” Cullors said that organizing
led Black movements. Ella Baker, Diane Nash,
the movement hasn’t been easy, as women in
and Fannie Lou Hamer are Black women leaders
leadership are still looked at skeptically. Garza
who were critical in developing movements,
said women aren’t often seen as leaders and
and their names aren’t heard often. Cullors
dealing with patriarchy is a challenge.
said women are on the front lines, strategizing, organizing and developing policy in Ferguson
“I believe if Black Lives Matter was created
and around the country. “We’re leading
by three Black men, Opal, Alicia and myself
the movement; we’re the architects of the
wouldn’t have to fight so hard to remind people
movement.”
we are the co-founders,” Cullors said.
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