Roaches zine 2021

ISSUE Nº4

ROACHES ROACHES

The American University of Paris

“That visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.”

Audre Lorde

ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES Spring 2021 The American University of Paris 6 rue de la Colonel Combes 75007 Paris, France Gender, Sexuality, & Society Program

Poem to the Survival of Roaches

Audre Lorde

Call me your deepest urge toward survival call me and my brothers and sisters in the sharp smell of your refusal call me roach and presumptuous nightmare on your white pillow your itch to destroy the indestructible part of yourself.

Call me your own determination in the most detestable shape you can become friend of your image within me I am you in your most deeply cherished nightmare scuttling through the painted cracks you create to admit me into your kitchens into your fearful midnights into your values at noon in your most secret places with hate you learn to honor me by imitation as I alter— through your greedy preoccupations through your kitchen wars and your poisonous refusal— to survive.

To survive.

Survive.

Editorial Team Alia Hadjar

Gabriela Araújo Motta

Maura Lucy Partrick

Sarah Beck

Kelly Peraza Klee

Marteena Mendel-Duckins

Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief

Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Gemini Gray Love Creative Director

Caroline Sjerven

Creative Director Communications Director

Graphic Design

Editor

Editor Communications Assistant

Jacob Shropshire Editor

Lissa Lincoln Faculty Editor

Printed by Tanghe Printing, Belgium Published by The American University of Paris Edition of 200 Copyright © AUP Student Media and Individual Contributors, 2021. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission, in whole or in part, may be made without written permission.

Please send all inquireies to roaches@aup.edu

Letter from the Editors Dear readers,

This past year has been incredibly challenging for us all, but amidst all this darkness, we have also seen a radical surge of intersectional advocacy, activism, and education.

While fights of systemic oppression have always existed, and marginalized communities live this reality every day, we have seen a surge in mainstream media coverage and acknowledgement. Those who have dawdled on the fringes of social justice issues are beginning to wade into the waters which many of us have been treading for centuries.

Roaches is honored to be a part of bringing forward conversations around systemic inequality and uplifting marginalized voices that have long been silenced and appropriated. This will be our fourth edition, and it was our first edition to be created completely remotely; all meetings took place online with some board members never having met before in person. Overcoming distance to create something as beautiful and meaningful as this edition encompasses the true meaning of why Roaches was created -- resisting in resilience and surviving in defiance.

It is our goal - through art, theory, and creative writing - to create discomfort by asking questions and challenging norms. By sharing our truth, living authentically, taking care of ourselves, and uplifting one another, we can embody Audre Lorde’s call to not only survive but to thrive.

Yours in Solidarity, Alia Hadjar (she/they) and Maura Lucy Partrick (she/her)

writing 11The

53The Erasure of Disability in

21Gunpowder

64Paris - 5 Paragraphs

table of contents

(Dis)Continuities of American Hegemonic Masculinity Elizabeth Cleveland Selene Ashewood

Feminist Theory Alia Hadjar

Waldell Goode

22New Age Witchcraft: The History 66Overview of Head Trauma Behind the Magick Marteena Mendel-Duckins

Caused by Intimate Partner Violence Kelly Peraza Klee

28Colonization: How Western

78The Lazarus Long Haul

Influence Impacts Perception of Art Kelly Peraza Klee

38Astraphobia

Fiona McMurrey

40Sincerely, an Afro-Latina Who Can’t Cook Marteena Mendel-Duckins

43The Art and The Body

Gabriela Araújo Motta

Fiona McMurrey

80Sugar Coated

Fiona McMurrey

81Never Let Her Know Fiona McMurrey

82The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis Caroline Sjerven

90Biopiracy as Capitalist

Imaniushindi K Fanga

Exploitation of Indigenous Communities Elizabeth Cleveland

51Too Far Up the Canal

100The Exit is Not this Way

48The Red Pill

Fiona McMurrey

Gabriela Araújo Motta

art Cover Fábio e Pablo

45Fábio e Pablo

Title PageFábio e Pablo

46Fábio e Pablo

10 Post-Modern Blindness

47Fábio e Pablo

20Cercle du Pouvoir Hegemonique

49The More You Love

Ananda Dinato

Ananda Dinato

Gabriela Araújo Motta

Gabriela Araújo Motta

39Fábio e Pablo Ananda Dinato

42Fábio e Pablo Ananda Dinato

44Fábio e Pablo Ananda Dinato

Ananda Dinato

Ananda Dinato

Ananda Dinato

Syed Zaman

50The Poetry of Our Past Syed Zaman

52Fábio e Pablo Ananda Dinato

The (Dis)Continuities of American Hegemonic Masculinity

by Elizabeth Cleveland

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or every era of American history there seems to be a select few who embody hegemonic masculinity. Defined by famed masculinities scholar Raewyn Connell as “the pattern of practice…that allowed men’s dominance over women to continue,” hegemonic masculinity is not upheld by all men, rather it “embodie[s] the currently most honored way of being a man.”1 Michael Kimmel wrote, “Manhood means different things at different times to different people.”2 Be they individuals or a certain group, these men epitomize the ideals of hegemonic masculinity through their possession of power and status. For the colonial and post-Independence era, we look to the Founding Fathers and heroes of the Revolution. During the Industrial Revolution and subsequent Gilded Age, the captains of industry and robber barons were the primary aspirations of man. In the Jazz Age, financiers and business moguls, with their immense fortunes, were at the top of the masculinity hierarchy. In the post-World War II years, a white, cisgender, heterosexual married father living in the suburbs became the ideal construct. While there are a couple distinct differences between these disparate hegemon-

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Is “inclusive masculinity” becoming America’s new hegemonic masculinity? ic masculinities, they remain grossly the same.

Where we start to see significant change is in the early 2000s and 2010s. As noted in Eric Anderson’s 2013 observations of a Southern Californian high school track team, inclusivity, tolerance, and acceptance are on the rise, especially with boys and young men. For many, the most unexpected aspect of what Anderson has coined “inclusive masculinity” is the lack of homophobia. Under Raewyn Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory, homophobia is vital in maintaining the illusion of this aspired-to hegemonic masculinity.

Most would argue that this new “inclusive masculinity” is a step in the right direction, but is it a sustainable and permanent change? Is “inclusive masculinity” becoming America’s new hegemonic masculinity?

Through the Founding Fathers and heroes of the Revolutionary War, we find countless examples of the two hegemonic masculinities of the 18th and early 19th century United States: the Genteel Patriarch and the Heroic

American Hegemonic Masulinity Cleveland

Artisan. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were prime models of the Genteel Patriarch; they “derived [their] identity from landownership,”3 were refined and elegant, a doting and devoted father, and highly valued the virtue of liberty. The counterparts of these rural gentlemen were found in more urban settings, often owning shops.

The Heroic Artisan embodied “physical strength and republican virtue”4 and was a devoted father who passed down the craft to his son. He cherished his democratic community and participatory democracy and was economically autonomous. The silversmith, Paul Revere, whose Midnight Ride became one of the most famous tales of the American Revolution, exemplifies the Heroic Artisan. Kimmel writes, “the coexistence of the Genteel Patriarch and the Heroic Artisan embodied the fusion of liberty and equality.”5 These two masculinities complemented each

other not only in their locales, but also in their mutual interest in participatory democracy and individual autonomy.

Cohesion and complementarity were disrupted with the advent of the Marketplace Man in the 1830s. The Marketplace Man “derived his identity from his success in the capitalist marketplace as he accumulated wealth, power, status.”6 Unlike the Genteel Patriarch and Heroic Artisan, the Marketplace Man was an absentee landlord and father, his work replacing his children as his main focus and source of pride. In another break from the two preceding hegemonic masculinities, the Marketplace Man was a capit alist who “made both freedom and equality problematic.”7 Aggression, competition, other “manly” values, and, perhaps most importantly, the domination and exclusion of women and lesser men were central to his identity. The description of the Marketplace Man may sound familiar, and many would argue

1

Connell, R. W., and James W. Messerschmidt. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.”

Gender and Society 19, no. 6 (2005): 829-59. Accessed March 19, 2021. http://www.jstor. org/stable/27640853.

2 Kimmel, Michael. Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender Ident- ity. St. Augustine: Centre for Gender & Development Studies, University of the West Indies, 1996.

P. 73.

3 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. Note: these men also often owned plantations which enslaved people.

4 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

5 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

6 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

7 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

8 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

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that the Marketplace Man is the longest lasting of the American hegemonic masculinities. Exemplars of this type of hegemonic masculinity exist in every era until the present day and include men such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Jordan Belfort, and Jeff Bezos as well as their fictional counterparts

Homophobia keeps men striving to “prove” their manhood for not only the irrational fear of gay men, but also the fear of being perceived as gay. including as Mad Men’s Don Draper, Suits’ Harvey Specter, and Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass.

All of these men are “men in power, men with power, and men of power”8 who gain and maintain power—be it financial, institutional, political, etc.—through the subjugation of others, particularly women and minority men.9 Thus, homophobia and anti-femininity are central to this identity.

Carrying over the core ideology and “traits” from Marketplace Manhood, Raewyn Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory of the 14

1980s makes anti-femininity and the exclusion of women, homophobia, and the dominance over “lesser” men prerequisites to climb to the top of the hierarchy of masculinity. Connell’s definition of hegemonic masculinity from “The Social Organization of Masculinity” is as follows:“the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of legitimacy of patriarchy which guarantees the dominant position of men and the subordination of women.”

The three-fold model of the structure of gender that Connell uses explains how men have maintained dominance over women via power relations, production relations, and cathexis (emotional attachment).10

Within power-relations, the patriarchy oppresses women to a subordinate position. The gendered division of labor in production relations is purposeful, as the vast majority of capital and means of production remain in the hands of men, and emotion-relations (cathexis) are cast aside as the patriarchy prohibits men from showing any emotional vulnerability.

In order for the patriarchy—and thus hegemonic masculinity—to be effective, there needs to be a cooperation between institutional power and the cultural ideal. The

American Hegemonic Masulinity Cleveland

three-fold model of the structure levels of homophobia experienced of gender is supported by both. during the 1980s and 1990s. NotAdditionally, rather than reviving ing how “masculinity does not exthe duality of the Genteel Patri- ist except in contrast to femininarch-Heroic Artisan, the hege- ity,”12 Connell emphasizes how monic masculinity theory upholds women and gay men are thus seen the single ideal of manhood in the as threats to the increasingly fragglobal north that originated with ile idea of hegemonic masculinity.

Marketplace Manhood.

Homophobia is a powerful force

Homophobia, which Kim- and has been used for centuries mel considers to be “the central as a measure of one’s masculinity, organizing but things have principle of Adopting homophobic at- begun to change. our cultural “ S o f t definition of titudes and marginalizing boiled” masmanhood,” 11 culinity, a term is essential in those suspected of being coined by sociolconceptualiz- gay are typically extreme- ogist and mascuing Connell’s linities scholar h e g e m o n i c ly effective in “securing” Melanie Heath in masculinity 2003, is “a type masculinity. theory.

Hoof masculinity mophobia keeps men striving to that provides space for men to be “prove” their manhood for not more emotionally connected with only the irrational fear of gay men, one another and to express thembut also the fear of being perceived selves in a manner that can chalas gay. Adopting homophobic at- lenge the norms of hegemonic titudes and marginalizing those masculinity and its strict boundarsuspected of being gay are typical- ies surrounding the performance ly extremely effective in “secur- of heterosexual male behavior.”13 ing” masculinity. This element of The Promise Keepers (PK), the hegemonic masculinity theory was group who informed this definiparticularly poignant for the high tion, are one of several organiza9

Reference quote: “The very definition of manhood we have developed in our culture maintain the power that some men have over other men and that men have over women.” Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia.

10 Connell, Raewyn. “The Social Organization of Masculinity.” Essay. In Exploring Masculinities, edited by C.J.

Pascoe and Tristan Bridges, 136–44. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

11 Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 75.

12 Connell, Raewyn. “The Social Organization of Masculinity.”

13 Heath, Melanie. “Manhood Over Easy: Reflections on Hegemonic, Soft-Boiled, and Multiple Masculinities.”

Essay. In Exploring Masculinities, edited by C.J. Pascoe and Tristan Bridges, 155-65. New York,

NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

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-tions that formed during the ganization, as is homophobia. mythopoetic movement of the Men are considered to be born 1990s. In a reaction to what they leaders, assertive, confident, believed was the feminization of and able to control their emomen, the PK aimed to transform tions; they are considered more and alter the norms of masculinity competent and powerful than by challenging men to reestablish women. In order to support the their leadership role in the fami- idea that strong male leadership ly. Unifying men of different races is crucial to bringing and mainand socioeconomic backgrounds taining moral order to modern under a single Christian banner, society, men–as the head of the the group provided a “safe space” household– need to be the spirfor men to be emotional with one itual beacons within the family another. This embrace of “soft these traits must be upheld. The masculinity” cites Jesus Christ PK is rife with contradictions as himself as inspithey incorporation; he was a Inclusive masculinity could rate language strong, powerfrom feminism ful man who was help dismantle the idea and and gender also emotional, “need” for a hegemonic mas- equality to reand they should instate the hiall do well to im- culinity in the United States. erarchy of men itate him. The over women, intersectional approach of the PK and heterosexuality over homooffered marginalized men a way to sexuality. Nevertheless, the PK participate in hegemonic practic- and similar movements changed es alongside more privileged men, the trajectory of hegemonic maswhile at the same time, using reli- culinity by allowing—and even gion to maintain gender hegemo- encouraging—emotional vulnerny and refraining from addressing ability, even if only amongst othstructural inequalities within the er men. organization itself. In interviews, With the Promise Keepthe wives of PK members noted ers group, we see emotional their roles in the household as stunting beginning to drop “separate but equal” with one wife away, but homophobia is as prescomparing the gendered division ent as ever. The passing of two of labor to cherry and apple pie.14 decades brought about massive

The gender hierarchy is changes to the concept of hegestill alive and well within the sup- monic masculinity. In Eric Anposedly “enlightened” PK or- derson’s article “Inclusive Mas16

American Hegemonic Masulinity Cleveland

culinity,” he explores the drastic changes he observed in the 2013 track team of a Southern Californian high school (his alma mater, in fact) compared to that of the 1990s, the same era the Promise Keepers rose to prominence. In the 1990s, the football team ruled the school from the top of the masculinity hierarchy.

They “hate[d] gays, femininity, and all other ‘lesser’ masculine sports.”15 In what sounds like a scene straight out of the comingof-age classic, Grease, Anderson describes how football players maintained the social order “through physical domination (or threat thereof) and discursive marginalization (think homophobic discourse).”16 The behaviors of the 2013 track team are wildly different. There is no apparent athletic or social hierarchy, and the team embraces the openly gay players (and Anderson as their coach), and physical touch and intimacy between teammates is common. Anderson’s anecdotes of teammates holding each other in their arms for prolonged periods of time, wearing “feminine” clothes, and embracing a wide range of sexualities lead him to believe

that the days of homophobic slurs and intimidation tactics are long gone. Instead, inclusivity and plurality seem to have replaced the exclusionary practices and language of the 1990s. Because of an active rejection of the aspired-to ideal by the younger generations, inclusive masculinity could help to dismantle the idea and “need” for a hegemonic masculinity in the United States. With these varying types of masculinities all on a level playing field, no singular masculinity is deemed the hege mon.

Citing his observations as prime evidence, Anderson explains how hegemonic masculinity theory cannot explain this new form of inclusive masculinity where homophobia plays a miniscule to nonexistent role in the masculinity hierarchy. While acknowledging how useful it was during the highly homophobic 1980s and 90s, Anderson believes a new theory is needed for the 2000s, particularly his new theory of inclusive masculinity. Anderson has found the same patterns exhibited in his Southern Californian alma mater across schools in other areas of the United States and the United Kingdom and believes it can be extrapolated to

14

Heath, Melanie. “Manhood Over Easy: Reflections on Hegemonic, Soft-Boiled, and Multiple Masculinities.”

P. 158.

Anderson, Eric. “Inclusive Masculinities.” Essay. In Exploring Masculinities, edited by C.J. Pascoe and

Tristan Bridges, 178-187, 78. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

16 Anderson, Eric. “Inclusive Masculinities.” P. 178.

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other populations. He explains that as the stigma around homosexuality declines, homophobia logically loses its power to regulate masculinity. This is exactly the pattern described in “Inclusive Masculinities.” Anderson also notes how people of all social and economic backgrounds become more tolerant at roughly the same rate, contributing to the normalization of behaviors previously considered deviant. We see this not just in social norms, but in legislation as well; by the end of 2013, 18 U.S. states had legalized same-sex marriage and two years later, the landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges made samesex marriage legal throughout the U.S. This rejection of homophobia as a guiding principle of hegemonic masculinity seems to be a permanent fixture, but some would argue that the resurgence of hyper-masculine patriarchal values seen during the Trump Administration is providing significant pushback.

The Trump Administration and its supporters rejected this inclusive masculinity and pushed for a permanent revival of the Marketplace Man, whom many would say Trump embodies.

While these observations of inclusive masculinity between teammates are powerful 18

and denote a significant shift in the field of masculinity studies, Anderson’s lack of an intersectional approach has drawn criticism. His purposeful exclusion of race, religion, and socioeconomic status limits the depth of his observations. Furthermore, Anderson does not discuss the status of female students. It is very possible that the lack of hierarchy amongst the boys he observed is not replicated in their rela-tionship with the school’s girls. Along these same lines, Anderson does not explore how hegemony is upheld in other arenas such as academics, within other sports teams or extracurriculars. Popularity, another aspect Anderson does not take into account, could also be comparable to the prior necessity of participation in the marketplace as seen with Marketplace Manhood and hegemonic masculinity theory. What “capital” does this “marketplace”—in this case popularity in a high school—offer? In what other ways does inclusive masculinity perpetuate the patriarchy?

Masculinity is “a constantly changing collection of meanings that we construct through our relationships with ourselves, with each other, and with our world. Masculinity is 17

Kimmel. Masculinity as Homophobia. P. 73.

American Hegemonic Masulinity Cleveland

neither static nor timeless; it is historical. Manhood is not the manifestation of an inner essence; it is socially constructed.”17 Hegemonic masculinity cannot be explained as a simple list of traits, as that would be far too reductive. Behaviors and relationships, however, are to be observed and explored in an effort to understand and explain how exactly the hegemonic masculinity of a given period is embodied. Homophobia was once thought to be inevitable—even imperative—to hegemony by masculinities scholars but has since been proven to be unnecessary; gone is the need to constantly prove one’s masculinity to other men. What prevails is not sheer physical strength or

the absence of emotion as seen in prior iterations of masculinity, rather it is the possession of power. While this power may look different depending on the era, it is central to the concept of hegemonic masculinity as we understand it today. Power prevents homosexual men from climbing up the ladder of the masculinity hierarchy and forcibly perpetuates women’s lower status which maintains the patriarchy. As Americans become more accepting and more people—particularly boys and men—live in tolerant societies, the prominence of inclusive masculinity is on the rise and could very well become the next hegemonic masculinity or promote the absence of one.

Bibliography

Anderson, Eric. “Inclusive Masculinities.” Essay. In Exploring Masculin

ities, edited by C.J. Pascoe and Tristan Bridges, 178-187, 78. New

York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Connell, Raewyn. “The Social Organization of Masculinity.” Essay. In

Exploring Masculinities, edited by C.J. Pascoe and Tristan Bridg-

es, 136–44. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Heath, Melanie. “Manhood Over Easy: Reflections on Hegemonic, Soft-

Boiled, and Multiple Masculinities.” Essay. In Exploring Mas

culinities, edited by C.J. Pascoe and Tristan Bridges, 155-65, 158.

New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Kimmel, Michael. Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence

in the Construction of Gender Identity. St. Augustine: Centre for

Gender & Development Studies, University of the West Indies,

1996. P. 73.

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GUNPOWDER Believe it or not, I can smell fear Little bumps carry an ever so clear message to me The flinch beneath your pale skin Ever so clear A delighted shout escapes my throat Before your throat heaves back in whatever laugh you have You flinch Maybe not at your surface But the skin beneath your skin beneath your skin The cells that have died since you watched terrorism on channel 6 Leave their corpses behind Because noise escapes cells that look like mine The chords in this hairy neck transcends a brown scale Ttossing out explosive volume in even mundane situations and sentences A volume you don’t see coming from a brown girl Outside from pledging the greatness of a certain god You weren't aware brown girls raised their voices But only half of me is tinted like the mix of hummus and rye chips And these chords escape that half I bought and wore a perfume Smelled good enough to be chomped and swallowed A crust, an apple and sugar smell And amongst all that your nostrils dissected it down to only the spices Even cinnamon and nutmeg smells like gunpowder I yell in joyous laughter Slap my knee while howling But eardrums above your smooth neck first hear a battle cry

selene ashewood 21

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New Age Witchcraft: The History Behind the Magick Marteena Mendel-Duckins

I

remember my mother telling me a story of how she made a man fall in love with her. It’s an old hoodoo magic practice; write the name of your lover on a sheet of paper 3 times, place the paper in a jar and fill it with honey, close the jar with the lid and melt a candle to seal. I believed that this beautiful, yet dangerous spell was a hoodoo practice carried down from generation to generation. That this magic should only be practiced by, well, Black people. Hoodoo is a mix of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs created by African slaves in North America that were held in secret from slaveholders. One could only imagine my surprise when I saw that this sacred honey jar was being practiced by white wiccans on TikTok who had no idea the impact of hoodoo on African American spiritualism.

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Witchcraft has been embedded in many cultures around the world, including countries in Europe, The Americas, Africa, and South Asia. Harvest, healing, and overall health is just a few ways witchcraft has affected populations. “Early works in astrology, originally written in Sanskrit and dating as far back as 400 B.C., make observations of the powers of crystal magic. According to New Age practitioners, crystals, in their modern-day usage, can be used as a teacher or source of spiritual guidance by anyone.”

(Carlos 1). In western society today, women --especially minorities-- have been able to use magic to feel divine and achieve success. In some cases, it’s almost like a form of therapy.

All over the world, many people, especially women, are beginning to open up their

New Age Witchcraft Mendel-Duckins

minds to different spiritual practices. Whether it be old folk magic, tarot, or crystals, witchcraft has been commercialised and accepted as a way to enhance spirituality. But this also prompts the conversation of who exactly can partake in these practices. Hoodoo and Voodoo

Whether it be old folk magic, tarot, or crystals, witchcraft has been commercialised and accepted as a way to enhance spirituality. particularly originated from african american slaves. Santeria comes from cuban-african origin. Crystals and yoga from India, and folk practice comes from, all around Europe. In any case, some traditional practices such as honey jars, crystal-work, and ancestor ma ic are arguably to be kept within the ethnic bloodline. The new age witchcraft and commercialisation of certain practices are in danger of becoming a mass culturally appropriated spiritualist product. So, how do we navigate the world of New Age witchcraft while also being mindful of eth-

nic practices? It would be easy to say that if an individual is not African American they should not practice hoodoo, or if one is not Cuban don’t practice santeria, but in most cases, people do not even understand where this magic originated. They simply scroll through posts online and attempt to imitate spells.

The most important idea is that if an individual decides to practice magic, they should learn the history and foundational ideologies to participate in the cultural exchange of witchcraft. I personally think that it’s amazing that spiritual practices are being normalized. Much of the magic practices are anti-patriarchal and give women power to reach for their goals and tackle social norms that hinder women from being successful. Even more so, it’s a way for women to join together and understand themselves, and each other. As seen in early 2017, American witches participated in the mass spell against former president Donald Trump. These witches used hashtags on social media to join witches all over the country to strengthen their spell. Nevertheless, witchcraft and spirituality goes deeper than political hexing, it’s about connecting 23

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with the universe or ancestors (depending on one’s specific practice) to gain insight on how to succeed in life. Madame Omi Kongo, a Hoodoo rootworker from a long line of female practitioners who runs a Tumblr blog, says, “Without an African ancestral link, the practice becomes something other than Hoodoo.” For her, Hoodoo means “making something out

Witchcraft gaining popularity is not a bad thing.

The problem is, when a practice becomes commercialized, the product’s origins lose its meaning. of nothing.” She uses the magical practice for herself and her clients as a way to overcome obstacles and attempt to gain a desired outcome with the help of spirits. One can only truly appreciate these cultural practices when they learn the history and importance behind it. While some may find witchcraft as an interest or hobby, others believe that this is birthright that should be recognized.

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There is a difference be-tween being interested in witchcraft and being a practitioner. Many of those scrolling on their TikTok feed will see a ritual or an altar as an aesthetic, and not as a duty that should be taken seriously. “The recent rise of WitchTok (a portmanteau of witch and TikTok) is the only latest manifestation of the internet coven’s magical ascendence, ranging from your everyday basic witch to the “influencer witches” who dominate every social platform. The Witchtok hashtag currently garners a staggering 5.4 billion views, while #WitchesofInstagram boasts 5.6 million posts” (Joho & Sung). In most cases, people don’t actually know what a rose quartz crystal does, or the effects of a moldavite crystal.

They just regurgitate information they saw on a video. They buy crystals because they’re pretty, not for the actual practice. It’s completely ok that a person wants to buy crystals for the “look” but it’s not ok when someone claims they are a witch just because they collect crystals. “Not everyone who practices spiritualities commonly associated with the witch aesthetic identifies with the word, and labeling their sacred rituals or

New Age Witchcraft Mendel-Duckins

medicinal practices magic is not only offensive, but a tactic used to justify violence against Black and Indigenous people. There’s also a difference between folk magic and formal religions that were born out of slavery and colonialism, like Santería, Voodoo, and Candomblé” (Joho & Sung). For some people, it’s a trend, for others, it’s a generational rite of passage that’s being misused in the name of “aesthetic.” The commercial use of the word “witch” has become more harmful than good.

Once again, I will say, witchcraft gaining popularity is not a bad thing. The problem is, when a practice becomes commercialized, the product’s origins lose its meaning. Many argue that certain practices of witchcraft such as voodoo, hoodoo, and reiki , or all witchcraft that is dominant to one ethnic group, should remain a “closed practice.” Meaning, those who are not born into the practice should not dabble in that specific magic at all. Witchcraft and magic is all about experiencing life in a new way, to see life with a different set of eyes. However, at the same time, many spells and traditions are linked to generational suffering and should not be shared with others out-

side the heritage. This has led to eclectic (mostly white) witches becoming angry, as they are interested in trying new spells and rituals with a particular witch practice. Even more so, these same witches are the people who fail to represent or even display Black, Asian, or Hispanic imagery on their typical “witchy” blog or Instagram posts. The

Women of all backgrounds are free to use tarot and divination to fight the patriarchy, but the main priority is to give credit to the women that were persecuted to make this practice possible. witchcraft exchange argument has become the heat of discussion in the witch community and has been subjugated to the name of “gatekeeping” or trying to keep people out of certain witch communities, The argument basically comes down to this: Should a white person be practicing a ritual that is rooted in slave practice? My answer, as a Black woman who has come 25

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from a line of women who’ve practiced witchcraft is no.

When a white person practices hoodoo or voodoo, it becomes something else entirely. It can not possibly be practiced with the same intentions as a slave who has experienced suffering at the hands of white people.

“If you don’t know about where the customs you practice come from, figure that out because otherwise it becomes another form of colonization and theft,” said Edgar Fabián Frías, a Latinx artist with Wixáritari Indigenous Mexican heritage who identifies with the non-binary brujx moniker (Joho & Sung).

In either case, close practices and gatekeeping is at the core of the argument in the commercialization of witchcraft.

Since Western culture has seen a recent surge in witchcraft, tarot cards and crystals have become a particular interest for beginner witches.

Initially starting in Italy, tarot has been used for centuries as a tool for divination and oracle reading. But the new introduction of this practice has been seen as a way to invigorate minority communities such as the LGBT+ community and people of color. Lisa Sterle, freelance artist and creator of the “mod26

ern witch” tarot deck stated her tarot is, “ an inclusive feminist deck.” She exchanges the predominately white characters in the tarot cards of the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck to women, people of color, plus-sized women, and queer characters.

In addition to tarot, working with the cycles of the moon and seasons; and using a daily meditation practice alongside energy healing crystals are used to empower the everyday modern woman. Crystals have been used in healing since the times of the ancient sumerian civilization, and have since then evolved into British, Indian, and Native American cultures alike (Carlos 6). Unlike Middle Eastern and North African women who seek marriage with spells and witchcraft, these western practices aim to encourage women to center themselves and become independent from the patriarchy. In Orlando, Florida, the store “Avalon’’ contains self-help books, classes on how to read Tarot, and collect cultural talismans inspired by peoples around the world. At the center of it all, is the crystal collection. Avalon is the perfect example of the good that New Age spirituality is trying to bring to the world. It promotes peace

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within religions, good diet, good mental health, and plenty of other things that attract a young clientele – or a clientele looking for deeper meaning in their daily lives (Carlos 25). But even though these practices are becoming mainstream in western media, it can not be forgotten that women and people of color are at the forefront of this practice and should be recognized for their contributions.

Women of all backgrounds are free to use tarot and divination to fight the patriarchy, but the main priority is to give credit to the women that were persecuted to make this practice possible.

Whether one was born into a line of witch practi-

tioners, or became interested through TikTok, witchcraft has become a quintessential aspect of the female experience. The traditional uses of magick have been to help women tap into their divinity and climb the social ladder, even in modern day it has become a way for women of all shapes, colors, and sizes to connect to their spirituality.

Female power can be invoked in many ways. Using tarot, crystals, and other magical methods is just one way that women can evolve and gain confidence.

Whether exploring or experienced, witchcraft is open for everyone-- as long as it is respected.

Works Cited Bess, Gabby. Black Magic: Hoodoo Witches Speak Out on the Appropriation of Their Craft. September 23, 2015,https://www.vice.com/en/ article/qkg93m/black-magic-talking-with-hoodoo-witches Carlos, Kristine D., "Crystal Healing Practices in the Western World and Beyond"(2018). Honors Undergraduate Theses.283.https://stars. library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/283 Joho, Jess. Sung, Morgan. How to be a witch without stealing other people’s cultures, Oct 31, 2020.https://mashable.com/article/witchtok-problematic-witch-cultural-appropriation/?europe=true 27

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cross human history, art has taken many forms.

It has taken the form of sculpture, printing, painting, and other practices with a variety of materials. With this, different art forms have become specific to certain cultures. As colonization was being perpetuated by European powerhouses such as Spain and France, a hierarchy was established between European works of art and the rest of the world. In this essay, I will explore how colonization and western culture has impacted how we see indigenous art, particularly American indige-

nous cultures. Throughout the paper, I will define colonization and Indigenous peoples, describe the history of Spain’s colonization of the Americas, compare art before and after colonization, and discuss how colonization impacted art perception by weaponizing languages and changing beauty standards.

The definition of colonization is: “the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the Indigenous people of an area” (Oxford Languages, 2020).

The key element of this definition is the establishment of

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How Western Influence Impacts Perception of Art Kelly Peraza Klee 28

Colonization and Art

‘control over, where it is implied that Indigenous people will face violence and other coercive methods to bend to the will of the colonizers.

In the modern era, it is difficult to talk about colonization without mentioning decolonization. “Decolonization is the process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches.” On the one hand, decolonization involves dismantling structures that perpetuate the status quo and addressing unbalanced power dynamics. On the other hand, decolonization involves valuing and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge, and approaching and weeding out settler biases or assumptions that have impacted Indigenous ways of being” (Cull et al, 2018). In short, it is the unlearning of western thinking and the return to Indigenous customs. This is a relatively new idea, but important for Indigenous people struggling with their identity in a world that is not theirs. It is also worth noting that by using “Indigenous’’ in this paper, I mean the 2006 United Nations definition:

“[People who] retain

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social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live...they are the descendants...of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means” (United Nations, 2006).

Essentially, any group who occupied the land before

The people who actively chose resistance would face violence, slavery, and robbery, and the arrival of new diseases introduced by Spanish colonizers. colonization. While the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas were all separate and unique cultures, they were all colonized by the same country within the same timespan and thus I will be referring to them collectively as the Indigenous population.

Next, I will present a summarized version of Spain’s colon29

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-ization of Central America, focusing on the destruction of Indigenous culture. The invasion of the Americas by Spanish powers began in 1492, when Columbus first arrived in what is now the Dominican Republic and reported the existence of the “New World.”

The majority of the occupation takes place after the year 1500. The reason for colonization was established in 1493. “...that uncounted numbers

permission to invade on the premise that the Indigenous people could be “saved” by introducing Catholicism. Indigenous people faced two choices in this matter: converting to Catholicism and being used for labor, or suffering the consequences. “Although the conquered populations were obligated to contribute labor as a token of their submission to Spain… those new subjects who continued resistance (and

When a population is destroyed, so is their culture, as there are fewer and fewer people to practice the traditions. From this, we can assume that it led to a severe decrease in Indigenous art and an increase in eurocentric art. of souls in need of Christian conversion were waiting in the New World intensified the religious motive for this enterprise.” The justification for colonization itself was explicitly religious, codified in 1493 by the Bulls of Donation, issued by Pope Alexander VI (a Spaniard), which assigned Spain “a just title” to American lands. The colonizers were obligated to evangelize the inhabitants and make them Christians” (Deagan, 2003).

The Pope had given Spaniards 30

the conquistadors defined the concept of resistance in very broad terms) were considered appropriate candidates for enslavement and despoliation” (Deagan, 2003). Regardless of what choice was made, the Indigenous people would still be subjugated to the Spanish government. The people who actively chose resistance would face violence, slavery, and robbery, and the arrival of new diseases introduced by Spanish colonizers. “Epidemics provoked a rapid demo-

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graphic decline in the native populations of the earliest Spanish-American colonies (Crosby), and this led in turn to a desperate (perceived) need by the Spanish colonists for alternate sources of labor.

Their solution spelled doom for the hundreds of thousands of African people brought unwillingly to the Americas as slaves... after 1520” (Deagan, 2003). The population of Mayans and Aztecs were perceived to have dropped by an estimated 85% to 90%. Although Africans were introduced as slave labor, they would also be instrumental in the decimation of the Indigenous population. “At the same time, we should note that a number of Black Christian Spaniards (ladinos), both free and unfree, participated in the conquest and colonization of America as conquistadors and encomenderos” (Landers 1990). In short, colonization decimated the Indigenous population through disease, slavery, war, and the introduction of an African population. When a population is destroyed, so is their culture, as there are fewer and fewer people to practice the traditions. From this, we can assume that it led to a severe decrease in Indigenous art and

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Wolfgang Sauber, 08.04.2008

an increase in eurocentric art.

As a concrete example, I will show and describe the differences between pre-colonial and post-colonial art. There are enormous differences in content and materials: “For many of these cultures, the visual arts went beyond physical appearance and served as active extensions of their owners and indices of the divine… Artisans of the Ancient Americas drew upon a wide range of materials (obsidian, gold, spondylus shells), creating objects that included the meanings held to be inherent to the materials” (Pilsbury et al, 2017).

One example is the jade mort31

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-tuary mask of Pakal the Great.

Information on the mask is limited, but it is made out al-

Online Collectioon of Brooklyn Museum

most entirely out of jade. Additionally, Pakal also had one of the longest reigns in the ancient world, serving over 68 years (Nadal, 2018).

After colonization, much of the artwork was destroyed, looted, or lost, such as the temples buried underneath jungles. In replacement, we see many more paintings and drawings focused on Christian theology and depiction of the suffering of In32

digenous people. An example of this comes from the Cusco School where, “the Spanish, who aimed to convert the Incas to Catholicism, sent a group of religious artists to Cusco, the capital of the Incan territory.”

The philosophy behind the school was to teach Christian ideals to indigenous Incans through paintings, “taught the Indian and half-breed artists the secret” (Descola, 235).

Essentially, the destruction of culture using art. An example of this art is the harrowing painting of Incan people being burned in Hell for not converting to Christianity. This painting was created by Diego Quispe Tito, an Incan man.

Finally, it is time to discuss how colonization and art perception interact. Colonization impacts art perception directly through language, and indirectly through beauty standards.One of the terms used to describe Indigenous artwork is “primitive.” This word has been effectively weaponized in contemporary culture, and should no longer be used to describe Indigenous art for a multitude of reasons. “Objects do not exist as ‘primitive art’. This is a category created for their circulation, exhibition, and consumption out-

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“Primitive”...has been effectively weaponized in contemporary culture, and should no longer be used to describe Indigenous art for a multitude of reasons. side their original habitats” (Meyers, 2006). One of the main reasons the term should not be used is that it was created by the dominant eurocentric culture and is not a label that Indigenous people chose for themselves. Furthermore, their art is not readily available for their consumption and located in a completely different context. “Primarily, therefore, non-Western and prehistoric art, ‘primitive art’ (later to become ‘tribal art’, the ‘art of small-scale societies’, and even ‘ethnographic art’) was most obviously within the purview of anthropological study and was exhibited in ethnographic or natural history rather than ‘fine art’ museums” (Meyers, 2006). Indigenous art was shown in history museums, not necessarily art museums, further dehumanizing their work.

Of course, the main reason the “primitive” label

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should not be used is because of what it implies. “The word ‘primitive’ generally refers to someone or something less complex, or less advanced, than the person or thing to which it is being compared.

It is conventionally defined in negative terms, as lacking in elements such as organization, refinement and technological accomplishment. In cultural terms, this means a deficiency in those qualities that have been used historically in the West as indications of civilization” (Rhodes, 1995).

In short, the term is insulting and inaccurate. It is important to mention this topic for this paper, as the language is used as a tool to justify the cruelties of colonization. If culture and its people are considered unsophisticated and subsequently destroyed, it means that there would be no space for them in the “modern” future and that the world is better off without them. This is obviously untrue, but the term has very real consequences. “The indigenous people cannot be fully relegated to prehistory as the predecessors of the settlers” (Meyers, 2006). The term promotes the erasure of the descendants, which is the end goal of colonialism.

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Colonization also impacted art perception through beauty standards and the attack of the psyche of colonized groups. This impact was especially apparent in non-white groups, such as Latinx and African Indigenous tribes.

“In the racial hierarchies set up by European colonization

Being taught that one is lesser than, leads to a breakdown of the mind, where the turmoil is based around managing selfworth in a world that does not consider one’s people as human beings. and imperialism, Whiteness was associated with a superior self, Blackness was the mark of otherness and inferiority, and gradations of skin color came to mark social status.

The notion of moral, intellectual, and cultural inferiority, framed in terms of biology in the scientific discourse of the time, justified the total domination and exploitation of the colonized and enslaved” (Kimaye et al, 2018). The idea that the colonizing population set across the world was that 34

whiteness was coveted and valued over dark skin. Depending on how close one was to the ideal, they would be treated as more or less desirable than their counterparts. Another example other than changing skin color and clothing is with facial features, demonstrated in this 2018 study using elementary school students:

“In the explicit task, faces with darker skin tone, and more Afrocentric faces were generally evaluated more negatively by both White and non-White children, which was especially true for darker skin tone faces with Eurocentric physiognomy… Results on the implicit task were more equivocal; reflecting an interactive relationship between participant race, skin tone and facial physiognomy. These findings provide evidence that pro-White attitudes (especially explicit) are driven by both factors, vary by race, and are present in both White and non-White children” (Rex, 2018).

What this means is that even children in this current decade are subject to these eurocentric standards of beauty.

These racial beauty standards are taught to the children from an extremely young age,

Colonization and Art

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Colonization impacts art perception by changing beauty standards, implying that the colonized population is not considered beautiful when compared to colonizers. with both white and nonwhite children choosing whiter faces and features over Afrocentric features. The implication is that these children will continue to have these biases against their peers and well into their adulthood.

These differences in perceptions of beauty lead to psychological and possibly physical damage. “...Significant remnants of colonial hierarchies continue to shape subjectivities of self and personhood. The colonial mindset can be seen in everyday behaviors such as skin bleaching practices by women in Africa and the diaspora, as well as in less visible biases such as internalized stereotypes that influence everyday functioning” (Steele, 2010). In other words, the colonial mindset is the continued subjugation of the Indigenous population, where the ideas of the colonizing or dominant class are valued over traditional ideas, despite the physical and mental risk. People are willing

to go to extremes to emulate their colonizers so that they are deemed beautiful according to western standards: “These societal forces have had profoundly damaging influences on the experience of colonized peoples, including deformations of the self. Selfhood for the colonized was experienced as in a state of internal division, resulting in self-doubt, self-deprecation, and inner turmoil” (Kimayer et al, 2018, p. 25). The years of being treated as inferior have a significant toll, with colonization stripping away autonomy.

Being taught that one is lesser than, leads to a breakdown of the mind, where the turmoil is based around managing self-worth in a world that does not consider one’s people as human beings. Beauty standards are closely tied to art, as both display what is coveted or appealing to the culture. By changing what is considered beautiful, such as straight hair, slim bodies, or white skin, it impacts Indigenous 35

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populations by showing they are not worthy of being represented in art. This is apparent in the painting shown earlier by the Incan artist, clearly painting the holy angels as white and the Indigenous population as brown. It is also worth noting the angels are wearing European clothing, compared to the Indigenous people being topless. Everything about them is implied to be less desirable.

Overall, colonization impacts art perception by invalidating Indigenous art using derogatory language and changing beauty standards, ultimately changing the art that is being created by the Indigenous population.

Colonization’s impact on art comes in different ways.

First, it leads to an immediate decrease in physical work, since the Indigenous population is killed and robbed. The people that remain are no longer allowed to create art using their traditional methods and are taught the styles and techniques of the colonizing population. Colonization’s direct impact on art perception is through language, where it is treated as lesser than, and words like “primitive” or unsophisticated are used to describe it. It has limited our in36

terpretation of what is high art, and physically separates art by placing it in an anthropological context. It also implies that Indigenous people and their art have no place in the modern world, which is ultimately harmful to their descendants.

Furthermore, colonization impacts art perception by changing beauty standards, implying that the colonized population is not considered beautiful when compared to the colonizers. Studies indicate that this particular idea that whiteness is considered more attractive is still present today and taught to children.

This change sparks self-doubt and self-hate in the Indigenous population, damaging their mental health, and forcing them to emulate their captors for acceptance, which can also be an interpretation of the Incan artist’s painting.

Bibliography

Cull, I., Hancock, R.L.A., McKeown, S., Pidgeon, M. & Vedan, A. (2018).

Pulling Together: A Guide for Front-Line Staff, Student Services,

and Advisors. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from https:// opentextbc.ca/indigenizationf Deagan, K. Colonial Origins and Colonial Transformations in Spanish America. Hist Arch 37, 3–13 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/ BF03376619 Descola, Jean. Daily life in Colonial Peru 1710-1820. Trans. Michael Heron.

London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1968.

Kirmayer L.J., Adeponle A., Dzokoto V.A.A. (2018) Varieties of Global

Psychology: Cultural Diversity and Constructions of the Self. In:

Fernando S., Moodley R. (eds) Global Psychologies. Palgrave

Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95816 0_2 Landers, J. (1990) African Presence in Early Spanish Colonization of the

Caribbean and Southeastern Borderlands. In Columbian Conse quences, Vol. 2, Archaeological and Historical Perspectives on the

Spanish Borderlands East, D. H. Thomas, editor, pp.315–328.

Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. Oxford Languages (2020) “Colonization” Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.google.com/search?q=colonization+definition&rlz =1C5CHFA_en__901__901&oq=colonization+&aqs=chrome.2.

69i57j69i59j0i20i263i433i457j0i67l2j0i20i263j0j69i61.4058j0 j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Pillsbury, J., Potts, T. F., Richter, K. N., J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropol itan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Getty Research Institute, &

Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA (Project), (2017). Golden king doms: Luxury arts in the ancient Americas.

Rex, Maya Alyse, “Racial Bias in Elementary School Children: Effects of

Skin Tone and Facial Features” (2018). Honors Theses. 599.

https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/599 Myers, F. (2006). ‘Primitivism,’Anthropology, and the Category of ‘Prim

itive Art.’ Handbook of Material Culture, 267-84.

Rhodes, Colin (1995) Primitivism and Modern Art. New York: Thames &

Hudson.

Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: And other clues to how stereotypes

affect us and what we can do. New York: W. W. Norton.

United Nations. (2006, May 12) Fact Sheet: Who are indigenous peoples?

[Press Release]. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf

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the crescendo of your voice deep culpability reverberating remonstrating against my better judgement what I fear of you foments an apex, a frantic stab, penetrating and sudden, erect, electrifying, invocation of a little death forked through me;

please my shudder is prostration to mercy, the benefit of your doubt, ventriloquize my sermon cries with words I cannot live without;

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I flinch at the falling of the curtain, the sheet jerked off the shoulder of the bed, below my waist a paradise, you perform gospel to the partition of my legs, my heart presides in any realm devoid of your howling thunder, but between my lips I’ll gladly take the rain

fiona mcmurrey

consume me, taste me in black pearls cumulous and resplendent with velvet silver linings, twining your body through mine, don’t strike so soon if ever at all, prolong my love, perpetuate, pulsate, peruse, and occupy me without a cry of thunder,

AST R APHOBIA

I felt you burning above me, thrusting beneath my skin play my keys in divine alternations, altercations between pleasure and pain I relapse to reminiscence of all the gorgeous gestures you employ in my oblivion;

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Dear roommates, lovers, or anyone who’s ever asked me to make them a meal, I haven’t learned how to cook yet.

You wouldn’t have guessed with my curvaceous frame and deep caramel skin. But I don’t know how to make eggs Or how to cook rice Or how to fry chicken Or how to cook pasta al dente.

It's a little embarrassing, quite frankly.

I’m an Afro-Latina who grew up on arroz con gandules, soul food, and habichuelas for days.

So it’s a bit humiliating when people ask me to bring “authentic” Puerto Rican food to the potluck and I come bearing empty plates.

My mother is a witch in the kitchen.

Rosemary, oregano, cayenne, cilantro, the smells danced around the kitchen like a ballroom full of salsa dancers.

When the heat of the kitchen proved too hot for my mother’s skin, she would take a step into the living room, take a deep breath, and go back to her wizardry.

Sweating, spicing, creating gourmet delicacies in our small midwestern apartment.

But even after watching my mom slave away at a stove all day I still don’t know how to cook.

See, in my culture cooking is the ultimate presentation of affection.

My mom would bring a plate of food to my dad when he worked for a semi-truck company. Every night, no matter what, she packed his dinner into Tupperware and drove forty-five minutes to his truck station on the outskirts of the city.

To us, food is a love language.

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As my cousin Manny puts it, “eating food you cook anoints you.”

You might be thinking, since when did God become a part of the experience of shoving homemade biscuits and fried chicken into your face?

I ask myself the same thing.

My cousin Manny is a good man, but I question his thinking sometimes.

So when I say that I can't cook, I feel defeated. Years of recipes passed down from my family, histories of spices and mixtures, and I have no idea what to put in the crockpot first.

I haven’t learned to cook because of many reasons.

Reason #1 – Once you learn to cook, you can get married. I don’t want to get married.

Reason #2 – I can’t conquer the world if I'm stuck in a kitchen.

Reason #3 - The world is full of chefs, there does not need to be another one.

But maybe one day the cliches will fatigue and I will learn how to cook.

Perhaps one day my ancestors will guide my hand so that my rice isn’t so crunchy. Or I'll hear a whisper from my father’s ghost telling me to turn off the heat under my pasta. Eventually, I'll open one of my grandmother’s old Paula Deen cook books and try to read the language of measurements and spices.

But for today, I’ll wait for my mom, who’s sweating in the heat of the kitchen, as I sit here complaining about my lack of culinary skills.

sincerely, an Afro-Latina who can’t cook marteena mendel-duckins

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THE ART

and THE BODY

Another unobtrusive night, one more fluorescent body; Among the blinding youth and a foggy sight My way I find to what my dreams embody; With slim hands to carve wooden boxes, You carry the nectar while I carry the scotches; In the hall, paints and busts In my legs, water, in my mind, a fuss As my hands find your dewy cheeks, Yours are close, and to my lips, you speak In the end there was nothing to do Just look at some art and go home with you.

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The Red Pill

Imaniushindi K Fanga

My spirit escapes my mortal body and the sounds of scratching trumpets guide me. I don’t know where I am going, but the euphoria takes me in. I take a deep breath. I remember the feeling of the sun’s rays and think back to being a child. I remember my mother’s Aphroditic voice and my father’s strong dark hands stroking the infant hairs on my forehead. I remember my first breath, my first cry, my first image, my first steps, my first kiss.

I remember who I am like I’ve always known. My spirit begins to spiral and quake within the ether, and a scattered city of stars emerges from the darkness. The void grows in its complexity and the fire of new life takes form. A cluster of unimaginable colors, beyond the rainbow’s spectrum; they flow like waves of water to reach me. I take another deep breath and feel my spirit weeping in amazement. Unidentifiable voices surround me in the shape of a tornado. The voices collide gently like snowflakes falling on freshly seasoned grass. They speak histories, fairy tales, and myths of divine kings and queens that feed my hunger for knowledge. I am not trapped anymore, and the fear of the unknown deserts me. Still frozen and overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the mist, I feel something creep from beyond--Its proximity increasing. A few moments pass, and a colorless hand stretches out from the fog to grab me. I wake up.

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Content Warning: Sexual Assualt

TOO FAR UP THE CANAL I had said too much about what I do and what I write I spilled over into conversational victuals of who I am and what I like I was too drunk and tired to sleep and so I stayed the night and in the morning he pressed his head between my legs felt my shiver and though I said I was tired he couldn’t hear the no in my plea and plowed through a stab struck in texas mud half dry after a cough of rain and I bit my inner cheek to stave off the searing thrust and I lied to him and sighed for his pleasure and my pain as he rose and crested within me leaving a spit trail semblance of shame and after I simply drank the bleak coffee he offered pretended I was unbothered by his kiss though I assured him I had to leave threw on the white linen sundress of the night before crumpled lolita little bow panties shed and snagged on the ruptured floor, re-girdled the un-cracked leather belt around my waist - I am waste -ed in the gaunt hook & guise of a hangover he said he expected that last touch was goodbye and I lifted my paper mask up to my eyes and crossed my legs on the metro home.

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The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Alia Hadjar

D

isability studies is relatively new to academia – especially in comparison to feminism and women’s studies – despite the fact that it has always existed. Disabled people have consistently been socially ostracised, and disabled history has been largely excluded from mainstream education. Feminism strives for equality and liberation, yet the discipline largely fails to account for the unique challenges faced by disabled people, with disabled women being disproportionately affected by stigma and issues of accessibility.

Contemporary feminist schools of thought have failed to adequately acknowledge disability,

which hinders the social movement because all women can’t be uplifted if disabled women are excluded. Disability is a feminist issue and, as evidenced by disability studies’ incorporation of feminist work, there is a large intersection between both disciplines. Yet, in addition to failing to account for disability in theory, feminism is also largely inaccessible, which disproportionately affects the disabled community. Activist and theorist bell hooks claims that “feminism is for everyone”, and that needs to include disabled people. Using a theoretical approach to examine feminist schools of thought and the accessibility of feminism, it 53

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It has become commonplace, especially in Western society, to ‘tokeize’ disability in a way to mitigate accomplishments can be seen that disability has been systemically erased from feminist theory and excluded from activism through acts of ableism, which hinders feminism as a whole.

Disability studies emerged as a theoretical discipline in the 1980s, with its formal introduction to Western academia occurring throughout the 1990s.

This field of study challenges the notion that disability is a personal deficit that needs “fixing” and troubles socio-political infrastructures which create inaccessible and threatening environments. Disability theory notes that most societies and infrastructures are systemically ableist, meaning that disabled people are discriminated against and aren’t provided the same amount of accessibility as non-disabled people; this creates a dangerous dichotomy where some minds 54

and bodies are seen as “normal” simply because society has adapted adequately to their needs.

Most everyone will be disabled at some point in their lifetime, whether acutely, chronically, terminally, physically, mentally, visibly, invisibly, etc., with some disabilities being more socially normalised than others. It has become commonplace, especially in Western society, to ‘tokenize’ disability in a way to mitigate the accomplishments of disabled people and to make non-disabled people more comfortable and ‘grateful’ for their own existences. Billboards, magazines, and social media posts have all, at some point, advertised disability as some grotesque hardship which must be overcome, thus pushing the narrative that being disabled is horrific and that most people should be grateful that they, at least, don’t live a life as horrible as those with a disability; it also implies that disability is something that is rare, and lives in the shadows of society. This is particularly harmful in the context of social justice and activism because it erases disability, mi-

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

tigates the voices of disabled people, and often excludes disabled people from conversations around social change altogether.

Feminist theory is a discipline which has a history of silencing and erasing the work of disabled people, as evidenced by the lack of explicit conversations around disability and the inability to make space dedicated to disabled voices. This erasure isn’t new. The evolution of feminist theory has seen various schools of thought which recognise the exclusion of typical “deviance”; historically, this has mainly referred to sexual and gendered deviance, and people of colour have also been subjected to this exclusion. In Roberta Hamilton’s chapter in Feminist Theories, she explores these various schools of thought, and explains that unpacking sexual oppression is difficult and multifaceted: “This challenge involves examining the ways in which sexual oppression informs and is informed by the many social practices through which people are privileged and disadvantaged, included and excluded, wield

and submit to power” (Hamilton (2007)). Disabled people are systematically disadvantaged and excluded, and they face unique challenges related to sexual oppression, which has historically affected women. For example, in the 18th and 19th century, “female hysteria” was one of the most diagnosed “illnesses'', as eloquently portrayed in the well-known short story, “The

Illness and disability are weaponized against women, which seeps into everyday interactions Yellow Wallpaper,” in which a recent mother is deemed hysteric by her physician, who is also her husband. In this story, her treatment and prescribed isolation allegedly drive her to actual “insanity and hysteria”, which illustrates the very real effects of attempting to “medically” treat women for being “emotional.”

This shows how illness and disability are weaponised against women, which seeps into every-

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Feminism is better equipped to adequately respond and react to issues of oppression through achieving a more multifaceted understanding of how oppression is systemic.

-day interactions, such as the overused trope of women only being in pain or upset because they are menstruating. Despite the fact that disability and the subordination of women are so closely interwoven, very few theoretical feminist works directly address disability.

Hamilton’s text also discusses anti-racist feminisms, and she describes the erasure and exclusion of women of colour from feminist movements: “By claiming to speak for all women, white feminists denied their social and economic advantages, perpetuated racism in their own theories, failed to make their movements relevant to women of colour, and excluded the struggles against racism from the histories of feminism” (Hamilton (2007)). As Black women, Indigenous women, and other women of colour began to carve out space for themselves 56

within feminism, the discipline was able to grow and thrive, as evidenced by the works of accomplished theorists and activists such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Angela Davis, to name a few. By exploring intersections between other issues such as class and race, feminism is better equipped to adequately respond and react to issues of oppression through achieving a more multifaceted understanding of how oppression is systemic.

Applying Hamilton’s statement to disability is enlightening, as it problematizes women without first-hand experience with disability who claim to speak for all women, when they simply cannot speak to the challenges and limitations of disability in the context of an ableist society. This principle is already mirrored in feminist discourse, in which there is a similarly mutual understanding that cisgender men cannot speak

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

to the challenges of womanhood in the context of a patriarchal society. Despite the clear links between these two disciplines, there isn’t a mainstream school of thought dedicated to these intersections, which shows how disability is erased from feminist discourse.

The lack of adequate resources that explicitly discuss disability is particularly unfortunate as so much of feminist theory is applicable to disability studies.

For example, in Hamilton’s article, she discusses at length the power of language in relation to feminism and poststructuralism, specifically in relation to gender binaries: “… words do not simply describe or identify. Words make distinctions and create oppositions” (Hamilton, 2007).

Hamilton explains that words can be political and hold power; language is an important part of disability theory and activism, which is seen in the disability community through reclaiming historically derogatory words.

Another debate within disability activism is the debate between identity-first versus person-first

language, which is the difference between saying “a disabled person” and “a person with a disability.” This discourse is central in conversations around the connotations of disability and asserting that disability isn’t inherently negative; when analysing language in this context, it is important to note whether or not the person making claims about disability is actually disabled, which highlights the importance of uplifting and listening to disabled voices.

This links back to feminism and its relationship with queer theory, where language is equally significant as those who have been historically labelled as “sexually deviant” have also reclaimed words, such as the reappropriation of “queer” and lesbians reclaiming derogatory terms such as “dyke”. Again, despite this clear relationship between feminist theory and discourse and disability studies, works like Hamilton’s do not explicitly address disability. Marilyn Frye's “Oppression” is another feminist text which focuses on langu-age, specifically the word ‘oppression.’Frye claims that 57

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‘oppression’ has been appropriated by mainstream media and conversation, thus watering down the meaning and weight of the word. She explains that people – such as men – use the word ‘oppression’ to describe their individual struggles without understanding that “human beings can be miserable without being oppressed” (Frye, 1983), as oppression is something that is systemic. Frye uses the metaphor of a birdcage to explain her point, stating that if you just look closely at one wire of a birdcage, it wouldn’t make sense as to why the bird couldn’t just move around it; it’s not until you step back and see that the one wire is just a small part of a much larger cage which holds the bird captive that you understand why the bird is trapped. By conceptualising oppression as a bird cage, it actually supports the idea that feminism can be better understood when disability is also analysed, because disability is a part of this larger system that creates the bird cage. This metaphor also explains that the issue of oppression is systemic rather 58

than being the fault of just a single individual: “to recognize a person as oppressed, one has to see that individual as belonging to a group” (Frye, 1983).

Through recognising oppression as being an issue in which certain groups profit from the subordination of other groups, it makes it easier to examine the complexities of power struggles.

In Frye’s text, she predominantly refers to the oppression of women, stating that “It is a fundamental claim of feminism that women are oppressed” (Frye, 1983). While this is the case, Frye also briefly mentions that other factors, such as class and race, can act as intersections which either benefit or suffer from systems of oppression. As mentioned earlier, this supports the notion that, while women are oppressed, some women have more privilege than others, as seen through the rise of anti-racist feminism, for example. Frye actually mentions disability in passing, when she explains that men benefit from the oppression of women “even if race or class or age or disability is going against

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

him” (Frye, 1983). While this acknowledgement suggests that disability is seen as a social disadvantage, it fails to acknowledge the complexities associated with the systemic oppression of disabilities.

In addition to refusing to adequately acknowledge disability, the feminist movement is wildly ableist. This is something that bell hooks indirectly addres-

In addition to refusing to adequately acknowledge disability, the feminist movement is wildly ableist. ses in her book Feminism is for Everyone, where she critiques the accessibility of feminism. hooks explains that while the “feminist movement gained momentum when it found its way into the academy” (hooks, 2000), the appropriation of feminism that subsequently followed made feminism drastically less accessible. She explains that “academic politics and careerism overshadowed feminist politics”, which

meant that feminist works created in academia “rarely reach many people” (hooks, 2000). A main reason for this is that academic theory tends to be complex, and it is frequently positioned as something that is unattainable for a majority of people, despite hooks’ belief that “feminist knowledge is for everybody” (hooks, 2000). According to bell hooks, feminism’s response to the appropriation of feminism was insufficient and inappropriate; she suggests that a variety of different feminist media needs to be curated by feminists for everyone. Through the lens of disability theory, this is an excellent critique. By creating feminist work that is densely academic or just generally inaccessible, it disproportionately affects disabled people. In an ableist society that makes it difficult (or often impossible) to receive appropriate accommodations, disabled people face systemic barriers to education; despite laws in some countries existing to combat blatant discrimination, life with a disability can often be accompanied with economic strain or 59

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other lack of accommodation which makes academic resources generally inaccessible. This can also be seen as an issue that specifically targets disabled women, because intellectual disabilities are statistically misdiagnosed or ignored in women, meaning women are less likely to receive treatment and accommodations needed to access and absorb academic resources. If feminism is to approach other forms of media with the intention of being accessible, the needs of disabled people need to be at the forefront of this shift, rather than an afterthought; this means creating media with closed captioning, providing large print or audio options of text, inviting interpreters to live events, ensuring that places are accessible to mobility aids, etc. Oftentimes, these kinds of accommodations are seen as an afterthought because of the misconception that not enough disabled people exist, and no longer want to be an active part of conversations as heavy as social justice and activism. On social media, many grassroots feminists have begun to be more inclu60

sive in their content, attempting to include closed captioning and image descriptions, using accessible fonts/colours, being mindful of language they’re using, including content warnings, etc. While this has been amazing at rendering intersectional feminist media accessible to many, this is only a small portion of resources, and larger organisations and activists still have lots of room for growth.

An unfortunate critique of the push for more inclusion and representation for disability is that disabled individuals have nothing to contribute, or that disability is irrelevant in the context of movements such as feminism. As seen by the previously mentioned overlap between the disciplines, this is purely ableist rhetoric used to silence disabled voices rather than approach the complexities of disability. In Alison Kafer’s book Feminist, Queer, Crip, she explores the intersections of feminism and disability, opening one of her chapters with a quote from Douglas Baynton: “Disability is everywhere in history once you begin looking for

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

it” (Kafer, 2013). Kafer explains that intersections between disability and other fields of study are imperative in pushing forward other social movements: “If disability is everywhere once we start looking for it, then why not look for it in the other social justice movements at work in contemporary culture? My understanding of disability rights, justice, politics, culture, and scholarship has always been informed by my investments in feminist and queer theories and practices. Reading disability into and alongside those investments is one way to imagine disability differently. In other words, looking within disability studies for the traces of other movements while simultaneously looking for disability in places it has gone unmarked is one way of moving us towards accessible futures.”

(Kafer (2013)) Kafer’s take on disability in contemporary feminist theory further highlights that disability studies takes a lot from feminist theory, and that reading feminist theory through the lens of disability can be very powerful.

Her work supports the idea that including disability in feminist movements will be beneficial because it will allow for feminism to better represent all women, not just women without disabilities. As evidenced by the lack of acknowledgement of disability within feminism, disabled voices are often erased or silenced, yet disability has always, and will always, continue to exist. Being more intentional about curating feminist discourse that explicitly includes disability can allow for making the world more accessible and inclusive.

Kafer uses the work of Bernice Reagon to further explain that feminist works are already so intersected with disability, which supports the idea that feminism needs to make space for disabled voices. In a presentation and essay by Reagon, she uses a metaphor about being out of breath to discuss coalitions. This extended metaphor was based on the fact that the presentation took place at a physically high altitude, and Reagon notes that the environment gave an advantage to those who are used to living at 61

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high altitudes, and disadvantages those who aren’t accustomed to that kind of environment and thus can’t breathe as easily. Kafer interprets this metaphor as an example of disability: “Reagon calls feminism to task for creating spaces, both literally and metaphorically, in which certain bodies/minds play no role, or can participate only at great personal risk. […] As a result, the conversations that occur in those spaces are dramatically – and all too often invisibly – diminished by the absence of the folks who, for reason of inaccessibility or exclusion or ignorance, cannot participate.”

(Kafer (2013)) Kafer’s analysis explains that Reagon’s metaphor inadvertently critiques feminism for being inaccessible, specifically in that feminist conversations and discourses don’t accommodate disabled people. By refusing to provide appropriate accommodation and by failing to deliberately uplift disabled voices, it means that disabled people cannot safely participate in feminist spaces. The consequence of this is that non-disabled people will be 62

speaking on behalf of disability, which results in further ostracising, silencing, and the subordination of disabled people.

Contemporary feminist theory has produced a lot of rich work that has contributed to disability studies, though for the most part, these contributions haven’t been intentional. As seen through the lack of explicit inclusion of disabled works and theories in feminist practices and the inaccessibility of feminist resources, disability is often an afterthought in feminism.

The richest analyses of the intersections between feminism and disability come from disabled theorists, and these voices aren’t being uplifted and included in mainstream feminist schools of thought; an example of this is seen largely by the lack of academic inclusion of disabled theory anywhere outside disciplines specifically dedicated to disability. Feminist theory that is currently available can be applied to disability, as seen by Frye’s explanation of systems of oppression and Hamilton’s description of feminist schools of thought,

The Erasure of Disability in Feminist Theory Hadjar

including how not all women have the same level of privilege.

In addition, feminism is highly inaccessible, especially to the disabled community, which upholds social ableism. By treating disability and accommodations as an afterthought, feminism treats disabled women the same way the rest of society does, thus failing to uplift and fight for all women. As seen through queer theory and anti-racist feminisms, feminism has learned to adapt and make space for women who aren’t straight, white, and cisgender – it’s time to do the same for disabled women. Disability studies often analyse feminist works, and thus there is evidence to support the vast intersections between both

disciplines. By incorporating disability into feminist theory, it will strengthen the field and movement by being more representative and accessible to everyone as feminism has historically been hindered by systemically erasing and excluding disability from feminist theory and activism.

Works Cited Frye, M. (1983). The politics of reality: Essays in feminist theory. Free dom, CA: The Crossing Press.

Hamilton, R. (2007). Feminist Theories. In 1143522889 860640845 N.

Cook (Author), Gender relations in global perspective: Essential readings (pp. 49-60). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press. hooks, b. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. South

End Press.

Kafer, A. (2013). Feminist, Queer, Crip. Indiana University Press.

Retrieved December 20, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/sta ble/j.ctt16gz79x 63

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Paris - 5 Paragraphs My yearning for Paris is a throbbing erection begging for explosive relief.

It’s the energy and the threat of an ever-pulsating vein that provokes a common man’s lust for friction. It’s the toe-curling submission we seek when we’re almost there. We fuck for the anticipation, come because we’re addicted to completion, and sleep because no subsequent event can challenge our self-satisfaction, rendering us as unfulfilled as we were before disrobing or unzipping a thing or two. Parisian breeze is the creampie of my life, ejaculating joie de vivre so deep, I pray to God She nuts in me twice.

I

That’s where I fell in love with myself through the eyes of another. I declare I was spectacular in the grasp of his embrace, and if there’s any justice in the world, that’s how I will be perceived in perpetuity. A genuine touch of God shattered false conceptions of inadequacy, and we danced like the world loved us only gently, and we praised the evidence of its redeeming consistency. Our DNA coiled and twisted with the fate of truth’s whimsy - expunging its past brutalistic inequities. We allowed ourselves to love each other, intuitively. Quickly. Earnestly. I found an arrhythmia greater than any dimension I’ve been privileged to traverse previously.

II

He held my heart in his hand, bare. Delicately. Spurts of blood began pooling, sticking sweetly to the storied lines mapping his agile and weathered palms. He spread tempered fingers as if to cradle the world.

Stretching an index, he tapped into the center of my soul - and in the sudden mood of being seen, I was flipped inside out by the will of his company. He spoke to the valves intently. “This, my dear, is what we call intimacy.” I looked and caught a glimpse of my walls tattered and discarded in the periphery. He destroyed their purpose. In Paris, walls breed hostility.

III

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When he was ready he returned the vibrating thing to me, replacing it in its chamber, kind and bearing the necessary serenity. Every part of me wanted to scream. I'd just met him. I never sought to be good, saying goodbye to family. I was held by him. His wit. His cleverness.

His hips, designed to be more than he knew what to do with. He saw me off, leaving me with more assuredness than with any man I'd ever met; I belonged to him, he belonged to me - the rest is the antithesis of the regular broken-home defense mechanism. Some things exist to be good. Some things exist to expand the best of you, wholly. And then, I was on that train from the salvation I found most Holy.

IV

The credit statements declare I'm a fool. As I sit in my Americanism, I live fraudulently and inauthentically because I know the one place where Princess WaWa lived uninhibited and true. Her only virtue wasn't youth. She wasn’t mired by all she’d been through. I wasn't dark skin, I was shining, smiling, exposing that right buck, crooked tooth.

I just wanted to stay alive - when God broke me, I knew what to do. I had to run to Paris. And so I flew. When I go back, and I live there, I'll remember how I left Paris unscrewed. I didn't get to go to Versailles and if I could, I would see the library, and the top of the Eiffel, too. Me and Paris love each other. We belong together. I left with free weed and more than a couple brothers. Dear Love, I pray on my knees when my evenings are cold and black and blue. I pray to return to you and to Paris ~ and for once I am not confused ~ God says I belong to Paris, like She thought I already knew.

V

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Overview of Head Trauma Caused by Intimate Partner Violence Kelly Peraza Klee

Content Warning: Domestic Abuse & Trauma

H

ead trauma from intimate partner violence is still an underdeveloped research topic, with little known about the recovery from the physical and mental experience. This paper is to serve as an overview of what head trauma is as well as the secondary effects, the characteristics of abuse, and the recovery process. Other important sections will include how race affects recovery and methods of eliminating partner violence in a community.

First, we must define head trauma and note what the symptoms are. “Traumatic brain injury is defined as

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damage to the brain resulting from external mechanical force, such as rapid acceleration or deceleration, impact, blast waves, or penetration by a projectile” (Mass et al.).

Car crashes, falling, and assault are responsible for most head injuries per year in the US where the symptoms vary by severity (Harvard Health, 2018). Mild trauma symptoms include “minimal injury to the outside of the head, with no loss of consciousness… the injured person may vomit once or twice and complain of a headache” (Harvard Health, 2018). Moderate symptoms would be “obvious injury to

Head Trauma from Intimate Partner Violence

the outside of the head, and the person may have lost consciousness briefly. Other symptoms can include memory loss (amnesia), headache, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, confusion, a bruise-like discoloration around the eyes or behind the ears, or a clear fluid oozing from the nose. This fluid is not mucus, but fluid from around the brain (cerebrospinal fluid)” (Harvard Health, 2018).

Severe symptoms involve serious damage to the outside of the head, often together with injuries involving the neck, arms or legs or major body organs. In most cases, the person is either unconscious or barely responsive. However, some people become agitated or physically aggressive: “about 10% of people with severe head injury have seizures”. (Harvard Health, 2018) Overall, head injuries can come with a variety of symptoms, so it is vital that healthcare professionals ask questions concerning the incident and consistently screen for TBI’s.

The symptoms are not always solely physical. The mental health effects of head

Peraza Klee

trauma include depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. A study in 2019 stated “the results showed that at three and six months following injury, people who had experienced mTBI were more likely than orthopedic trauma patients to report symptoms of PTSD and/or major depressive disorder. For example, three months after injury, 20 percent of mTBI patients reported mental health symptoms... At six months after injury, mental health symptoms were reported by 21.2 percent of people who had experienced head injury…” (Stein et al, 2019).

The reason for this is unknown, but speculation suggests lack of mental health support following the injury. This could account for the higher number of people suffering from mental health issues the longer time passes after the trauma?.

Intimate partner violence is defined as … “any behavior within an intimate relationship (married, unmarried, and live-in) that causes physical, psychological, or sexual harm to those in 67

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that relationship. This definition encompasses physical, sexual, and psychological aggression/abuse or controlling behavior of any kind” (Krug, et al. 2002). There are four main stages of abuse. The stages are not fixed, and may alternate. The first stage is where tension builds and the abuser begins to become angry; the . The victim may try to calm the abuser down. The tension builds, and the victim will start to feel uneasy. The second stage is any kind of abuse. The third stage is colloquially known as the “honeymoon” phase, where the abuser would apologize, show regret, or blame the victim for the outburst. The fourth stage is the calm stage, where the abuser may pretend as if the abuse never happened through acts like giving giftsor give gifts to the victim.

The victim may believe that the abuser has changed and will not repeat the cycle (Rakovec-Felser, 2014). There are many reasons as to why a victim would stay in this cycle.

The main reason is the fear and the likely possibility that they would be killed if they tried to escape, report, or confront 68

70% of reported injuries from domestic violence occur after the separation of a couple. the abuser. Other reasons include financial security, as many abusers take control of their victim’s finances. They also may not have family or friends that can shelter them safely. It is important to state that leaving the abuser may have no effect at all:. “Many perpetrators continue to harass, stalk, and harm the victim long after she has left him, sometimes even resulting in someone’s death. In one U.S. study, 70 percent of reported injuries from domestic violence occurred after the separation of a couple” (Walker, 1999). This study found thatFrom that study, most injuries are caused by abusers finding and harming the survivor, despite the relationship ending.

It is worth noting that every socioeconomic level experiences domestic abuse;. “The victims of violence and abuse in intimate relationships between man and woman...can

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be wealthy, educated, and prominent as well as undereducated and financially destitute. They live in rural areas, urban cities, subsidized housing projects, and in gated communities. In general, domestic violence affects largely women, children of both sexes, but men are also raped and experience domestic violence” (Itzin, 2006). Intimate partner abuse is commonly thought of in a series of stereotypes. For example, it may produce thebring an image of an alcoholic lower or middle class man who abuses his wife and children.

This is not representative as it takes place regardless of class or gender.true, as it could be within any class and any gender.

Race may have a further impact on how people experience domestic abuse. It is important to discuss these factors, as race can impact the initial care received and the recovery process. For example, one study focuses on the differences in race with coping mechanisms and psychological health:.

“African-Americans reported fewer obsessive-com-

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pulsive symptoms and lower overall psychological distress than Whites. Similarly, in the middle abuse tertile African-Americans and Whites differed on additional symptoms, F(1, 199) = 6.71, p = .01. African-Americans reported fewer additional symptoms than Whites. Within the highest abuse tertile, African-Americans and Whites differed on re-

Race and the severity of the abuse had an impact on whether or not psychological issues would develop ported symptoms of paranoid ideation and psychoticism...

In contrast to the pattern in the lower abuse tertiles, African-Americans reported more symptoms of paranoid ideation and psychoticism than Whites” (Clements et al.

2019).

In short, race and the severity of the abuse had an impact on whether or not psychological issues would develop, as well as what kinds. Black 69

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women had more severe psychological problems than White women when the abuse was at its worstmost severe.

Coping mechanisms were also found to be affected, and how someone copes with a problem also affects the recovery process.

“There was a univariate interaction between race and abuse tertile in predicting substance use as a coping strategy...Within the high abuse tertile, there was a significant difference between African-Americans and Whites in substance use, F(1, 199) = 6.95, p < .009. As predicted, African-Americans reported higher levels of substance use than Whites in this tertile, although not in the low or middle abuse tertiles” (Clements et al. 2019).

Black women are more likely to turn to substance abuse if the abuse is severe, but not if the abuse is moderate. It is important to note that within this particular study, there were more white women than black women. This means that when Black women do experience abuse, they may be more likely to experience far 70

When Black women experience abuse, they may be more likely to experience far more negative consquences more negative consequences.

This can limit their treatment options, as high quality care to treat these serious issues may be more expensive and unavailable in their area.

As mentioned earlier, there is a growing body of research exploring the connection between TBIs and partner violence. “Researchers estimate that between 88 % to 94.4 % of physical IPV incidents involve injuries to the head and neck” (Arosarena et al. 2009). Most of the injuries sustained are to the head, and this use of force could cause a concussion or a more serious outcome. This estimate shows how many of the injuries involve the head, and there’s more research with how many individuals suffer from head trauma. “Researchers located fifty three women (recruited

Head Trauma from Intimate Partner Violence

from shelters and community outreach programs) who were screened for TBIs using the HELPS questionnaire to identify patients in need of neuropsychological assessment. The researchers found that 92 % of the women had been hit in the head by their partners, and most of these were repeated blows to the head. The same study also found that 83 % had been both hit in the head and severely shaken and 8 % of them had been hit in the head over 20 times in the past year” (Jackson et al. 2002). This study suggests that the amount of women who experience a traumatic brain injury due to severe partner violence is quite high. An alarming finding from this is not only the statement that abused women frequently experience head trauma, but that there is a significant number of women who suffer from repeated instances of injuries to the head. One strong blow may already cause damage. Multiple blows to the head or neck would guarantee damage and increase, increasing the chances of the damage being permanent. Of course, this is only one study. It ap-

Peraza Klee

pears that the link between intimate partner violence and traumatic head injury is still very weak:

“The research that does exist draws on data from special populations, namely those in the emergency room for IPV related injuries or those residing in the shelters.

These samples constitute a relatively small percent of all persons who experience IPV. Therefore, we cannot generalize these results to larger populations” (Hunnicutt et al.

2017).

The small number of research may be due to the fact that many are afraid to report their abuse, as well as the number of survivors who have gone into hiding. The real number may be much higher: “While the true prevalence of IPV-related TBI is unknown, a handful of studies find that it ranges from 30 to 74 %” (Kwako et al. 2011). These numbers are taken from studies where the survivors interviewed were in shelters or from emergency room data. The total number of people who suffer traumatic brain injury from partner violence may be higher still, as 71

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many of these studies focus on female survivors. Regardless of what the actual percentage may be, this is a health crisis for survivors especially when initial studies suggest that it is common among abuse survivors.

Another obstacle facing

Since recovery is a complex process, there can be no set time, especially when accounting for those who feel as if they have not healed. survivors of intimate partner violence is stigma from professionals such as law enforcement. Many survivors do not report their abuse to law enforcement because they think they would be unwilling to help (Gover et al. 2011). Unfortunately, there is evidence that the assumptions are correct: “A recent exploration of police officers’ perceptions of IPV demonstrated both positive and negative attitudes from the officers (n = 309) who responded to the survey. Most of the offi72

cers (84%) felt that IPV calls took up too much of their time and effort and reported a high level of frustration with repeat calls from the same address (93%)” (Gover et al. 2011).

Out of 309 officers, an overwhelming amount considered the calls to be frustrating and a waste of time. This is clearly a dangerous way to think, as just one or two officers could be the difference in whether someone’s life is saved.

Next, we will discuss the recovery process. It is important to note that treatment can be very diverse, as each person relies on a different “...social, spiritual, cultural, and psychological process” (Allen and Wozniak (2010).

Any treatment offered must be flexible and allow sufficient time for recovery. :“There is no specific time frame for recovering from IPV. To understand the recovery process of each woman’s situation is important” (Hou, Kou, and Shu, 2013). Since recovery is a complex process, there can be no set time, especially when accounting for those who feel as if they have not healed, and stay in a phase of non-recov-

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Peraza Klee

Using one’s own experiences to help others consisted of reaching out to survivors in different ways, such as through a support group or reeducation. ery. Smith’s (2003) Flasch et al. (2017) describes different stages of recovery taken from counselors with a background on helping survivors of intimate partner abuseintimate partner abuse survivors. An online narrative questionnaire was used in order to gain more detailed information. The stages involved regaining and recreating one’s identity, embracing the freedom to direct one’s life, healing from the mental and physical symptoms of abuse, education on abusive relationships, fostering acceptance and forgiveness with self and abuser, determining how to start a new intimate relationship, and finally acknowledging the long term process of recovery. These stages are the intrapersonal section of recovery. They focus on the individual’s experiences, each step building on the last in trying to rebuild a healthy person and a new mindset. Flasch et al. (2017) continue with the

interpersonal process, where one builds positive social support and uses one’s experiences of abuse to help others who are struggling. Building positive social support consisted of “regaining trust in others, creating a positive context for parenting, and taking steps to repair, or choose to end, relationships that may have been damaged as a result of their experiences with abuse” (Flasch et al.

2017). Essentially, a review of all the relationships a person has, determinesing which ones will suit their lives. Using one’s own experiences to help others consisted of reaching out to survivors in different ways, such as through a support group or reeducation. “I went back to school and earned my BA in sociology and social work and worked at a domestic violence/ sexual assault agency helping other people like me with overcoming abuse.” (Flasch et al.

2017). This person chose to work professionally with other 73

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survivors, passing on her experiences and knowledge. The completion of all these stages would help a survivor to move past their experiences and recover. However, the study does recognize that most of their participants were caucasian, and did not disclose the magnitude of abuse faced. This puts minorities in a difficult situation, where there continuously seems to be a lack of recent research concerning their recovery and well-being. On top of that, the stages mentioned were derived from counselors, who may be difficult to access depending on financial need or geographic location. Finally, we will review methods for preventing intimate partner violence.

This puts minorities in a difficult situation, where there continuously seems to be a lack of recent research concerning their recovery and well-being.

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One study focuses on using a community preventive services task force, which is “an independent panel of public health and prevention experts—recommends primary prevention interventions aiming to prevent or reduce IPV and SV among youth” where SV stands for ‘sexual violence’ (Devon et al. 2019). SV here means sexual violence. Primary prevention interventions include different measures across different settings. “The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends strategies and approaches for youth aged 12–24 years that aim to prevent or reduce IPV and SV and promote healthier relationships between peers and partners. Recommended interventions provided information about the warning signs for, or consequences of, IPV and SV combined with teaching healthy relationship skills, promoting social norms that protect against violence, or creating protective environments. Interventions were implemented in schools, at home, in communities, or in a combination of settings” (Devon et al. 2019). The rec-

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ommendations encompass almost all aspects of daily life.

With this, they are able to reach a larger audience and can educate more people, which is the key to increasing the chance of saving someone’s life through knowing how to recognize partner violence and then alarming authorities. Reaching as many people as possible is the key, as others may be able to recognize partner violence and alarm authorities, increasing the chances of saving someone’s life. Promoting social norms that condemn violence may discourage people from committing it, and encourage normal people within a community to keep the peace in every way.

The study offers suggestions to authorities on howin how to use these guidelines. “The CPSTF recommends interventions that not only provide information about IPV and SV but also include additional strategies (i.e., teaching healthy relationship skills, promoting social norms that protect against violence, and creating protective environments). This flexibility allows communities and schools to choose intervention components that fit their envi-

Peraza Klee

ronment and budget” (Devon et al. 2019). A flexible program with both education and strategies allows more schools and communities to have a program. Eliminating issues with budgeting makes the programs more appealing, and more likely to be adapted. A strict or expensive program would block the communities who need the program the most.

The study identifies other ar-

A strict or expensive program would block the communities who need the program the most.

eas that need research for prevention strategies, including “...more accurate and consistent methods for measuring perpetration, victimization, and bystander action among youth populations, and sharpen our understanding of how program effectiveness varies by audience, exposure rates, intervention fidelity, or program duration” (Devon et al. 2019).

In summary, intimate partner violence that causes

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traumatic brain injury may be more common than expected, with many victims facing repeated blows to the head and neck. Race appears to impact recovery, where Black women are more likely to experience worse mental health after the abuse compared to white women. Recovery is much more complex than initially thought, with the process taking several years. Research has stated that some people can not recover, and remain stuck in a particular stage. Further research is needed for male victims of partner violence, as they are consistently underrepresented or simply not present in studies. There should be a public and government response to start a campaign for awareness about male victims.

Studies focusing on prevention should continue to focus on budget restraints and ways to implement their findings in more non-white communities.

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References

Arosarena, O. A., Fritsch, T. A., Hsueh, Y., Aynehchi, B., & Haug, R. (2009). Maxillofacial injuries and violence against women.

Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, 11(1), 48–52.

Clements C, Bennett V, Hungerford A, Clauss K, & Sierra K. Wait (2019) Psychopathology and Coping in Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Associations with Race and Abuse Severity, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28:2, 205-221, DOI: 10.1080/10926771.2018.1470588

Devon L. Okasako-Schmucker, Krista Hopkins Cole, Ramona K.C. Finnie, Kathleen C. Basile, Sarah DeGue, Phyllis Holditch Niolon, Susan M. Swider, Patrick L. Remington, and the Community Preventive Services Task Force Journal of Women's Health 2019 28:10, 1335-1337

Flasch, P., Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2017). Overcoming Abuse: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Journey to Recovery From Past Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(22), 3373–3401. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0886260515599161

Gover, A. R., Paul, D. P., &

Head Trauma from Intimate Partner Violence

Dodge, M. (2011). Law enforcement officers' attitudes about domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 17, 619-636. http://dx.doi. org/10.1177/1077801211407477 Harvard Health Publishing. (2018, October). Head Injury In Adults.

Retrieved from https://www. health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/headinjury-in-adults-a-to-z

Hou W.-L., Ko N.-Y., Shu B.-C. (2013). Recovery experiences of Taiwanese women after terminating abusive relationships: A phenomenological study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 157-175.

10.1177/0886260512448851

Hunnicutt, G., Lundgren, K., Murray, C. et al. The Intersection of Intimate Partner Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury: A Call for Interdisciplinary Research.

J Fam Viol 32, 471–480 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896016-9854-7

Itzin, Catherine (2006) Tackling the health and mental health effects of domestic and sexual violence and abuse.Discussion Paper. COI for Department of Health.

Krug EG, Dahlberg LL, Mercy JA, Zwi AB, Lozano R. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2002. World Report on Violence and Health.

Peraza Klee

Kwako, L. E., Glass, N., Campbell, J., Melvin, K. C., Barr, T., & Gill, J. M. (2011). Traumatic brain injury in intimate partner violence: A critical review of outcomes andmechanisms. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 12(3), 115–126.

Doi:10.1177/1524838011404251.

Jackson, H., Philp, E., Nuttall, R. L., & Diller, L. (2002).

Traumatic brain injury: A hidden consequence for battered women.

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33(1), 39– 45. doi: 10.1037/0735–7028.33.1.39.

Maas AI, Stocchetti N, Bullock R. Moderate and severe traumatic brain injury in adults. Lancet Neurology. 2008;7:728–741.

Rakovec-Felser Z. (2014). Domestic Violence and Abuse in Intimate Relationship from Public Health Perspective.

Health psychology research, 2(3), 1821. https://doi.org/10.4081/ hpr.2014.1821

Stein MB et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression after civilian mild traumatic brain injury: A TRACK-TBI study.

JAMA Psychiatry. January 30, 2019.

Walker, L. E. (1999).

Psychology and domestic violence around the world. American Psychologist, 54(1), 21–29. https://doi. org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.1.21 77

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THE LAZARUS LONG HAUL alright it’s the 2nd of September how are you feeling - locked in some stage of unfulfillment, my novel time rarely dripping from stalactite thoughts or sweat off my brow and fingertips I can write; the function not fossilized but elevated in poems that pass like Solana & Sequana twin sister barges on the water off the flanks of west Ile Saint Louis an island so small incorporating any lexicon of direction seems trivial quite accurately a plea of futility limp, lucid, & lurid as the yellow broken diamond of a dead skinned yellow leaf hovering on the astigmatic camouflage of hunter kaleidoscopes green, black dare I say blue waves still shuddering from the boats of two minutes ago the water seems lower than usual and not for the first time I care about the rain (would I, could I, will I, do I take the rain?

Is it all the same? the feeling of falling and being fallen on - catch me?) is that the world laughing over my shoulder or is my heart searching for a reason to hate itself - why? is it what you learn from droughts to live without lubrication 78

inundation, liquidation reigns instead no moisture in the bank no reeds to bend in hollow gusts - thrust not into temptation bathe me in ash of evil (it’ll pass) don’t go too far (this time) restrain your bulging inward prowling tide (take less, love more); the traffic of the sidewalk left me naked - were you watching? was August there beside you and am I still somehow inside you seeking eternity by one way or another? and did I suck the fragment from your tongue when it plugged my esophagus to test the depth and hospitality, suitability for profundity I wish the sawdust melting bit you back; for a girl birthed in a swampland’s unholy water I am arid & absent - what else were you wanting? are you sure I had it? then? what about there?

I almost slipped off Ile Saint Louis - the dust swallowed me brought me back to Earth, I leapt into sunlight on twinkling water and fuck it felt good to be a star for a second god are you listening? I like him better than you I wept at the knees, clinging to the snow stained sheets of a bed creaking low where no beautiful love was made; torrid is the theory of the desert, that if you trap nothing you’ll be free; stung dry, stray high (unconquerable) incorruptible; on the edge of the island I am a dead land parched and brittle playing a bad game with a sunburned hand starved & noncommittal (coitus) correlative, condensation behind my sea green aviators don’t let me crash this time, I know there won’t be any water to save me.

fiona mcmurrey 79

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SUGAR COATED I am unsheathed to the succubus supine in coursing feeling; I want to get drunk off your hips, high off your lips fucked by your tongue, turn me over and run your fingers down my spine, devour all that is mine divine; grins of men, strands of muscle pulling again Peaches, oysters & pearls; and you, my girl, my girl my most elegant toy, the parity of your charity is your touch, your tease, your cunning ploys; I could raise you up to kill you, birth you to distill you there’s a hundred just to hold you, a thousand to scold you and it’s been so long since I unwound you, time lost conniving - have I spellbound you? the wire wings float renovated puppet strings you make me want to taste the lie of destiny so often sold as a promise, don’t be honest I’m seeking something sugar coated, and I can gloat if you’re ready to fit the bill, my little pill a costly prescription, unadulterated addiction let me thrill you, let me touch you, let me touch you, let me fuck you that last word isn’t kind, but I’m sure you’ll find there’s no honor in a cry built of empty nights what price is anything for a marvel, mademoiselle outstretched and desperate for delight

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NEVER LET HER KNOW god I hope she gets here soon:

god I wish I were me,

god I wish I were you,

god I wish she was here, waiting with drinks melting into the table, all else feeling empty, and I want to eat you alive vanilla girl delirious, delicious, supply my desire is new and I love you

would you let me could I love them with you

the longing in my waiting calls for another round, my darling arrives,

I am struck out of orange sunset clouds, supreme delight oh I’m dead

and your lips on my cheek remind me I am only human.

fiona mcmurrey 81

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The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis: What It’s Like Being Diagnosed with a Learning Disorder as An Adult Caroline Sjerven

I

was sitting in my therapist’s office in August of 2020, on the verge of tears trying to explain to him that I couldn’t study. I told him about the terrible test scores and all-nighters writing ten page essays five hours before they were due. I told him it had been two semesters since I had even bought a textbook because I had realized there was no point: I could never read more than the first couple pages of a chapter anyways.

He was silent for a moment. Then he asked, “Caroline, have you ever been tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?”

I have never been able to study my entire life, no matter

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how hard I tried. I’d sat down before the SATS, big exams, and quizzes since my sophomore year of high school and would silently give up after maybe five or ten minutes. This constant defeat has followed me around most of my life. For most of high school I skated through without reading the books or studying (homework was easy enough, it was usually so varied and minimal it could hold my attention); it wasn’t until I was submitting college applications the night before the deadline and ripping my ACT study books apart in frustration that I realized this might be something that I would carry with me to college.

Once I got there, every-

The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis

I..never [considered] the possibility that I was anything more than a fundamentally lazy person thing was reading. There were no worksheets to take home weekly that counted towards grades or fun, creative final projects. It was final exams and ten to fifteen-page research papers and chaos. My life was thrown into a type of disarray that had never existed before, but I accepted it with only mild imposter syndrome and pushed forward, doing what I could, when I could and never considering the possibility that I was anything more than a fundamentally lazy person. I looked around and most of my firstyear peers were also having a hard time coming to grips with the new workload, so it became normal. Only, it’s three years later now and every day of classes (either online or in-person) feels like that first week. I might mention at this time how I also have diagnosed anxiety and de-

Sjerven

pression, which can factor into these behaviors as well.

My memory also got worse. Most people don’t know that terrible memory (both short-term and long-term) are also a symptom of ADHD. I was forgetting what day it was, going to the wrong classrooms, blanking when friends asked me what I had done over the weekend.

People are also shocked when I tell them I don’t remember my childhood. It’s such a strange thing to say, but it’s true. I maybe have four or five memories from before sixth grade but that’s mostly from looking at pictures and being able to remember what happened in them.

In my French class, my second semester at university, I came to be known by my teacher as “La fille de nuage” or “The Cloud Girl.” My daydreaming has become a professional sport, I have a rolodex of worlds all built up in my head that I can flip through and go into at a moment’s notice. Sometimes it’s nice - on the metro, in line at the store, trying to fall asleep - but 83

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other times, like in French class, it means when I look down at the end of the class, the page of notes is completely blank, except for the date at the top.

I was a very smart child, so that’s probably why it was so easy to fly under the radar. “Clinicians who expect a report of poor academic functioning and behavioral problems in the elementary school years will overlook many, if not most, women who have ADHD” (Quinn, 581).

International & Comparative Politics at nineteen years old.

This is probably why my family didn’t believe me when I called to tell them the news. I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself. Whenever I tried explaining my symptoms and how it had affected my life, the response was something along the lines of “everyone feels that way sometimes.” They just couldn’t fathom the academic of the family having a learning disorder.

I was a prime candidate for consideration at a young age...So why was it so easy for me to go undiagnosed for so long?

I was in the GATE program in fourth grade (a supposed “smart kid” program really just used to segregate the white kids from the kids of color in public school) and I never got below a B+ throughout most of high school.

I skipped eighth grade and took relatively easy courses at the local community college so once I got to university, I already had a year of credits under my belt. I will be graduating with a BA in 84

What I don’t think they realized was their “sometimes” had been my constant state of being for almost twenty years.

My grandfather was dyslexic; he had never read an entire book in his ninety-two-year long life. I remember when I was younger, he would go silent or nod when someone brought up The Great Gatsby or the most popular Agatha Christie novels at a party. My mother is amazing

The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis

at many things; she makes the best chicken soup and she is the best person to go to for any relationship advice but is unable to finish a project.

The family history is there. My own personal history is there as well: I was ostracized for most of elementary school, labelled the weird kid and bullied until I switched schools. I was always raising my hand in class, the answers bubbling up out of me before the teacher had even looked my way. I didn’t understand social cues the way others did and had more adult friends than kids. Socially, I was a prime candidate for consideration at a young age, if someone looked close enough.

So why was it so easy for me to go undiagnosed for so long?

I place no blame on myself or my family; it was just that when I used to hold the image of ADHD it was a young boy banging his fists on the desk and screaming at the teacher.

It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t my mother. The irony of surrounding my entire identity most of my

Sjerven

life by being the girl two grades ahead, always off on some new academic adventure couldn’t be the same woman sitting in a doctor’s office getting a prescription for Ritalin, being explained to that she was neuro-divergent, whatever that meant.

But the reality of it is, is that girls with ADHD are much less likely to get diagnosed than their male counterparts. From 2014-2016 nearly 15% of boys (ages 5-18) were registered as having been diagnosed with ADHD, whereas only 6% of girls were (CDC). This trend is common, and since 1997 women are only half as likely to be diagnosed as men in the USA. In parts of Europe, the numbers are even more stark. In France, a country famous for its controversy over the belief of ADHD, the diagnosed prevalence ratio in male to female is 7:1 (Nøvik, et al.). When I was first started researching ADHD in women to see if there was any explanation to this massive underdiagnosis the top results I got were only about women with ADHD and their correlations with being 85

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sexual assault survivors, eating disorders, or self-harming.

Studies focusing on the female gender and ADHD are victimizing, because neuro-divergent women in western society are viewed as less-than, we are constantly put in positions in need of rescuing.

But once I got to the heart of it, it became clear that it goes much more undetected in women and girls because we are much more likely to internalize it. “Forgetfulness, disorganization, low self-esteem, anxiety, and demoralization are all considerably less overt than the disruptive behaviors typically seen among males” (Quinn 580). Girls are already coached from a young

Studies focusing on the female gender and ADHD are victimizing, because neuro-divergent women in western society are viewed as less-than, we are constantly put in positions in need of rescuing.

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age to internalize their feelings, make themselves smaller, less attention-grabbing than boys, so it makes sense that this would then translate into a disorder that nearly completely eradicates all external symptoms.

These gender binaries ADHD is examined through also doesn’t leave much room for a queer examination of the disorder. For those that identify in a sexuality or gender that is not the codified norm, such as myself, there are added layers of suppression from a young age that stack even more cards against children, especially those assigned female at birth, from getting diagnosed.

“Clinical experience suggests that girls and women who have ADHD have high rates of coexisting anxiety and depression… that are more likely to be diagnosed” (Quinn 581). I was first diagnosed with mild depression almost four years ago, and I’ve carried it with me for most of my life like many generations of my family before me, but once 2020 started it was the anxiety that began to debilitate me, like

The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis

Sjerven

Girls are already coached from a young age to internalize their feelings...so it makes sense that this would then translate into a disorder that nearly completely eradicates all external symptoms.

I am sure many others have experienced around the world. It was only then that I was finally able to get a diagnosis for ADHD, once everything started adding up.

I went straight from my therapist’s office to join some friends at the library, the Brown Test for ADHD in Adults in my bag. I will tell the story of taking the ADHD self-assessment because it’s actually quite hilarious. I pulled it out when I got there and thought it could be something casual, easy to just do in a couple minutes and then take back to my therapist. Not only was it very long and took a while for me to do, but by question fifteen or so I proceeded to break down and cry in the public library. I had checked the farright box ‘very often’ on every single question so far. When I got to question thirty-nine out of the forty, I realized that once I had gotten to the second page

of the questionnaire, I was off by one and had been filling it out incorrectly. And question thirty-nine was something along the lines of “do you fill out forms incorrectly?” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the irony.

I took the test back after an emotional week, pretty sure I already knew the results. My therapist quickly confirmed my suspicions. But like I was conditioned from a young age, I had bottled it all up and refused to seek medication, in part because I was too proud, and because I was scared of how it might change me. This might sound crazy - no, it will definitely sound crazy - but living with this constant stress and misery for so long had given me a form of Stockholm syndrome: I didn’t want to be happy, and normal scared me.

But I was also angry. Part of me felt like I was handed a time bomb someone else set off. How 87

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was I supposed to even begin the momentous task of undoing years of damage, all of it preventable, had ADHD awareness in girls been more normalized outside the medical community?

How was I supposed to even begin the momentous task of undoing years of damage, all of it preventable, had ADHD awareness in girls been more normalized outside the medical community?

The trauma from forcing myself to learn social skills by mimicking my peers actions and phrases, relearning destructive behaviors and eating habits, and most importantly, trying to figure out what is my identity versus what I have masked for years is an insurmountable job I will probably be doing the rest of my life.

By September, I had to quit my job, I was barely sleeping, I was falling apart at the seams. Other environmental 88

factors around me had changed but I was still charging forward, like a car driving on four flat tires, and I needed relief. So, I finally told my doctor I wanted medications, I wanted self-help books and websites, I wanted to start running again. As my favorite author, Tara Conklin, says, “Certain things had become unsustainable. Certain pressures threatened to explode.”

Similar to sexuality and gender, ADHD is a spectrum. I have very neat handwriting and can get through a book I really like in a week. But I must always be doing a minimum of two tasks at any given point in time. Currently while writing this, I am listening to music. While I watch TV, I also always play solitaire or scroll through Instagram. If reading this you think, “hm, I like to look at my phone while I watch a movie too! That’s not ADHD,” then I ask you to consider this: can you put the phone or book or knitting down and just sit there and watch? I cannot.

If I am not doing everything I possibly can at once

The Gender Gap in ADHD Diagnosis

then I feel bored, like I am wasting my time. It’s physically uncomfortable and a necessary compulsion to be multitasking and it will be this way for the rest of my life. And if you’re someone reading this with ADHD or ADD and cannot relate to anything I’m saying, it is still valid, and you are still valid and that is only a testament to how varied this disorder is.

Last week was a major milestone for me: I submitted a 2400-word essay for a course on

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a Monday- it was not due until Friday. Both the medication and diagnosis have given validity to my constant struggle to maintain focus and made it easier to adapt better habits that help me do well in an educational system not meant for me. My confidence and independence have also grown. I no longer identify as a lazy, dumb, couch potato that doesn’t like to work hard. I am resilient and strong and I’m making this bachelor’s degree my bitch.

Bibliography CDC. “Data and Statistics About ADHD.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2018, www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd.html.

Nøvik, T.S., A. Hervas, S.J. Ralston, et al. Influence of gender on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Europe–ADORE. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2006; 15(Suppl 1).

Pérez Ortega, Rodrigo. “Under-diagnosed and under-treated, girls with ADHD face distinct risks.” KnowledgeMagazine.org, 2020.

Quinn, Patricia 0. “Treating Adolescent Girls and Women with ADHD: Gender Specific Issues.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 61, no. 5, May 2005, pp. 5579-87.

Waite, Roberta. “Women With ADHD: It Is an Explanation, Not the Excuse Du Jour.” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, vol. 46, no. 3, Blackwell Publishing Inc, July 2010, pp. 182-96.

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B I O P I R AC Y as Capitalist Exploitation of Indigenous Communities ELIZABETH CLEVEL AND 90

Biopiracy Cleveland

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n examining modernization as a capitalist project, one can see the negative impact of the process of capital accumulation and the privatization of knowledge on Indigenous communities across the globe. Biopiracy, as defined

by Oxford English Dictionary, is “the practice of obtaining commercially valuable genetic material, biochemicals, etc., from plant or animal species without fairly rewarding the country or community of origin, esp. by obtaining patents that restrict future use.” 1 Although not a new phenomenon, biopiracy has gained a great deal of attention in recent decades with the introduction of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the supplementary Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols (2000, 2010). With its origins in the colonial era, biopiracy has evolved into the explicit exploitation and profiting off of Indigenous medicinal practices by patenting stolen techniques. This practice is most prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, across Africa and South America, and in Oceania where multinational pharmaceutical companies profit off of traditional knowledge that has been passed down for

millennia.

At the forefront of the anti-biopiracy movement is Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmental and social activist, who has written numerous books and articles on the topic. She continues to advocate for Indian women’s rights in relation to environmental and biopiracy issues. While the issue became prevalent with the outbreak of colonialism, it was exacerbated with the onset of Western, capitalist production. In recent years however, there has been a shift towards regaining and reclaiming ownership of these practices

by Indigenous groups and/ or their governments. These movements are a direct rebuttal to the standardized capitalist vision of development: being tied to industrialization and urbanization that is considered not only necessary, but inevitable.

Traditional remedies and medicine are typically women’s work, regardless of locale. Knowledge is consistently exploited for commercial gain. In the capitalist system, the use of Western science is valued significantly more than traditional use. Colonialism, according to Polish Marxist, philosopher, activ91

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ist, and revolutionary Rosa since the early 1990s when the Luxembourg, is absolutely commercial sale of geneticalnecessary for capitalism 2 as it ly modified food first became normalizes and rationalizes common. “The ultimate step the exploitation of subjugat- in converting nature into a ed peoples. While biopiracy resource is the conversion of in the colonial era was char- ‘seed’— the source from which acterized by blatant stealing plant life rises again— into a and manipulation, capitalism ‘genetic resource’ to be engiworks under theguise of scien- neered, patented and owned tific progress3 for corporate which some This practice is most prev- p r o f i t . ” 5 consider more Seeds are no harmful than alent in the Indian sub- longer seen the overt steal- continent, across Afria, as the root of ing that went and South America, and nature as they hand in hand are being hywith colonial- in Oceana where multi- bridized and ism. As stated national for inpharmaceuti- altered

by Vandana Shiva dustrial and in her 1993 work cal companies profit off c o m m e r c i a l E c o f e m i n i s m , traditional knowledge purposes. In “Commercial the capitalist capitalism is that has been passed system, nabased on spe- down for a milennia. ture is seen cialized comnot for its inmodity production,”4 which trinsic value but for its monis exactly the goal of biopira- etary value, hence the unbricy: taking something simple dled exploitation that modern (nature) and making it spe- science has not only allowed cialized so that they can stake but encouraged. their claim to it. This is also Modern science, as it shown in the modification of has developed in the capitalist seed that has been rampant world, is the avenue through 1“

biopiracy, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2019, www.oed.com/view/Entry/251067 . Accessed 7 May 2019.

2 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Vol. [2nd edition], Zed Books, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=711298&site=eds-live&scope=site.

3 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 2.

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an Indigenous woman’s knowledge:7 “Experts and specialists are thus projected as the only legitimate seekers after and producers of knowledge.”8 Nature is viewed as a machine9 rather than organisms and peoples’ interdepen-

Modern science, as it has developed in the capitalist world, is the avenue through which bioparacy has been allowed to flourish.

dence upon each other, which allows it to be devalued and seen only for its monetary value. According to Vandana Shiva, “Industrialism created a limitless appetite for resource exploitation, and modern science provided the ethical and cognitive license to make exploitation possible, acceptable and desirable.”10 Everything is subject to “modernization” in the capitalist world and as that is the world that dictates development, both in policies and funds allocated, the capitalist agenda permeates every aspect of production By considering modernization to be synonymous with development, highly exploitative Western

scientific projects have been allowed to enter Indigenous communities and, in the name of progress, copyright and patent Indigenous practices. Shiva, as well as several other theorists and activists, argue that modern science is “the source of violence against nature and women as it ‘dispossesses them of their productivity, power, and potential.’”11 The knowledge and resources that these multinational corporations are exploiting are women’s— typically peasant— work that has been passed down through generations for millennia.

One of the many counterarguments in the conversation revolving around copyrighting and patenting biological resources is that patents are intended to be used for new knowledge 12, not “common knowledge” that has been utilized in these communities for decades or even centuries. Shiva asserts that “…patents are a replay of colonialism, which is now called globalization and free trade.”13 This again, is an instance of colonialism paving the way for modern capitalism. Modern science exploits not only the individuals of these Indigenous communities, but the eco93

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systems in which biopiracy has been allowed to flourish. One of Shiva’s central arguments throughout all of her works is that modern science is a Western, patriarchal projection.

To support this view, she emphasizes the capitalist notion that the knowledge of a white man in a lab far outweighs the value of which they live as well.

There are numerous accounts of corporations destroying the natural environment via deforestation, farming mechanisms, and genetically modified seeds. The development community—which is comprised of mostly Western governments, multinational corporations, and international institutions—has largely priortized the sanctity of life with the priority of science and development,14 allowing for rampant exploitation to occur with few consequences or ram-

ifications.

As previously stated, development and developmental projects are often regarded as a capitalist venture as they are run and funded by wealthy, Western, capitalist nations.

Due to the capitalist system from and within which it is being evaluated, the idea of production is constituted from moving from a collective to an individual form. This is the exact opposite of the belief of these communities: knowledge sharing being

essential to the survival and prosperity of the community, as well as the individual from whom the knowledge stems.

This restrictive view of what constitutes development contributes to the difficulty that many Westerners— particularly those who draft and enact development policies— have in comprehending the concept of collective knowledge. The goal

4 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 2.

5 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 2.

6

Vandana Shiva. “Bioprospecting as Sophisticated Biopiracy.” Signs, vol. 32, no. 2, 2007, p.

307. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/508502.

7 Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “‘Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles.” Signs, vol. 28, no. 2, 2003, p. 499. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/342914.

8 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 2.

9 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 2.

10 Shiva, Vandana. “Women and the Gendered Politics of Food.” Philosophical Topics, no. 2, 2009, p. 17. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.284016232&site=eds-live&scope=site.

11 Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “‘Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles.”

12 Vandana Shiva. “Bioprospecting as Sophisticated Biopiracy.”

13 Chandra Talpade Mohanty. “‘Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles.”

14 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 5.

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of the industrial revolution all circles back to not followand subsequently, the goal of ing Western patterns of conmodern capitalism, is max- sumption. There has been a imizing profits through any collective naturalization of means necessary. Everything capitalist values throughout is measured in terms of capi- the globe over the last couple tal; national product (GNP) is centuries, but in recent years often used to indicate the level there has been notable resisof development in a country. tance— namely in regard to This is yet another example of the impact of biopiracy— from how development is governed women of the Global South,

by Western, capitalist soci- with growing interest and ineties. These countries often volvement from not only their consider development to be a own governments but the in“westernization of economic ternational community as a categories.” 15 whole.

Following the Knowledge sharing being Growing same logic, international atthe absence essential to the survival tention and supof Western and prosperity of the port has come consumption mainly in the patterns of- community, as well as the form of conventen equates to individual from whom tions, treaties, poverty. This and conferences. is the same the knowledge stems. The Convention mindset that on Biological is unable to fully comprehend Diversity, which was drafted and self-provisioning and subsis- enacted in 1992, only touches tence economies.16 It also mis- the surface of the biopiracy isidentifies culturally perceived sue, but it does lay the groundpoverty as real material pov- work for later discussions. This erty due to the fact that these convention’s main emphasis is “poor” communities often do on protecting and encouraging not eat processed foods sold continued customary use. The by multinational companies, Nagoya Protocol (2014) on the live in houses made of natural other hand is much more extenmaterials, or wear homemade sive and focuses on collaboration clothes rather than clothing and consent. Article 1 sets the bought from a store 17, which stage for the rest of the Proto95

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col by stating “The objective of this Protocol is the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources…”18 Article 3

There are numerous accounts of corporations destroying the natural environment expands on this by emphasizing that the “…Protocol shall also apply to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources…” 19 Two major aspects of the Protocol are the attention to the equitable sharing of benefits and adequate compensation.

Article 5, section 2 attends to this: “Each Party shall take legislative, administrative or policy measures, as appropriate, with the aim of ensuring that benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources that are held by Indigenous and local communities…are shared in a fair and equitable way with the communities concerned, based

on mutually agreed terms.”20 There are numerous articles that promote the conservation of biological resources, encourage the involvement of Indigenous communities, and an article that explicitly includes Indigenous women in the conversation surrounding biopiracy.21 There was also a conference held in Geneva, Switzerland in June 2018 that was led by India, regarding the legal and cultural significance of biopiracy. Additionally, in the last decade, there have been several important legal battles and consequent decisions on the source of the biological resources and the consent of the Indigenous community from which they were taken. India has been particularly progressive in battling multinational companies on behalf of their Indigenous populations and have started to reform their patent laws and encourage other nations to do the same.22

One of the most detrimental aspects of biopiracy has been the criminalization of trad-

15 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 5.

16 Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 5.

17

Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Section 5.

“Nagoya Protocol.” Convention on Biological Diversity, 2014, www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf .

19 “Nagoya Protocol.” Convention on Biological Diversity. Article 3.

20 “Nagoya Protocol.” Convention on Biological Diversity. Article 5, Section 2.

21 “Nagoya Protocol.” Convention on Biological Diversity. Article 12.

22 S.S, Rana & Co. “Bio-Piracy Initiative by India.” Lexology, 18 July 2018, www.lexology.com/library/detail. aspx?g=136f19ca-9129-4d78-a932-cdd01f1745fa.

23 “Nagoya Protocol.” Convention on Biological Diversity. Article 12, Section 4.

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-itional practices and substances. Although the Nagoya Protocol protects against this,23 there are still many instances of members of Indigenous communities being prosecuted for continuing to use traditional techniques after they have been patented or copyrighted. This comes full circle to Vandana Shiva’s argument surrounding the use of patents

By stripping Indigenous women of what is traditionally theirs, these corporations are taking away these opportunities from them. which grant monopoly rights to corporations and ignore the contributions of generations of indigenous communities. By equating development to improvement, the act of robbing Indigenous people of their traditional knowledge is deemed “socially acceptable” in the name of progress. This harms

the community as a whole, but women in particular. Women’s work is already often considered to be not “real” work and thus carries very little value. By stripping Indigenous women of what is traditionally theirs, these corporations are taking away opportunities from them.

In this way, patents and monopolies steal biodiversity from Third World producers.

In her article “Land, Bodies, and Knowledge: Biocolonialism of Plants, Indigenous Peoples, Women, and People with Disabilities,” Susan Hawthorne states that the main concern of “colonialist corporations…is to privatize knowledge as patents on life forms.”24 She continues on to state the counterargument often used by multinationals which is that Indigenous communities are often benefited by the patent system as they receive royalties. In reality, it is extremely rare that these communities receive any, and especially competent or sufficient, compensation. Only after legal action, such

24

Hawthorne, Susan. “Land, Bodies, and Knowledge: Biocolonialism of Plants, Indigenous Peoples, Women, and People with Disabilities.” Signs, vol. 32, no. 2, 2007, p. 314. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/508224.

25 Pain, Elisabeth. “French Institute Agrees to Share Patent Benefits after Biopiracy Accusations.” Science Magazine, 9 Dec. 2017, www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/french-institute-agrees-share-patent-benefits-after-biopiracy-accusations. In this lawsuit, a French pharmaceutical company was instructed to share profits earned from the knowledge taken from the Indigenous communities in French Guiana.

26 Hawthorne, Susan. “Land, Bodies, and Knowledge: Biocolonialism of Plants, Indigenous Peoples, Women, and People with Disabilities.”

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as the recent lawsuit in French Guiana25 on behalf of Indigenous peoples, do communities actually receive compensation.

Susan Hawthorne sums up the overarching issue with biopiracy in the following quote: “…commodification of community knowledge disrupts the whole society.”26 The battle then becomes the local (the Indigenous communities) versus the multinational (the large corporations). The fact is that these corporations only find value in production and what can be monetized undermines the sanctity of the knowledge of these communities. They are seen as naïve and ignorant because they cannot, do not, or will not capitalize on their knowledge, which is inconceivable in the capitalist system that has entered these communities in the name of progress, modernization, and development. Through activists like Vandana Shiva, and mechanisms such as the Nagoya Protocol, the international community is finally beginning to recognize the detrimental impact of capitalism on Indigenous people and communities. The women of these communities are finally beginning to reclaim the knowledge that has been stolen from them for decades, if not centuries, first by colonial powers and then capitalist corporations. In a massive demonstration of support, over 98

450 cities hosted Marches Against Monsanto in 2015 and many continue to do so each year, calling for an end to the biochemical giant’s near monopoly on seed patents.

Biopiracy Cleveland

Bibliography Hawthorne, Susan. “Land, Bodies, and Knowledge: Biocolonialism of

Plants, Indigenous Peoples, Women, and People with Disabilities.” Signs, vol. 32, no. 2, 2007, p. 314. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/508224.

Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “‘Under Western Eyes’ Revisited: Feminist

Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles.” Signs, vol. 28, no.

2, 2003, p. 499. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/342914.

Pain, Elisabeth. “French Institute Agrees to Share Patent Benefits after

Biopiracy Accusations.” Science Magazine, 9 Dec. 2017, www. sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/french-insti

tute-agrees-share-patent-benefits-after-biopiracy-accusations.

Rana, S.S. & Co. “Bio-Piracy Initiative by India.” Lexology,

18 July 2018, www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=136f 19ca-9129-4d78-a932-cdd01f1745fa.

Shiva, Vandana. “Bioprospecting as Sophisticated Biopiracy.” Signs, vol.

32, no. 2, 2007, p. 307. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1086/508502.

Shiva, Vandana and Maria Mies. Ecofeminism. Vol. [2nd edition], Zed

Books, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=711298&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Shiva, Vandana. “Women and the Gendered Politics of Food.”

Philosophical Topics, no. 2, 2009, p. 17. EBSCOhost, search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=eds gcl.284016232&site=eds-live&scope=site. “biopiracy, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2019,

www.oed.com/view/Entry/251067 . Accessed 7 May 2019.

“Nagoya Protocol .” Convention on Biological Diversity, 2014,

www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf

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a glimpse into the effects of French politics on Maghreb women

Gabriela Araújo Motta

The Exit is Not This Way Motta

D

espite being historically known as a human rights advocate, the Hexagon, has yet to prove its engagement in constructive critiques and reviews of its immigration policies. The country often took part in several agreements and conventions, part of what I will call a desire to achieve a “global moral identity”- an identity of a welcoming and progressive nation. This was initially seen in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration de Droits des Hommes et du Citoyen) in 1784 as a first draft of a national human rights document. Later in 1948, this document, along with the Magna Carta from 1215 and other documents asserting the rights of peoples, inspired the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed in Paris, France. France was also a pioneer in the legalization of both women’s suffrage and abortion in 1944 and 1975, consecutively.

Such commitment to civil and human rights leads us to believe that progressive ideas lead the country. However, the present political scenario in France shows us a different picture, in particular regarding French

politics of immigration and its effects on women.

A study performed by the INED (Institut National d’Études Démographiques) showed that as of 2008 (and the number sustains), 51% of the people who migrated to France were women, and not only for family reunion, but as work pioneers and most importantly, battered asylum-seeking women, that is, women who are seeking refuge from gendered, domestic, state or economic violence. According to a study published by Lori K. Mihalich, at least 20% of the calls received by the SOS domestic violence line in France are from foreign

At least 20% of the calls recieved by the SOS domestic violence line in France are from foreign women. women. Although we know most immigrants are female and a huge number of them come to France seeking freedom from a violent past, there is very little data regarding asylum-seeking women. Interest 101

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in the situation of asylum seeking and refugee women in France emerged in the early 2000s as already estabalished migrant women’s community associations began receiving increased demands for practical and moral support from newly arrived asylum-seeking and refugee women. With the increasing number of international traumatic events that touch on entire populations’ basic human rights, it has been brought to the attention of politicians, agencies, and activists the need for improvement in the treatment of immigrants. In their 2010 book Refugee Women in Britain and France, Gill Allwood and Khursheed Wadia analyze documents collected in several conferences and research gatherings since 2000, as well as interviews with asylum seekers and NGO’s. They come to a conclusion that an exorbitant amount of cases - 300 per caseworker - carried out interviews in an intimidating and insensitive way, negatively shape the experiences of asylum-seeking women in Britain and France. This system is a flawed and biased process that does not consider technical and psychological issues that 102

asylum seekers face in lodging and defending a claim. Miriam Ticktin’s Casualties of Care: Immigration and the Politics of Humanitarianism in France, beautifully covers the consequences of the politics of immigration in France. In the chapter “Armed Love: Against Modern Slavery, Against Immigrants” the anthropologist criticizes the so-called benevolent consideration from the Global North who perpetuate a power play between what they announce are the “barbaric” and them, the saviors. Salvation, however, is based on an ethical and moral standard that only accepts one single reality. The reality where people coming from underdeveloped countries are subservient to the French state; this immigration process ends up being an open door to modern slavery.

For example, by not being able to escape sexual violence in a workplace because they are in the workplace “illegally,” wom-

This immigration process ends up being an open door to modern slavery.

The Exit is Not This Way Motta

en are predominantly victims of this reality. This quality of life challenges the most basic understanding of what it means to have a decent living.

In the next chapter, “In the Name of Violence against Women,” she extrapolates the immigrant condition and adds a new undertone - the female condition. This chapter examines how a regime of care that supposedly protects women from violence comes to play a role in the politics of immigration. This regime of care is based on a shifty compassion that changes to fit contexts and histories. What is understood as violence, as worthy of exception varies not according to the victims of the experiences, but to what the state figures are recognizable violence. This restrictive understanding of violence isolates itself in certain ethnicized and/or racialized forms and lets other types of violence –state, racial, economic- unchecked. Certain specific “types of people ‘’ are taken as the

model so the other are always in comparison to the ideal legitimate morally suffering body.

Depending if the victim fits one, two or none of the categories that make the whole ideal, they will or will not be treated a certain way. In this context, access to the law is determined by the role of compassion and by the exceptional, apolitical, innocent, suffering body. Cultural otherness seems to be a critical part of standing out in the process of legitimizing one’s moral value. The subjects of compassion gradually change to fit new contexts and histories even as they appear to be outside of time, outside of history – as universally and timelessly worthy of benevolence.

A form of violence that is often overseen is state violence. Bilateral accords between France and some late North-African colonies make it impossible for some women to escape this gendered violence. Persons with these passports are subject to the legal family code of those

Cultural otherness seems to be a critical part of standing out in the process of legitimizing one’s moral value.

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countries, largely based on Shari´a law. This accord was made to allow French citizens to continue living in these countries under French law, but on the other hand, it sustains the issues women under Shari´a law face by denying basic human rights in the name of politics. For example, many women under this law fall into the category of undocumented because personal status law allows women to be repudiated by their husbands (by unilateral divorces with or without the knowledge of the wife). Once the wife is repudiated, she may lose her status in France if it was listed as dependent on the status of the husband, which is often the case. On top of the difficulties faced in the asylum-seeking process, on an onsite research Jane Freedman carried out Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Refugee Women: a hidden aspect of the refugee crisis a problematic reception of refugee woman was unveiled. There have been several reported incidents of gender-based violence against refugees. Although the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has issued directives for protection against gender-based violence and the European Bor104

der Agency has also recently integrated gender guidelines into its Fundamental Rights Training, female refugees face physical assault, exploitation and sexual harassment on their journey through Europe. This exemplifies how a structurally patriarchal society –one that disregards women and their suffering-- is engrained in all contexts, even those who are supposed to be helping these battered women.

Despite women taking up

Meanwhile, other forms of violence– state, racial, economic, psychological, and a lot more– are left unchecked. more space in the economic and academic sphere, and bringing value to the country they are migrating to, as seen in this analysis of France, they are still subject to gender-based violence at home and on their way through Europe. Lastly, the research conducted by Olga Cosa and published at France Terre D’Asile reiterates Freedman’s findings.

It declares reception conditions are insufficient and precarious,

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which expose asylum seekers and refugee women to a great number of violent acts. The research continues arguing that obtaining protection against these violent acts generates a feeling of fear of losing their permits, especially when their international protection is attached to their spouses. This context of immigration brings tension from the colonial era and its care is based on moral values rather than a political

language of equality, justice and anti-imperialism. It also isolates violence in certain ethnicized/ exoticized forms.

References Allwood, Gill and Wadia, Khursheed. “Refugee Women in France.”

Refugee Women in Britain and France. Manchester Uni

versity Press, 2010, pp. 96–128. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/sta ble/j.ctt155jb8c.10.

Bautista Cosa, Olga. “Violence against Asylum Seeker and Refu

gee Women in France.” Les Cahiers Du Social, no. 40, Apr.

2018, https://www.france-terre-asile.org/toutes-nos-publi cations/details/1/225-les-violences-à-l-égard-des-femmes- demandeuses-d-asile-et-réfugiées-en-france.html.

Beauchemin, Cris, et al. “Immigrants in France: A Female Majority.”

Population and Societies, no. 502, Aug. 2013,doi:www.

ined.fr/en/resources_documentation/publications/ pop_soc/.

Freedman, Jane. Sexual and gender-based violence against refu

gee women: a hidden aspect of the refugee “crisis”. Repro

ductive Health Matters, Elsevier, 2016, 24, pp.18 -

26.10.1016/j.rhm.2016.05.003. halshs-01441147 Ticking, Miriam. “In the Name of Violence against Women.” Casu

alties of Care: Immigration and the Politics of Humanitarian

ism in France. 1st ed., University of California Press, 2011,

pp. 128–158.

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The American University of Paris