Tag Archives: Feminism

Religion, Spirituality, and Inequality in Communities of Color A Special issue of Women, Gender, and Families of Color

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CALL FOR PAPERS:  Religion, Spirituality, and Inequality in Communities of Color A Special issue of Women, Gender, and Families of Color

Guest Editors:  Assata Zerai, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & Sandra Weissinger, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

 Recent public discourse on women’s reproductive rights and abortion, full-time homemakers and working mothers, and LGBTQ partnership and marriage, has highlighted the pervasive role and power of organized religion and spirituality in daily life, as well as related issues of oppression and resistance. For this special issue of Women, Gender, and Families of Color (WGFC), we seek historical, and social science manuscripts that explore the intersectionalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other socioeconomic categories in U.S.

religious and spiritual settings. Topics may address, but are not limited to, the following:

Spheres of social inequality, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality and their reproduction and/or practice in U.S. religious/spiritual organizations or spaces; The use of resources (e.g. human and financial) to impede or promote the reproduction of inequalities; The meaning of relationships, and the practice of religion/spirituality, in these organizations and spaces for women, men, and LGBTQ communities; The practice of social and/or economic privilege among groups in U.S.

religious/spiritual organizations and spaces; U.S. religious/spiritual structures as intransigent sites from which to challenge persisting inequalities; U.S. transnational comparisons on any of the above.

Please send queries and electronic versions of manuscripts (Microsoft Word) to:

Assata Zerai
Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
E-Mail: azerai@illinois.edu

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: AUGUST 16, 2013

Manuscripts should be a maximum of 30 pages, inclusive of title page, abstract

(150 words or less), main body of text, figures, tables, and Chicago Style, 16th edition references. Only title pages should contain authors’ names, affiliation, phone & FAX numbers, in addition to the email address of the corresponding author.

WGFC is a multidisciplinary journal that centers the study of Black, Latina/o, Indigenous, and Asian American women, gender, and families. In addition to special issues, WGFC welcomes general submissions on a rolling submission policy.

Please visit www.womengenderandfamilies.ku.edu for more information.

Must I be a Feminist?

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I’ve been laboring over the question:  ”must I be a feminist?” for months.  I have yet to settle into where I fit along the feminist spectrum.  I do actively fight about patriarchy and misogyny.  Perhaps this makes me a feminist?  I do advocate for women and girls to have access to health and medicine, education, food, and clothing and to always have choice and know they are an agent in this world.  Perhaps this makes me a socially conscious feminist? But, I don’t know what feminism means anymore!  So, must I be feminist?

What happens when your politics and commitments don’t fit nicely in social categories? While I fight against patriarchy, male dominance, and androcentrism, does this automatically put me in the box of feminist?  Where does difference fit into the spectrum of feminism?  Does it?  Can there be something like a transgressive feminist category, or a queer feminist category (one that transcends all the sub-categories of feminism?), or does there need to be a unified feminist category that pulls together a dominant experience of women?  And, are women only feminists?  Can boys and men be feminist? What about couples who practice BDSM?  Is this a feminist practice?  If ‘we’ are combatting male-dominance and decide to let our male partner dominate us in our regular sexual practice, does this undermine our feminist commitments, or create new modes of feminist existence?  Must I be a feminist?

I have more questions than answers, and my mind continues to traverse the feminist spectrum.  Of course, I am left with the reality that I want to decrease violence against women and girls, increase women and girls’ ability to access health, education, work, and power.  I don’t want to leave women and girls powerless in a world that perpetually consumes them, fetishizes their bodies, and commodifies their production.  I want feminism to look different–a politic that takes seriously the different bodies that comprise the feminist movement.  What do we do w/ Transwomen and Transmen?  Are they feminists?  Here again, I have questions.  I leave my questions with you…

Categories of Resistance

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the tools, methods, and categories that have helped me resist hegemonic strategies, patriarchy, homophobia, and misogyny.  All this thinking has also created questions in my mind.  For example, I use feminist analysis and feminist tools, but am I a feminist?  I utilize queer analysis and methodologies, but am I queer?  I have long resisted categories that seek to stabilize and unify one’s experience.  And so, I’m left with categories of resistance, a box that cannot be ‘checked.’

Is there a word that helps collectively display all of the liberative ways that feminism, queerness, and other methods seek to create moments of openings and liberation for marginalized bodies?  In searching for a ‘new’ word, do we further institutionalize and stabilize the very thing that we’re trying NOT to stabilize?  Do we need to reach back into history to see where we might have gone wrong?  Will history show us something that will help us today?  Or, will history simply reveal the same patterns and motifs that we’ve perpetuated?

I think we need categories of resistance, but I’m not sure that these categories can be housed within normative white methods and standards, because the outcome is that these moments create new models of stability, that thereby fortifies whiteness.  I look toward a more material reality of resistance–bodies, actual physical bodies, resisting.  What is that called?

Latina Feminist Intercultural Epistemologies

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I’ll be traveling to Harvard Divinity school this fall for the ‘Ways of Knowing’ Conference.  The following panel was accepted for inclusion at the conference, a panel that two other Latina colleagues and I created.  I wanted to share it with you.

Panel Title: Latina Feminist Intercultural Epistemologies

Panel Description: The landmark First Inter-American Symposium on Feminist Intercultural Theology gathered together scholars from across the Americas in Mexico City during the summer of 2004 to re-envision knowledge production as a liberatory, inclusive, pluralistic, and transcultural praxis. Their experience of crossing language, borders, class divisions, race, ethnicity, and position within the academy resulted in a clarion call to reclaim excluded sources of wisdom, embracing multifaceted understandings of truth. Our panel responds to their call for a contemporary intercultural dialogue that undermines hegemonic theoethical constructions by proposing a range of Latina Feminist Intercultural Epistemologies. We seek to re-imagine wisdom through embodiment, Diaspora, and the queer(y)ing of spiritual practices.  With this in mind, this panel seeks to engage in the intersections of interculturality and epistemology.  We believe that space is a feature to understanding interculturality, and that the ways in which we produce knowledge and come to know are often dictated by the spaces in which we engage.

 

This panel creates an opening for adding voices to the existing work in Latina Feminism’s Interculturality.  The first paper seeks to theorize mestizaje as both body and place, and identifies it as the ‘cusp’ of interculturality.  The second paper looks at epistemological approaches, which include the composition of the “hard nucleus” of the Mesoamerican cosmovision, allowing for the unfolding of multivalent meanings of gender. The third paper situates the intersections of Womanist and Latina Feminist particularist approaches to theoethical epistemology in Diaspora, reclaiming AfroLatina identities as the space where our MotherWit and Sabiduría (wisdom) are united. These three papers position themselves in the company of “Latina explorations for a just world.”

Remembering Ada María Isasi-Diaz

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Today is a sad day for so many.  I was just notified that Ada passed away this morning.  While I knew she was struggling, a common theme in her Mujerista theology, to battle the cancer and infections that were destroying her body.  She ended her life en la lucha–in the struggle–yet not so in deep struggle, since she passed away in her deep sleep, and I am grateful for her pioneering a way for me, a Queermestiz@ to participate in the fullness of life.  While my life is not free from struggle, I have been able to look to Ada and her work (including her kinship among Womanist scholars) as a way to imagine queer\Ethics.  Thank you Ada for giving us a way to think and explore and imagine Hispanic/Latina Liberation Theology & Ethics.

I am not alone as a mujerista, a queermestiz@.  I am surrounded by the Hispanic Theological Community who proudly recognizes your contribution to Liberation Theology.  Your memory and theological imagination and commitment to la lucha remains with me and others this day, and will as we continue to take steps for liberation.

While I enflesh loads of doubt, I cannot help but call you a theological gift helping to pluralize women’s experience in theology and ethics.  You will be missed, eternally.

Call for Papers: Society for Women in Philosophy

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Call for Papers: Society for Women in Philosophy (Eastern Division)
April 28, 2012
Notre Dame of Maryland University
Baltimore, MD
 
Conference Theme: Women in Philosophy: Why Race and Gender Still Matter
 
Keynote: “Whiteness and Women of Color in Feminist Theory or Considerations of Race and Sex Analogies in Contemporary Feminism,” Dr. Donna Dale-Marcano, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Trinity College.
The Eastern Division of the Society for Women in Philosophy invites submissions for its 2012 meeting to be held at Notre Dame of Maryland University on Saturday, April 28, 2012. This year’s conference theme is “Women in Philosophy: Why Race and Gender Still Matter.” Although “intersectionality,” the difficult yet productive attempt to theorize race, class, gender, disability, sexuality, etc. together, has been a conceptual framework for more than a decade in the U.S. academy, it is almost entirely absent as a recognized philosophical theme or framework within the larger discipline of philosophy. We invite submissions that promote and engage intersectionality, as well as submissions that bring attention to the work of woman philosophers and/or women in philosophy.
 
Deadline for Submission: Friday, March 30, 2012. Please send a 250-300 word abstract to:
 
Maeve O’Donovan, modonovan@ndm.edu
Lisa Yount, yountlisa@gmail.com
 
Registration (includes lunch)
For non-members: $80
For members of ESWIP: $60
For graduate students and the underemployed: $40

Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy “Interstices: Women of Color Feminist Philosophy”

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Title: Interstices: Women of Color Feminist Philosophy

Journal Special Issue: Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy

Editors: Kristie Dotson, PhD & Donna-Dale Marcano, PhD

Publication Volume: Volume 29, Winter 2014

 

Hypatia Special Issue:

Interstices: Women of Color Feminist Philosophy

Call for Papers

Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy seeks papers for a special issue on women of color feminist philosophy.  We welcome feminist philosophical scholarship with the aim of interrogating and/or demonstrating work created within the terrain of these three terms- women of color, feminist, philosophy.  As the profession of philosophy has witnessed a small emergence of women of color who are pursuing academic degrees in philosophy as well as those who find philosophy useful in the service of other types of research and activism, women of color feminist philosophers still struggle to negotiate political and/or academic spaces often acknowledged as “interstitial” or “liminal.”  And, yet, when one considers that within the past decade that younger (i.e. newer) feminist scholars now have access to successful and now classic works of a handful of senior feminist philosophers of color, one can instantly recognize that we are at a threshold of expanding the purview of what it means to philosophize as a woman of color feminist philosopher.   This latter circumstance points to a significant transformation.  We are at a juncture that deserves celebration as well as serious contemplation on the presence or lack thereof women of color feminist philosophical work.   To this end, we encourage new essays that explore the promises of scholarship as well as problems of objectives and/or methodologies pertaining to women of color feminist philosophy.

By women of color feminist philosophy, we mean intellectual work done by feminists who take women of color as their primary philosophical touchstones and/or scholarly focus.  As such, we invite papers on a wide range of topics.  We look forward to new insights concerning the identity and/or existence of “women of color” feminist philosophical scholarship as well as whether and what philosophy and philosophical tools aid or prohibit pursuing and addressing women of color feminist work.  We also encourage essays on the process of including women of color’s voices into one’s own academic work.   In particular, we hope that this issue will stimulate articulation of the diverse truths inherent to the diversity of women included in the moniker women of color, as it is understood within and against the American context or post-racial, post-feminist sensibilities.  To this end, we encourage contributors to explore integrating resources from their particular racial, ethnic, and/or cultural background with an attention to the hazards or victories of such an exploration.   We welcome essays ranging from ethical and social political explorations to metaphysical and epistemological concerns.  We invite discussion of ways in which the label “women of color” translates and/or does not translate in contexts outside the US as well as whether and how it can be re-appropriated and transformed within international arenas.  We also encourage explorations of the relationship and distinctions between women of color feminist philosophy and critical race feminism or transnational feminism including articulations of what makes a work philosophical and how it becomes so.

Deadline for submission: August 15, 2012

Papers should be no more than 8000 words, inclusive of notes and bibliography, prepared for anonymous review, and accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words.  In addition to articles, we invite submissions for our Musings section. These should not exceed 3,000 words, including footnotes and references, and unless they are invited contributions, they will be subject to external review.  For details please see Hypatia’s submission guidelines, http://depts.washington.edu/hypatia/submission_guidelines.html

Please submit your paper to: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hypa. When you submit, make sure to select “Interstices” as your manuscript type, and also send an email to the guest editor(s) indicating the title of the paper you have submitted:

Kristie Dotson: dotsonk@msu.edu; Donna-Dale Marcano: Donna.Marcano@trincoll.edu

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN CONTRIBUTING!

Feminist Pragmatism in Place Colloquium

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Feminist Pragmatism in Place Colloquium

The University of Dayton

October 19-20, 2012

This colloquium will address feminist pragmatist approaches to place, broadly construed, including natural and built environments, and spaces of exclusion and belonging in historical and contemporary contexts.

 

Plenary Speakers:

Lisa Heldke, author of Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer and Professor of Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College, will speak on “Urban Farmers and Rural Cosmopolitans? Pragmatist Musings on Contemporary Food Movements”

Louise W. Knight, author of Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy and Jane Addams: Spirit in Action, Visiting Scholar, Northwestern University Gender Studies Program and School of Communication, will speak on “Reading Addams’s Rhetoric on Social Justice”

Due Date: May 28, 2012.  Papers will be blind reviewed. Please submit two files, one with the paper title, your name, and email address, and the other with the full paper of no more than 3500 words of text, without your name or other identifying information. Send to Cynthia King (Cynthia.King@notes.udayton.edu).

 

For more information  please contact the colloquium organizers, Denise James (Denise.James@notes.udayton.edu) and Marilyn Fischer (Fischer@udayton.edu), of the Department of Philosophy, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio.

 

What the Bishops Won’t Tell You

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What the Bishops Won’t Tell You
An Open Letter to Kathleen Sebelius from Catholic Groups
Sponsored by: Catholics for Choice, 1436 U Street NW, # 301, Washington DC 20009 www.CatholicsForChoice.org ■ (202) 986-6093

September 9, 2011
The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius Secretary United States Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Sebelius,

As progressive Catholic organizations, our social justice tradition compels us to speak out and advocate for the least among us. For that reason, we write urging you to not impose burdensome conscience clauses seeking to limit and, indeed, eliminate access, and dishonor the conscience of those seeking family planning services.

Including comprehensive family planning services as a preventive benefit for women’s health under the Affordable Care Act will make these services more affordable—and therefore more accessible—for all women, but especially for poor women. Access to family planning has improved social and economic opportunities for women, prevented unintended pregnancies and the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and decreased infant, child and maternal deaths—all while saving billions in taxpayer dollars.

As Catholics, we are called by our faith to show solidarity with and compassion for the poor. Our tradition’s preferential option for the poor compels us to look at public policy decisions in terms of how they affect the least among us. By eliminating copayments for family planning and making these services more affordable, poor women in the United States will have greater access to these services. The vast majority of Catholics in the United States support these services—98 percent of sexually active Catholic women in the US have used a modern contraceptive method at some point in their lives. When Catholic voters considered healthcare reform in 2009, more than six in ten supported health insurance coverage—whether it is private or government insurance—for contraception and family planning. It is clear that family planning is strongly supported by Catholics throughout the United States.

Allowing some entities to opt out of this no-cost coverage for family planning would create an unnecessary burden upon many employees across the country. We find these conscience clause provisions extremely disheartening, as they would undermine the consciences of women who seek family planning health services. As Catholics, we are called to listen to our individual consciences in matters of moral decision making, and to respect other people’s right to do the same. We cannot and do not presume to tell others how best to listen to their own consciences as they make important decisions about whether or when to have children. We do not support any effort to deny and disrespect the conscience of individuals who seek comprehensive family planning services, and encourage you to reject all policies that do so.

A large majority of Catholics in the US are committed to ensuring that all women and men have access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services. We are hopeful that you will not impose undue burdens upon access in the form of conscience clause restrictions, and that you will ensure that all Catholics will be able to listen to their consciences and have their consciences honored in turn.

Sincerely,

Call to Action USA, Catholics for Choice, Chicago Women-Church, Congregation for Peace with Justice Committee of the Sisters of Providence SMW, CORPUS, DignityUSA, Ecumenical Catholic Communion, Faithful of Southern Illinois (FOSIL), Greater Cincinnati Women-Church, National Coalition of American Nuns, New Ways Ministry, Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference, WomenEucharist Boulder, Women-Church Baltimore, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, Women’s Ordination Conference

Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Meeting

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Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Meeting
The Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network will meet on Friday, November 18, 2011, from 4-6 PM in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Francisco. The meeting, under the auspices of WATER, the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, will be held at the InterContinental Hotel in the Sutter Room. Further information can be found in the AAR Program Book where this session is listed on p. 33 as M18-302.
The Network will focus on successes and challenges in implementing and maintaining feminist liberation theological programs in academic institutions and other settings. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and Mary E. Hunt will chair the meeting.
Discussion will follow opening remarks by:
Shannon Clarkson, San Francisco Theological Seminary
Margaret Miles, Graduate Theological Union
HiRho Park, United Methodist Church
Sharon Welch, Meadville Lombard Theological School