(no subject)
Well, it hasn't been a particularly productive weekend thus far (read: I've yet to start my five-page paper on Nietzsche due tomorrow), but it's certainly been interesting in a quiet sort of way.
On Friday night and pretty much all of Saturday, I was at a workshop run by an outside organization on building community. Because it was something like nine hours long, it spanned quite a few topics under that umbrella, such as what communities we identify with, the idea of mainstream/margin within the community and the how to productively be either category, how to problem solve in effective ways, etc. It sounds sort of dry, but I actually really enjoyed it and feel like I learned a lot, both in a skill-set sort of way and about myself. I think the hard part now, though, is to try to apply my ability to discuss a particular issue with someone who hasn't been to the workshop, not only because they don't I guess know the rhetoric but also that it's hard to discuss charged issues and that obviously I'm still working on it.
Also, I've been thinking a lot recently about my identity as a woman and the problem of sexism. It's something that's been building in my mind the past few weeks, and one particular activity during the workshop brought it to the forefront for me. I don't think it's the most important thing I'm taking from the workshop (I feel like there are a lot more general tools in dealing with people that were easily more applicable to my daily life), but it's definitely something that yesterday highlighted. Basically, the activity was to, after having identified in what regards we were mainstream/marginalized, self-group according to identities into caucus groups. So I joined a caucus for women. Everyone in the group was lovely, and we had a good discussion. I think what's hard about being marginalized as a woman is that it isn't something that's apparent, really. First of all, when you look at sexism, it isn't something that's minority versus majority; women are in equal if not greater abundance than men, especially at Swarthmore. Also, gender isn't necessarily the initial way that people define themselves, and it's largely interrelated with race and sexual orientation. So it becomes not only muddied but often shoved away as a secondary issue. And, especially when look at someone like myself, a fairly privileged white woman, it's easy to confuse a personal confidence with empowerment, especially on the societal level. So it was good to talk with other women and more clearly understand how we actually feel and what we want people to know about being marginalized as a woman. But, on the other hand, I feel so frustrated and largely unable to engage in this kind of dialogue with a guy who would take me seriously, even people I consider friends. I don't want to generalize about all men (because that would obviously be counterproductive), but I can safely say that I've never had a conversation with a guy about sexism where I was taken seriously on the level I would like. I still don't know what to do, not really. Keep fighting the good fight, I guess.
Alex and I talked about this last night in her cozy cozy bed before we went to the movies with Danny, Toby, and Ayman. And then we went to the theater, and we were about forty five minutes into the film when it just stopped and the emergency lights went on. Basically, the power went out not only in the whole theater but also in all of Springfield (the town we were in) and all of Swarthmore. So when we finally ended up back on campus, there was nothing to do but play Sardines. I mean, obviously. It was tons of fun, and I got to hide in all sorts of awkward places in EF, including under Alex's bed, in a shelf in a janitorial closet, and in basement storage.
And now it's finally almost time for Sunday brunch. And then Nietzsche, oh gosh.
On Friday night and pretty much all of Saturday, I was at a workshop run by an outside organization on building community. Because it was something like nine hours long, it spanned quite a few topics under that umbrella, such as what communities we identify with, the idea of mainstream/margin within the community and the how to productively be either category, how to problem solve in effective ways, etc. It sounds sort of dry, but I actually really enjoyed it and feel like I learned a lot, both in a skill-set sort of way and about myself. I think the hard part now, though, is to try to apply my ability to discuss a particular issue with someone who hasn't been to the workshop, not only because they don't I guess know the rhetoric but also that it's hard to discuss charged issues and that obviously I'm still working on it.
Also, I've been thinking a lot recently about my identity as a woman and the problem of sexism. It's something that's been building in my mind the past few weeks, and one particular activity during the workshop brought it to the forefront for me. I don't think it's the most important thing I'm taking from the workshop (I feel like there are a lot more general tools in dealing with people that were easily more applicable to my daily life), but it's definitely something that yesterday highlighted. Basically, the activity was to, after having identified in what regards we were mainstream/marginalized, self-group according to identities into caucus groups. So I joined a caucus for women. Everyone in the group was lovely, and we had a good discussion. I think what's hard about being marginalized as a woman is that it isn't something that's apparent, really. First of all, when you look at sexism, it isn't something that's minority versus majority; women are in equal if not greater abundance than men, especially at Swarthmore. Also, gender isn't necessarily the initial way that people define themselves, and it's largely interrelated with race and sexual orientation. So it becomes not only muddied but often shoved away as a secondary issue. And, especially when look at someone like myself, a fairly privileged white woman, it's easy to confuse a personal confidence with empowerment, especially on the societal level. So it was good to talk with other women and more clearly understand how we actually feel and what we want people to know about being marginalized as a woman. But, on the other hand, I feel so frustrated and largely unable to engage in this kind of dialogue with a guy who would take me seriously, even people I consider friends. I don't want to generalize about all men (because that would obviously be counterproductive), but I can safely say that I've never had a conversation with a guy about sexism where I was taken seriously on the level I would like. I still don't know what to do, not really. Keep fighting the good fight, I guess.
Alex and I talked about this last night in her cozy cozy bed before we went to the movies with Danny, Toby, and Ayman. And then we went to the theater, and we were about forty five minutes into the film when it just stopped and the emergency lights went on. Basically, the power went out not only in the whole theater but also in all of Springfield (the town we were in) and all of Swarthmore. So when we finally ended up back on campus, there was nothing to do but play Sardines. I mean, obviously. It was tons of fun, and I got to hide in all sorts of awkward places in EF, including under Alex's bed, in a shelf in a janitorial closet, and in basement storage.
And now it's finally almost time for Sunday brunch. And then Nietzsche, oh gosh.