wiscon reflections

[lcohen]

my retagging project just led me to rereading the notes i made on last year's wiscon, which in turn led to me rereading some write-ups that other people did on intersectionality panels from last year. i actually think that the one that i went to last year had more of the necessary conversation than either of the two that i went to this year, yet

Comments

[jiawen]

What do you think was missing? What's the necessary conversation that isn't happening?

[lcohen]

maybe it feels like we keep having the 101 conversation over and over? the writeup last year had some great examples of practical things where issues hit different populations differently due to amounts of privilege--is the point of these panels to help people identify occasions like this? is there another step?

[jiawen]

I see! Yeah, the "Intersectionality and Feminism" panel I was on felt kinda 101-ish, or maybe like it didn't adequately build on what happened last year. Especially since I don't really know what happened at WisCon 35's intersectionality panels.

It feels very useful to, as you said, help people identify occasions like this. (At least if I understand your meaning right.) Getting an abstract or intellectual understanding of how, for example, being trans affects someone's other axes of privilege -- that's easy. But getting a real sense of all the little nooks and crannies of practical everyday experience -- that's hard. Hearing people's stories helps a lot with that.

[selki]

What about a panel title such as "Intersectionality: Beyond 101" or "Intersectionality: Where are we Going?", with a panel description to help frame things before the panel even starts?