Today is the first day of Spring, a time often associated with rebirth and fresh growth. And while there are reasons for optimism (one can always find reasons for optimism), I find myself much more inclined to dwell on the sheer volume of bullsh*t this month has brought. It’s been an anti-women’s history month, full to the brim with examples of intersectional misogyny and sexism. This blog post isn’t a news round up, but to hit on the lowlights to which I refer:
• Eight people are dead, notably including six Asian women, after a shooting spree targeted them in their places of work on Tuesday March 16th, carried out by a white supremacist.
• Accusers continue to come forward with stories of abuse, harassment, and intimidation by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo.
• In London, Sarah Everard was found dead after walking home alone.
• And a slew of disparities identified between what the NCAA provided the Men and Women playing in the annual March Madness tournament.
Each in their own ways, these headline stories (from the just the last few weeks) scream about the structural and system roots of oppression against women, especially women of color, especially by white men, and all by entrenched sources of power who are at best uninterested in addressing these issues and at worst (and honestly more frequently) are deeply invested in perpetuating them.
I don’t have much to say beyond that I am angry, I’m overwhelmed, I’m acutely aware of feeling helpless. What I am not? I am not surprised. I am not jolted into a new sense of urgency or awareness. I am simply still here, ready to carry on the work. But right now, that motivation comes much more from fury than it does from hope. And I think naming things – as racism, as misogyny, as abuse, as harassment – and our feelings about them is a crucial step in harnessing the power needed to combat them.
“True peace required the presence of justice, not just the absence of conflict.”
-N.K. Jemisin
These articles take each of these subjects further, adding more cutting analysis, personal experience, and human perspective that even some of the best reporting can miss.
Roxanne Gay – A White Man’s Bad Day
My Tam H. Nguyen – Asian American Women Are Resilient – And We Are Not Okay
Monica Hesse – Things I Do Not Ever Need To Read or Hear About A Shooter Ever Again
Kate Manne – What Sarah Everard’s Murder Illuminates—And Might Obscure