CL: First heard the term “intersectionality” after starting my blog Black Feminist Ranter which ticked several “oppression” boxes. It was a label applied to me to inform a sense of ‘place’. A description of where the intersections of oppression are overlapping. It’s in the feminist sphere that is being played out but dividing and othering instead of being done well. It’s not being used to subvert and challenge systems but by those wanting “ally credit”.
RH: How we use the word… it’s made equivalent to representation e.g. have a quota of female politicians but the systems don’t change. What about sweatshops? What about Western interventions in the Middle East? Supporting Hillary and the first potential female President is great but don’t say “She’s going to be great for all women” – be specific. Say “some of her policies are good” or “Hillary being President will be a good start” but not making sweeping statements like: “What’s good for women is good for all women”, that erases the experience of those her policies don’t benefit.
CL: Why did that election result get pegged on the non-white women? Hate that… everyone asking: Where are the African-American women? Stats show it’s white women that didn’t vote for Hillary.
RH: They had to ask – “Who will be worse?” All minority groups voted for Clinton.
CL: Similar here re Gillard. First Australian Prime Minister – a win for dissecting feminism but she was legislating in NT and making cuts to single mother benefits… I couldn’t fight on those issues because I had to defend on the left re gender. We are being compromised in these situations.
RH: Allies need to understand the dilemma and acknowledge it. Intersectional feminism should understand that dilemma but it doesn’t. It needs to acknowledge the reasons others might be unsure and have concerns. For example, media around the Wonder Woman film discussed the Zionist views of the lead actress and called for boycott. I didn’t advocate for that. It’s only one woman’s opinion. It should be ok that Arab women might not be able to jump on this empowerment train. Allies need to understand. There’s a refusal to see. e.g. “The Wonder Woman character existed long before this actress – the movie’s still worth celebrating!” I was called racist. Intersectionality was used against me… disappointing. This placed not just Eastern feminism against Western feminism but feminism within the West. Behind the scenes analysis of the politics what appears and doesn’t is far more interesting to me than the actual movie.
CL: My voice can be sought out to fill a diversity quota. e.g. speaking on Aboriginal Beauty Pageants – didn’t see celebration of Aboriginal beauty as worth working for (dress, heels, make up…) told I’m denigrating my racial identity. White panellists get slut shaming… called fat… whore… but not racial commentary.
RH: I get racial and gendered criticism. “This Ruby Hamas bitch has both clit-envy and penis-envy” – manages to be offensive on Arabic, Muslim, terrorist, gender – so many layers! I shared it on my page to diffuse it. Not about me but anyone who shares these characteristics.
CL: Comments on how I look, highly gendered, but go back to words like “quadroon”. I sometimes take the piss or shut it down… I’d like to be called a whore for once and not something that’s dissecting my race! I was on a panel of feminists once – I said something about “smashing systems” in my introductory statements and was sidelined for the rest of the panel – the white feminists talked amongst themselves. Those that have to navigate gender + race + disability – they are more extreme/radical because they have more to overcome. It was a horrible experience. It was a basic entry-level discussion, why weren’t we part of that conversation? I was only asked for “special comments” re race in the closing questions.
RH: Any event invitation I receive I’m asking , am I token or not? Do they value my voice and what I have to say? And then I say, whatever… they’re still giving me a platform. I long for the day I’m asked to talk about politics, and my experience… not as a labelled pigeon-hole “Muslim” or “Aboriginal”.
CL: The person who is Trans and Aboriginal and woman and has a disability and from a low class background… we need to amplify her voice. Smash at all those levels at once.
RH: If they are liberated, everyone is liberated. “identity politics” shouldn’t set us against but with. I’ve always tried to bring identity politics back to broader oppression.
CL: The show the Handmaids Tale – loved it at first, then I started to see the mainstream reaction. Women enslaved, bred, imprisoned… with religion used as justification. That was one generation ago for me. Oh, white women are going to be treated like Aboriginal and African-American women. In the book the slaves are unequivocally white, coloured people are shipped off to die from radiation. Some kudos to the author for sticking to what she knows but in the TV show, in this Fascist, Puritan, authoritarian world… women of colour are also selected for breeding with wealthy white men and I should believe it?! This is white-washing racial dynamics. “This is just around the corner for us” This white response is not helpful compared to that of people of colour which says: welcome to our world – this has already happened and is happening.
RH: “Can you imagine if there’ll be a war?!” [re Trump/Korea] Yes. I have already lost half my family to that. I don’t need to imagine what that’s like.
CL: When we are blended into white narrative, we’re not given our own.
RH: Given a female Dr. Who – that was a big deal. An Arab actor was recently cast to play the leading role in Aladdin. An Arab not in a role as a terrorist or savage illiterate – those roles that have been used to perpetuate negative stereotypes. Can’t just think about gender (woman as Dr. Who), that an Arab man is cast in the role of Aladdin is far more significant for me. Is feminism the new weapon of whiteness? We hardly heard anything about that casting at all.
Question: How do you balance the need to be calm to be taken seriously vs. expressing righteous/legitimate anger?
CL: A bit of anger is good, use it to tear the system apart. I have no obligation to make racist, sexist, wealthy people feel safe. e.g Heritier Lumumba in doco Fair Game, laughed along with racist insults in the locker room to try and fit in… you never win that way. We need to use our anger in legitimate and practical ways.
Question: What would your top-three recommended structural interventions be?
CL: I’m part of the union movement. Anything that draws attention to the structural issues. Intersectional engagement is often superficial. Highlighting – make sure other voices are heard e.g. An Aboriginal man will have different views than me, or a more conservative woman… there is not one homogenous view for women or for Aboriginal people.
RH: Acknowledge there is a problem. Still at that level… can’t think of a list of structural changes yet when still trying to get people to acknowledge that there’s a problem. Need to be given power/influence – in media, politics… I guess I’m still trying to find that answer. I don’t think we’re close to solving that. Need to see more women from non-white backgrounds opinions valued… to talk in general terms.
Question: Do you have any advice for emerging voices? How do you decide which point of view will be appropriate to speak from, how do you get past that/prevent silencing?
RH: I didn’t write about anything happening in the Arab/Muslim sphere for ages. Mortified when something I wrote was appropriated by people who hate me. I don’t wear a veil but cultural still encouraged to be quiet, modest… I learned to pick a time to broach it. Try to ever do it in a way that isolates Muslims, there’s sexism and racism across all cultures. I cop a lot of backlash from my community but lovely messages from young Muslim women makes it worthwhile – scarcely – becomes ammunition for racists. I had to learn that I can’t be responsible for how they use or mis-use my words.
CL: I was terrified to talk about violence against Aboriginal women. That conversation is used to assimilate to whiteness and religion, a conversation owned by conservative Aboriginal people, for example if I write a piece protesting Dondale and Invasion Day turn around and say “why don’t you care about violence towards Aboriginal women?” Used to indicate that I don’t care. Exhausting process to do but I counted the numbers over the past two years. I need to defend space for my own voice. This argument is used to denigrate my other work.
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