The video game Gone Home was a very interesting game. It was a very slow game, but it did hold a lot of emotions. I rarely see video games like this one, so it was interesting to see. I was happy at the end that Katie’s sister was able to go with her girlfriend and be happy.
I had no idea what the Riot Grrrl movement was until this assignment. Learning about them was fun. I enjoyed how they let their true feelings out and their personality felt like it was radiating out of the text as I read the text.
Lorde argues that silence brings about more harm than good. They state how speaking out. The statement that “language has been made to work against us” stood out to me the most as today’s society, people believe it is best to stay silent about certain things despite it desperately needing to be talked about as there are “many silences” that need to be broken (Lorde, Page 43). Language has become something to be feared though it helps set people free.
The silencing of voices can be found in both Gone Home, The Grrrls, and the work by Lorde. The way the silencing occurs in the game is from the homophobia that is riddled through it because two of the characters are gay. There are many connections to be found between the two, but these stood out the most to me. In the game, the mother tried to brush off the sister’s sexuality as only a phase. There are many more examples of this throughout the game that is not only from the parents but at school as well. They try to silence her and her girlfriend as they don’t want to accept them for who they are. Language and actions combined were used as a weapon to try to repress the girls and make them conform to what is considered acceptable. In Riot Grrrl, this is also the case. One quote that supports this is, “we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused or turned against us via the internalization of sexism” (Riot Grrrls). Their voices are being repressed due to the sexism that plagues society and the gender norms that try to constrain them from being who they are and want to be.
Some quotes that connect to this as well:
“Masculinity and heterosexuality are privileged, while femininity and homosexuality are denigrated.” (Valentine 2020, Page 6)
“Seven norms of the Western masculinity ideology: Avoidance of Femininity, Fear and Hatred of Homosexuals, Self-Reliance, Aggression, Achievement/Status, Non-Relational Attitudes Toward Sex, and Restrictive Emotionality.” (Yogachandra 2014, Page 4)
For my research essay, I would like to explore mainly found family dynamics within the LGBTQ community. I like found families as it is a great way to show how anyone can be your family, even if they aren’t related to you by blood. I see gender roles may affect how families function or how they are made. I believe it would be a good fit for the research essay assignment because family is an incredibly important thing. Humans require communities to thrive, and this topic fits that perfectly. Having a family can aid you even in the worst of your days. I am unsure what cultural artifact I would use for it, but I may end up using a documentary, movie, or video game. If I don’t do found family, I will go with fan culture. I am in a lot of fandoms and see various takes on gender in each of them. The culture around fandoms has been built around the shared ideas of people within the fandoms, so it would be a great insight into what people think about gender and things like it. I would use various games and series that have large or small fandoms as my cultural artifact for this.
This movement was started in the early 1990s by a band and the lead singer Kathleen Hanna. This movement was started because they were tired of the constant sexism in society so they wanted to be heard. There was one line that I really think is fitting for what they wanted to start this movement and it was ” BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl=Dumb, Girl= Bad, Girl=Weak.“( Kathleen Hanna (1991), “Riot Grrrl Manifesto”). This goes on to show how woman are constantly seen as this fragile thing that has to be protected but also a group who “don’t know” what they are talking about or are doing. Which is how the people who started this movement were feeling in society and had enough of it.
“When we analyze the power relations constituting all social arrangements and shaping woman’s lives in distinctive ways, we can begin to grapple with core feminist issues about how genders are socially constructed and constructed differently.”(Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill (1996), “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism”). Feel like with this from Maxine and Bonnie can also sum up how it all can go back to it just being about gender and how we as a society are split in two between men and women and have different “roles” just because of what our gender is when like we have talked about before gender is a phenomenon created by society to keep it organized. With that movements like the Riot Grrrl start because one can start being more oppressed than the other.
So I watched a YouTube video of someone else playing it with no commentary in the video which was nice but also with how silent it was it was very eerie feeling that the first 30 mins of the video I had my face covered because I was expecting some type of jump scare. I went into this video not knowing at all of what it was about until I read some of the comments then I saw where the game was going but I still had my guard up incase something would happen. The look of the game very much gave me that impression of “scary” and “spooky” with how dark everything was even if I had my brightness up all the way on my iPad.
Anyways moving on to how I felt about the overall game. I liked it for sure! I was kind of lost at the beginning of the game just because we were going through everything in the house to find out why Katie’s family wasn’t there. She later starts finding clues, mixed tapes her sister Sam had left behind and just notes to hint as to where she was and her parents. I know there was two stories to this game which was Sam’s and Lonnie’s and then both Sam and Katie’s parents with their troubled marriage. Not gonna lie I watch an extra video that explained the whole story of the game after I watched the play through of it. So I didn’t really see carefully about her parents going to a couples retreat even though it was shown many times I just personally was so focused on Sam and how it ended for her. I really thought something bad had happened to her but then later finding out she ran away basically with Lonnie I was glad since her parents did not really agree with how she was feeling towards Lonnie. At the same time I also felt kind of sad for Katie. She was excited to come home after being away for a year I believe, so having to come home and find out that your little sister has ran off and your parents being gone either still at that couples retreat or out looking for her is a lot.
— The Transformation of Silence into —Language and Action
After seeing her life on the line Lorde began to reflect on many things in her life and started to change some, one being more vocal and how much power it holds compared to being silent all the time. Reading this was very much “speak out now or forever hold your peace” type thing in my mind(if that even makes any sense) but all Lorde wanted to get across is how speaking up and breaking the silence of many women out there can do so much as a whole and better the community we live in. “And where the words of women are crying to be heard, we must each of us recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and share them and examine them in their pertinence to our lives. That we not hide behind the mockeries of separations that have been imposed upon us and which so often we accept as our own.” (Audre Lorde (1977), “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”). Think this quote from her reading can help you understand what I’m trying to get across here about what she talked about with just breaking the silence and getting out of that safe corner she mentioned.
— Ideas I want to explore for the research essay —
So far the one topic that comes to my mind that I would like to learn more about is the gender stereotypes in hispanic/latin cultures. A lot which I wanna focus on is with machismo(which is just the masculine aggressive pride in some men) and how some families still go off with the tradition way of catering to the “man of the house” and do everything for them basically. (Calling my own family out but mind you I appreciate both of my parents but I definitely don’t agree with how they run things you know) For example in my house my mom tends to always cater to my dad and does so many things for him because he’s the only man in our house and is the one who makes the most money etc. Never do I really see my dad cater for my mom when he has a day off work and she’s the one out working. Sometimes she tells me how she wishes she would come home one day to see the house tidy with food already made for her so she can just sit down and eat. While if the roles were reversed and my mom didn’t cook dinner after my dad is off work then it’s the end of the world. I feel like this is how it is in most hispanic/latin families where the woman is catering for any of the men in the house. I believe it should be equality expected from both sides of the partnership. So this is my one and only idea I have so far and will most likely end up doing it for my paper.
— Things I do to help my stress —
Being 110% crying honestly helps me so much. Not sure if that’s even healthy or okay to do but I really do enjoy having a crying session because of how much stress/emotions I have built up because I just don’t have anyone I can really trust to talk to other than my friends from back home who generally talk me through everything and anything. Another thing I do is sometimes just sit down and breathe for a min and walk around in whatever space I’m in because I start to feel antsy if I’m just sitting down for so long. These last couple of days have been something for me just because of my car situation and it going out on me when I needed it to move around for the job I have at a school with one of my professor so it was just a lot for me to deal with on my own without having someone I trust who can like help me out with car stuff like my dad does. With all of that happening and more it also made me realize how much I miss my family and with my car being messed up in the moment I couldn’t drive the 3 hours to go see them and get help. Thankfully I did have my partner who came and helped me and was there when the mechanics came to fixed my car so it’s all good now. Just waiting for spring break to come and be on the little trip me and my partner have and celebrate her birthday as well.
The Gone Home game was interesting to me, it’s not a game that I would typically play. It is a lot more relaxed than anything else I have ever played. I was expecting it to be a horror game because of the overall look and vibe of the game. It was surprising to find no horror elements when finally playing the game. I like the purpose of the game and the overall goal, but the actual gameplay isn’t something I am used to. The entire game is typically a small part of other games. In other games, searching around and reading through material takes up only a small portion of the game. However, Gone Home takes that same concept and makes it into an entire game.
This game reminds me a lot of Life is Strange, especially with Sam’s notes to Lonnie with the doodling included. It reminds me a lot of Max’s journals and the different doodles by a character named Kate that are seen throughout the game. Lonnie and Sam’s relationship also reminded my of the friendship/relationship of the main characters of Life is Strange.
Making Connections
In terms of connections to other material we’ve seen in this class. Sam and Lonnie’s situation reminds me of the coming out game. Sam mentioned wanting to go out with Lonnie to go to a concert. There is also a magazine or comic book titled, “Women outlaws.” One man is seen saying “no female is gonna tell me..” before being cut off by the main woman pictured kicking him. The comic is clearly all about empowering women and showing that they are just as capable as men despite the criticism from the other side. “To end patriarchy (another way of naming the institutionalized sexism) we need to be clear that we are all participants in perpetuating sexism until we change our minds and hearts, until we let go of sexist thought and action and replace it with feminist thought and action” (Hooks ix). This quote connects to the cover of the comic well.
RIOT GRRRL
Riot Grrrl deals with several topics like seeking inclusion, patriarchy, empowerment, and a number of other things. The very beginning part says, “BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.” This is related to concepts of women of color in feminist spaces even though it was originally targeted towards women in general. A lot of women of color tend to seek others like them because there are experiences regarding feminism that are unique to them. “It is the centrality of race, of institutionalized racism, and of struggles against racial oppression that link the various feminist perspectives within this framework. Together, they demonstrate that racial meanings offer new theoretical directions for feminist thought” (Zinn and Dill 321).
Research Essay Exploration
I potentially want to explore queer representation in video games or inclusion in the beauty/makeup communities. The topic of queerness in video games interests me because there are a lot of video games that I like that explore the topic of sexuality and I think it could be fun to possibly explore the topic. Games like Life is Strange and The last of us are games that I would be interested in focusing on. I would specifically want to look at how the games go about providing representation. The cultural artifact I could use is either a painting or a movie. For inclusion in the makeup community, I really enjoy makeup even though I struggle with perfecting it myself. I think it would be interesting to see what makeup has done for people with varying gender identities. For this topic, the cultural artifact I would want to include photographs of different makeup styles throughout history.
Set in 1995, Gone Home is an understated interactive story game. You play as a young woman named Katie who has just returned home from overseas to find that your entire family is gone, leaving an eerie and deserted mansion for you to explore. Through letters and objects, you string together what happened to your family while you were away and the people they have become.
The part that stuck out to me most was the story of Sam, Katie’s younger sister. With Katie away, Sam, a shy type who relied on her older sister, attempted to make friends. She found friendship in Yolanda “Lonnie”, a JROTC cadet and lover of all things punk rock including the riot grrrl movement. Through a series of notes, it revealed that Sam and Lonnie have developed a romantic relationship. Sam and Katie’s parents are unsympathetic to Sam’s relationship and coming out, deeming it as ‘just a phase.’ Later, Lonnie was sent off to military service leaving Sam heartbroken but Lonnie made a last-minute decision to get off her bus and call Sam to tell her she wanted to be together. So Sam runs away to be with Lonnie just days before Katie’s arrival home, (which coincides with their parents being on a couples counseling trip) leaving their home desolate and in pieces. Sam’s story could be summarized and related to the theme of breaking away. Sam breaks away from her parents, and Lonnie breaks away from the military they both escape some sort of societal/traditional set of rules to be together.
Though I did not have time to personally play the game this week, I may play it over spring break to get the full experience. It reminded me of the original “Life is Strange” video game which I love dearly. Life is Strange is a lot more action-driven but it has similarities in that they both are an eirie-mystery that you have to put together… and both have WLW (woman-loving-woman) romances.
Throughout Gone Home, there are themes and visuals akin to the riot grrrl scene. Firstly, It centers on a woman’s narrative. The story revolves around Sam and you play as Katie; the plot is about as far as it can possibly be from a “damsel in distress.” The game serves as a reminder of the ongoing fight for gender equality and the power of female voices. Additionally, we see acts of rebellion against her parents and societal norms from Sam. She pursues her own interests, disregarding the desires of her parents. Lorde has a great quote about standing alone and transforming what makes us different into what brings us power.
Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society’s definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference-those between us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older- know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular, and sometimes reviled…It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths.
Lorde, 1984. Found in Dill and Kohlman- Intersectionality
It’s not a coincidence that Lonnie is said to be involved in the riot grrrl movement. All that was previously mentioned can be contextualized by their actions. The riot grrrl movement is a rebellious and disruptive feminist subculture founded by female punk artists in the 1990s. The movement challenged societal norms (particularly those relating to sexism), rejected all forms of discrimination, and promoted female empowerment. I think it can be summarized with a quote from the (1991), “Riot Grrrl Manifesto” “We are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak.” When learning and researching more about this movement, my initial reaction was basically “where do I sign up?!” The DIY and subversive nature of it all really spoke to me, especially as an artist. It’s definitely a new interest of mine and will continue to research on my own time!
Audre Lorde (1977), “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”
After a major health scare, Audrey Lorde writes about the power of language. Pain and suffering are inevitable whether it comes from the visibility of speaking out or otherwise. “We fear the visibility without which we cannot truly live” So why waste your life staying silent when there are so many things to be said? She urges us to speak out and break the silence, turning language into action and action into change for a better humanity.
“And I remind myself all the time now that if I were to have been born mute, or had maintained an oath of silence my whole life long for safety, I would still have suffered, and I would still die.”
“It is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.”
“Death, on the other hand, is the final silence. And that might be coming quickly, now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or had only betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words.”
There were so many profound quotes from these short pages. I just kept collecting them so here are some of my favorites. I made connections to gone home because both the text by Audrey Lorde and gone home share themes of breaking free of something. Lorde, her silence and society, and Sam, her parents… and also society. I also think there’s something to be said about the silence of Gone Home. In moments, the game is eerily quiet. Additionally, there is little to no spoken conversation, just Katie stringing together the pieces.
3 ideas I might want to explore in My Research Essay
Drag in Arkansas, Bill SB43– Arkansas has a rich history of drag but recently it has been under attack. Bill SB43 was proposed to ban drag in public and for those under 18. If passed the bill would have not only affected drag artists but trans and gender non-conforming people as well. How does this relate to the study of gender?
Representation in children’s media- Throughout my adolescents I loved watching cartoons. My favorite was the cartoon network show: “Steven Universe”. If you know anything about the show you know that it is packed with LGBTQ+ representation. I genuinely attribute the show to helping my young self understand and accept my own sexuality. This topic would be abundant in cultural artifacts as there is no lack of children’s media I could talk about.
Gendered housing- Should housing still really be required to be separated by gender? West hall on the UALR campus is and I’m trying to change that. I am advocating for a gender-inclusive living space for artWING residents and so I think this would be a relevant and helpful thing to study. I’m unsure of what my cultural artifact would be besides articles and such but am open to suggestions.
Check-in + Stress Relief
Dr. Londie mentioned ending this blog with a “check-in”; I didn’t realize how badly I needed this until I started writing. Life has been super duper difficult recently. I live on campus about 30 mins from my family and lately, I’ve spent every moment I’ve had to see them. This is partly due to my great-grandma being sick and unfortunately, she passed away last week. It hasn’t gotten much better either because since then, my grandma has been very sick too. This while balancing 2 jobs as a full-time student has been a major weight on my shoulders. Spring break could not come any sooner! This may be a bit personal for a check-in so I apologize, but I haven’t told anyone but my partner and close friends so it feels good for some people to know.
One thing that keeps me grounded and can relieve stress for me is working out. I like to lift weights most every day but just a moment to stretch and walk is also nice. Stress accumulates for me when I feel unproductive, so even if I’m being lazy, taking time to move my body and work on flexibility makes me feel a bit better.
I feel bad for saying it but I really did not enjoy Gone Home. I didn’t know it beforehand but the PC version of the game is not optimized well at all; it cannot keep a stable 30 fps even at the lowest settings, and the lag makes the already slow-paced game feel even more exhausting to sit through. The gameplay wasn’t really my thing, but the story itself wasn’t anything extraordinary to me. I could have missed some items because of the technical issues I had with this version of the game, but as far as queer stories go this one just felt very surface-level to me and didn’t really grab me. I thought the Riot Grrrl manifesto was interesting, and the tone of it reminded me of many of the previous texts we read such as “Feminism is for Everyone” and “Combahee River Statement.” It had a very “this is who we are, this is what we want, we will not be silent” tone that was reminiscent of the other texts.
I was also a little disappointed with the Damsel in Distress video about gaming because I felt it only highlighted the negative aspects of how women are often characterized in video games while not acknowledging how games have changed over time (although there was a Part 2 mentioned at this end of this video). I was extremely surprised when they were discussing D.K. and other Nintendo games that they did not mention Metroid, because the main character who fights the aliens (Samus Aran) is a woman. This game was made around the same time as these older games, so I felt like it was a missed opportunity to highlight some small victories for representation. I also thought it was incredibly ironic that the stock image they used for Princess Peach was from the game Super Princess Peach, where Peach goes on a quest to save Mario from Bowser. The game is an inversion of the discussed damsel in distress trope, yet they do not discuss it at all in this video. Lastly, I am mixed with how they talked about Princess Zelda’s role in the games. I am a fan of the Zelda series, and I do agree she can play into the damsel in distress role, but Zelda’s strength is not physical strength like Link’s. In the lore of the game series, Link has the Triforce of Courage, while Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom. Her strength is not tied to physical combat like Link’s is, it comes from her intelligence and wit. I feel like making her into the role of a fighter would be out of character for Zelda, because that’s not who she is. I feel like making her a physical fighter like Link would cause her to lose her identity as a character, and make her seem just like a female version of him which would seem like shallow representation to me.
For my research essay I have considered: discussing the strengths of Sailor Moon in regard to gender or video games that feature strong female characters. The Sailor Moon manga has always been special to me because of the main character, Usagi Tsukino, and how her character strengths are made up of traits that have been considered to be “weak womanly” characteristics in other media. For video games, there are lots of games I play and I would like to highlight some good examples of how gaming has moved forward. I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that the damsel in distress motif is a core part of game development (at least in the modern age) and I would like to show how that isn’t true today.
The article “Theorizing Difference from Multiracial feminism” something that sticks out to me are the racial profiling that was done back in the day. The quote that stuck out to me is ” U.S. multiracial feminism encompasses several emergent perspectives developed primarily by women of color: African Americans, Latinas , Asian Americans, and Native Americans, women whose analyses are shaped by their unique perspectives as “outsiders within”-marginal intellectuals whose social locations provide them with a particular perspective on self and society. Although U.S. women of color represent many races and ethnic backgrounds-with different histories and cultures-our feminisms cohere in their treatment of race as a basic social division, a structure of power, a focus of political struggle, and hence a fundamental force in shaping women’s and men’s lives,”(Zinn, Bonnie, pg.324). I agree with this quote because they shouldn’t be called outsiders based on the color of their skin and that women were not equally treated as good as the men were for they later on say say in this prompt. ” But socialist feminism’s concept of capitalist patriarchy, with its focus on women’s unpaid (reproductive) labor in the home failed to address racial differences in the organization of reproductive labor. As feminists of color have argued, “reproductive labor has divided along racial as well as gender lines, and the specific characteristics have varied regionally and changed over time as capitalism has reorganized” (Zinn, Bonnie, pg.325). Which to me this is just mind blowing they wanted women to carry the children’s but no paid time off due to labor that is mind blowing.
Keywords: Gender and Western Cultures
The article “The Prism Gender” this articles starts off explaining that in western culture, people grow up learning that there are only two genders, male and female. The western culture has developed what is called the quote on quote pink and blue syndrome in the article it stats that. “We are taught that a real woman is female -bodied , feminine , and heterosexual ; a real man is male-bodied , masculine , and heterosexual ; and any deviation or variation is strange , unnatural , and potentially dangerous” (Valentine, pg.3). I’m gonna say that this is true, this is the way of life but I will also kind of tie this with our song of this week “Androgynous by The Replacements” . In the song they say “Mirror image, see no damage See no evil at all Kewpie dolls and urine stalls Will be laughed at the way you’re laughed at now”. I personally feel like they are talking about gender revolution in the 1980’s which is something that wasn’t talked about much during that time, and that it was okay no matter what or who your liked same gender to trans-gender that people should respect it. I looked up the word Androgynous and it basically means the opposite roles of the western culture. What I mean is that men had women tendencies and women want to be more masculine if that makes any sense.
Question: Who are we to say that someone cant be accepted because of who or what they love in their peroneal life ?
“As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face.”
I think my main takeaway here was learning about an organization of Black lesbian women who work together to try and put an end to racist, classist, and sexist oppression. They talk about how they can face this among the Black community as well as outside of the Black community. This really connects for me into the other major text.
Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”
“These accusations, coming from the very women to whom we look for deep and real understanding, have served to keep many Black lesbians in hiding, caught between the racism of white women and the homophobia of their sisters.” (Pg 121-122)
From reading the Combahee River Collective to reading this, the idea that Black lesbian women face discrimination from their own peers really hit hard. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to feel racism from white people, then white women, on top of homophobia from potentially Black men as well as Black women. It solidifies the notion of intersectionality to me.
Ijeoma Oluo- So You Want to Talk About Race
“Everything is Whiteness” (24:07)
I found Oluo’s introduction and beginning speech extremely powerful. At Target, we had to receive training on how to treat POC customers. So when she mentioned in the beginning about clerks following her around the store, it made me remember that training. I feel like it was valuable training too. Because like Oluo says, it’s Black people who have the possibility of conversations ending badly, not white people (~21:29).
Nina Simone- “Four Women”
I honestly just felt the emotion behind the song. It encapsulates the different hardships Black women have went through from slavery to sexual assault, the exact things mentioned in the three major readings. Simone’s voice was alluring yet powerful. I’ve never heard this song before, but I’m glad I have.
Key Words: lesbianism, sexism, homophobia.
Question for the class: How can we improve our efforts to listen to those facing discrimination?
*I know you encourage us putting images and making these posts colorful, but how impacted I was by Oluo’s quote of everything being whiteness, I’ve decided to leave this post completely blank of color. Because unfortunately, everything is white*
The article the “Prism Gender” it says that most people in the western world are grown up learning that there are only two genders, two sexes, and two sexualities. This type of thinking is known as the “blue and pink syndrome” It is how honestly I grew up relating blue to a boy and pink to a girl.
key words:sex, gender, sexuality
MULTIRACIAL FEMINISIM
The author explains how men and women have the same rights but multiracial women don’t have the same advantages as a middle class woman.It goes to speak on about Latinas, African Americans, Asian Americans , and Native Americans as known as being “outsiders within”.
key words: feminist, gender, ethnic
I feel like these two readings are connected because they talk about how feminism has been around and it is still around in a huge way today.
Question: How do you feel feminism has changed over the years?
At the very start of “The Combahee River Collective Statement” the author clearly states what kind of group she’s apart of by saying that black feminism is “the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face.” She felt strongly about how black rights movements in the past such as the civil rights and even the black panthers were racist to the female gender. The white woman groups failed to talk about and include black woman experiences in their political talks to the people. The group let their voices out about social change towards black lesbians and all women of color, and just wanted their voices to be heard from the people and other social groups. The group wanted to tell the people about their queer experiences and wanted to liberate black woman in general, “the psychological toll of being a Black Woman and the difficulties this presents in reaching political consciousness and doing political work can never be underestimated.”
“Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” is a strong writing that goes over how women need to unite and fight oppression against the female gender. She talks about her past as a black lesbian woman and talks about her perspective on the world through her eyes and what she’s gone through. My favorite thing about this writing is how she can talk about using people differences to unify people and bring them together, I also like how she explains how one aspect of you doesn’t describe you because if you someone for there one aspect then you can miss all their other valuable aspects, she says it’s a “destructive and fragmenting way to live.” She is an amazing writer because not only can she write stories and writings like this one, but she also adds poems in her work.
“So You Want To Talk About Race,” goes over Ijeoma Oluo’s personal life growing up and how people always made comments about her hair, how she was looked at differently than white people, etc. She got paid differently than everyone else and people started making racist comments towards her. The writing is how she started out making a blog about her problems of being a colored woman and she saw how in her city of Seattle where her “white friends weren’t really her friends and how her neighbors weren’t really her neighbors.” After she talked about her personal life she talked with the audience about race. She talks to the audience about racial oppression and how the people of this country don’t know the actual problem with people and race, and how there needs to be a change, she also tells them about racist and what a racist truly is.
All three of these writing is all about the same thing: black women and their troubles over the years with racial issues with people and oppressions. They are all writing from black women, and they all have some of their personal experiences. Tupac Shakur “Keep Ya Head Up” is a anthem to women but to black women specially to keep their head up and to love their skin even if no one else does. He talks about the issues that are going on in black women’s lives. The song is also dedicated to the memory of Latasha Harlins. Latarsha was a 15-year-old black girl who was shot dead by a Korean store owner. I think this song fits perfectly to the writings because in the writings they all talked about all the troubles they had to go through being a black woman, Tupac tries soothing their pain in music by telling them to keep their head up and to not listen to anyone and to keep going on and doing them.
Differences
equality
oppression
Why do you think black woman were treated worse than everyone else?
The Combahee River Collective discusses four main points: how black feminism has evolved, the group’s beliefs, obstacles to organizing Black feminists, and Black feminist issues and projects. The goal of this document was to educate the audience about the main points outlined in the beginning, which they do in great detail. The women’s movement in America caused the need to create a separate movement for Black feminists so that they could clearly articulate the struggles their community faced. The group as a whole believes that “Black women are inherently valuable…our liberation is a necessity…because of our need for bodily autonomy. There are numerous obstacles in the way of organizing Black feminist groups, such as lack of privilege, psychological tolls, negative reactions from black men, and more. The intersectionality of identities is briefly discussed at the end, but the main point of the document is liberation and equal rights for Black women. (The Combahee River Statement, 1977)
Ijeoma Oluo spoke about why it is difficult in the United States for us to have proper conversations about race, despite it being a topic that everybody should know about. She claims that “we are deliberately denied the tools we need to talk about race,” and that is important because that ignorance about the broken system allows that system to prosper. She also discusses how a lot of white people want other people to see us as the “good guys” and “not racists.” Our intentions don’t amount to anything if we make choices that will make life harder for those around us, even if we didn’t “mean to.” (Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want To Talk About Race | Talks at Google, 2018)
Audre Lorde’s excerpt discusses how we view differences in our society. She points out that we often view differences in our populations as being in opposition to one another, instead of just existing qualities. Human “difference” is more often viewed as human “deviance,” from the white norm. She speaks about how she’s experienced different facets of her identity that have caused conflict in her life, such as being a Black woman and a Black lesbian. The conflict comes from the idea that being a lesbian as “un-Black” and thus is a threat to Blacknationhood (Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” in Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1984), pp. 114-123).
I think there are numerous parallels between these texts, despite the gaps in time between all three of them. I think that all three authors would be in agreement that educating the oppressor about why their oppression is wrong is normally a task that falls upon the oppressed when the oppressor should be making more of an effort to bridge the gap. Oluo and the Combahee River Collective both recognize how the current political / socio-economical systems in place function because the general public is unaware of how damaging they truly are to minorities. The Combahee River Collective and Lorde both discuss how intersectionality between identities, such as race and gender or race and sexuality, create their own unique conflicts regarding Black feminism.
I think “Keep Ya Head Up” acknowledges the struggles of Black women, particularly mothers, with its lyrics. While it does not say verbatim the problems that Black women face in their community, the song talks about Black women being disrespected, tossed aside, and eventually abandoned once they have a child. He also calls out the issue of rape and other abuse. I think the song could be seen as positive or negative depending on the individual. I can see one person interpreting it literally as “you should keep your head up because things will get better eventually,” but I can also see someone finding the message of the song hypocritical since in our society the oppressors often want people to be docile and wait for change instead of fighting for it. (Tupac. “Keep Ya Head Up.” 1993)
My (late) question for the class is: Do you agree with Oluo that we are conditioned to not speak out about injustices in our political and socio-economic systems?
