MeerderWörter’s Comments (group member since Jan 08, 2016)

MeerderWörter’s comments from the Our Shared Shelf group.

Clarissa wrote: "The unceded territory of the indigenous people of Canada, meaning those who are native to Canada and not decedents of those who took over Canada"

True, but there are 60 Indigenous languages spoken in the territory that Canada claims and even more First Nations.
Many more Nations than just "Indigenous people"
EDIT: You wouldn't say London is on the territory of the European people, you'd say English or British people...
The same goes for Turtle Island, as the people whose territory Toronto is on call it.

Question everyone:
unceded territory of whom?

Emma wrote: "Hi! I have a copy of "You're in the Wrong Bathroom: and 20 Other Myths and Misconceptions about Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming People". I can't afford shipping at the moment (I'm a grad stude..."

By any chance, do you still have that book Emma?

Thank you for sharing Rachael.

Are there other people with cerebral palsy that you could meet with? Or on social media... It always helps myself to meet with intersex people for me.

Katelyn wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Let me chime in here, if I may.

I am a cisgender intersex woman, so that shapes my view on the world and on issues.
I think, what we need in feminist spheres is a real talk a..."

I'll come back to you in a little bit...

Let me chime in here, if I may.

I am a cisgender intersex woman, so that shapes my view on the world and on issues.
I think, what we need in feminist spheres is a real talk about what privilege actually is. Because then people who don't have a specific privilege would more understand the bigger issues at hand.

The other thing that always comes to mind for me when talking about trans and cis women's quarrels, is biologism. What it basically means, is that your biology decides whether you are a woman or a man. Which is a shitty concept, for many reasons, because hey, intersex people like me exist too, and also, it harms women in the end. It's why people think that trans women aren't women, because they think that the biology you are born with determines who you are, which, isn't the case. Sex characteristics are in themselves too diverse to be classified as always male or always female. There's a lot of overlap there, and a lot of "somewhere-in-between".
So what I want to say is that in my opinion, the big struggle that comes with biologism is that we always gender sex characteristics into either male or female, and then people get upset when these arbitrary rules are not upheld.
Now when it comes to talking about vaginas etc... I don't mind that, as long as I am in the mood for it. I have good days and bad days, days where talking about this doesn't hurt me and days where it does. Why don't I have a problem with it per se? Because I think it is important to talk about these issues! It's important to reduce stigma around them so that we can talk about them.

I do have one issue though with stressing femininity and masculinity too much (and it was the reason why I couldn't finish Women Who Run With The Wolves), and that is because these categories are what we make them to be. We assign femininity and masculinity to issues, objects etc... often without realising that they are not set in stone, and that they are not exclusive. Example: Not everyone who has a uterus is a woman and not every woman has a uterus. Therefore, other things like getting one's period aren't restricted to cis women either (or endosex women)

The next thing, well, let me put it this way: If you wouldn't date a trans woman from the start, you just won't, then that's okay. What's not okay is when you won't date her after you found out she is a trans woman and assumed her to be cis before. You know what I mean? If you don't date somebody, that's okay, but if you don't date somebody because they are trans, then that is literally transphobia.

About safe spaces: I have an issue with spaces being declared safe because really, who is this "safe" for? What might be safe for me might very not be for you... because we live at the intersection of identities, so therefore what might be okay and safe for me, might not be for you - and the other way around! I do understand the struggle that we all fight for safe spaces, and the scarce resources (Austria is very good in slashing resources for women recently, so I don't even have to look my own border...). I do think it is wrong that cis women have to make space for everyone else, as in how Pam wrote that they need to make way for other people. In the end it comes down to this question again of who is a woman and who is not... in that sense women, both cis and trans, should be put together in the same jails, shelters etc... but I also understand the need that there really should be shelters for cis and trans women... then again, this might be a thing in the future when there will be more trans individuals, when it will be easier to come out than now (I at least hope we do come to that point at some point, sooner than later I may say). I feel rather comfortable in both spheres, to use that word, depending on what is being talked about.

For me, feminism is about fighting for my sister's rights, even if their realities might be very different from my own. And I won't tell a marginalized woman what she has to fight for, nah, I'm gonna listen and be her loudspeaker, not her speaker. In that sense, I also reject the narrative of the global sisterhood, because it implies that all women suffer from the same power imbalances, when that is not true. Throughout time and place, the situation of women was - and is - so very different from one another that I really feel this cannot be said that there is a global sisterhood.

Which doesn't mean that I can't be someone's sister and help them in their fight, if you know what I mean. But women's experiences are different, and a "global sisterhood" implies that we all face the same issues. Which we don't.

About the pussy hats: I don't like them too much, to put it bluntly. For me they are a sign of good old white, liberal, middleclass feminism which neglects the lived experiences of so many women. Not every pussy is pink, and not every woman has a pussy. And yes, I know it was in response to Trump's derogatory remarks, but I think by now it just shows how most women see feminism and what they understand it to be: a white, cisgender, endosex thing; not realising just how many of your sisters you throw under the bus with this.

Native-Land also looks to map South and Central America, as well as Greenland and Australia.

Florian wrote: "Here are a few questions for the Skype.


Is patriarchy a name for society of privileges? Or is it one form of the society of privileges?

If other forms exist, should it be addressed by Feminism t..."

I can't be there tomorrow but my short thoughts on this are:
Yes, there are, but then matriarchy is what you make it to be too. A Western understanding of matriarchy is very different from other understandings of matriarchy.

I think if someone is given power to fulfill a certain task, then they should be removed from that task if they don't fulfill this task. Or if they misbehave gravely etc...

Benarji wrote: "Looks like domestic violence murder rate is on the rise in Austria. There's 19 cases so far and it's only February. Found an interesting site that provides a better statistical reading.

http://eva..."

Thank you, I didn't know this website before.

The True Story of Pocahontas by Linwood.

That The Blood Stay Pure by Arica L. Coleman.

Michael Jackson, Rosa Parks: 10 Black icons you didn't know had Native ancestry:
https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytod...

And then people confuse radical feminism with feminism that is radical. Very important distinction.

Karina wrote: "Yalitza’s indigenous background is Mixteca and Triqui. The historical territory of this Mixtec village is the mountainous region that is located between the current states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and P..."

:)
There's really a lot of Indigenous history recently - the US, and now Mexico...

This is awesome!

Do you know which Indigenous background, Karina?

It's too long a journey for me from Austria. But I hope you find someone to have a nice meeting with.

Ciao!

Yes, you see right:
It is the 5th woman that was killed this month already in Austria.
Again, by a man with close proximity to her.

Laurent De Serres Berard wrote: "MeerderWörter wrote: "Hello!

So, let me think about this a little...

One book which I have so far read in part is Feminism by Deborah Cameron. It is written from the UK so it really is a delight ..."

Glad I could help. I haven't (yet) read it myself but it is definitely an important book in sociology when it comes to emotion sociology and I think it could quite well fit what you are looking for.

Cyn wrote: "So horrible! It's incredibly sad and infuriating how the number of dead women increases by the day. Here in Argentina there had been nearly 10 women between 14-15 years old to +30 to have been foun..."

It is horrible, and I wish in Austria politicians would speak out on it and actually do something but they don't. They only scapegoat.

Hello!

So, let me think about this a little...

One book which I have so far read in part is Feminism by Deborah Cameron. It is written from the UK so it really is a delight to not have a US-centric book for once.

Another book that I plan on reading is The Second Shift by Arlie Hochschild, who as a sociologist has looked at the emotional labour that especially women have to perform. She looked at flight attendants, but this can be extended to many more situations.

University awaits with a TON of work so I need to pass this time.