A Student Primer on Intersectionality: Not Just A Buzzword

This book: ● lays out the objectives of WS 166, Gender, Race, and Class, taught in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Pace University, New York City campus; ● provides a structure for any course addressing intersectionality, feminism, and oppression; ● describes the framework of intersectionality, which examines societal issues by analyzing the interlocking systems of oppression that shape people’s lives; ● argues for a transnational application of intersectionality that also centers U.S. Black feminists’ contributions to understanding oppression; ● includes journal articles, TED Talks, and class exercises that are generally accessible for most students or interested readers without previous exposure to these topics. We designed this book to illustrate that intersectionality is a powerful tool for learning about and addressing injustice and inequity. When we analyze the world using an intersectionality framework, we learn about people’s lives and experiences in ways that we may never have considered, or wanted to consider. And the mere act of examining multiple systems of oppression is not enough, either, as the point of understanding oppression is to end it in all forms. As you read, be thankful for the discomfort, anger, and compassion that may arise; learning about oppression is never easy, but it is a worthwhile and meaningful task

“Have You Ever Seen the Crowd Goin’ Apeshit?”: Disrupting Representations of Animalistic Black Femininity in the French Imaginary

16 June 2018. London Stadium. Beyoncé and Jay–Z revealed the premiere of the music video Apeshit. Filmed inside the Louvre Museum in Paris, Beyoncé’s sexual desirability powerfully dialogues with Western canons of high art that have dehumanized or erased the black female body. Dominant tropes have historically associated the black female body with the realm of nature saddled with an animalistic hypersexuality. With this timely release, Apeshit engages with the growing current debate about the ethic of representation of the black subject in European museums. Here, I argue that Beyoncé transcends the tension between nature and culture into a syncretic language to subvert a dominant imperialistic gaze. Drawing on black feminist theories and art history, a formal analysis traces the genealogy and stylistic expression of this vocabulary to understand its political implications. Findings pinpoint how Beyoncé laces past and present, the regal nakedness of her African heritage and Western conventions of the nude to convey the complexity, sensuality, and humanity of black women—thus drawing a critical reimagining of museal practices and enriching the collective imaginary at large

Between innocence and experience: the sexualisation of girlhood in 19th century postcards

<div>The Conversation</div><div><br>Published 14th of December 2017</div><div><br></div><div>We often hear that we are living in a corrupting, visually saturated, consumer culture, which threatens the innocence of girlhood. But representations of young girls in the European postcard trade at the turn of the 20th century cast doubt on this notion of an ideal, more innocent past.<br></div

Sexualisation of Girlhood During Edwardian Times

<div>NOTCHES (Archives of Desire)<br></div><div><p></p><p>Published 15th of November 2016</p><p>In the first decade of the twentieth century, new printing technologies and an affordable postage rate popularized picture postcards. The growing middle class took every opportunity to acquire these mementos: to celebrate a special occasion, send a coded love message, wallpaper a room or show off a trip to an exotic location. </p> <p>During this “Golden Age” which lasted until World War I, erotic postcards became fashionable too, offering titillating staged fantasies at a budget. Studio photographers rarely signed their works in order to evade legal complications. Buyers concealed their collections in hidden albums to avoid indiscretion. In the lighthearted visual culture of the Edwardian era, suggestive images of children like the above abounded. Created for adult gratification, they played with double entendre, hovering on the border of the permissible. Risqué postcards of the previous century can be considered the precursors of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexualization#Children" target="_blank">sexualisation of childhood</a> in today’s media landscape.</p><p></p></div

Marginalised Girlhood: Blind Spots, Challenges and Hopes

To marginalise is ‘to treat (a person, group, or concept) as insignificant or peripheral’ (Cambridge Dictionary). Marginalised Girlhood: Blind Spots, Challenges and Hopes opens the conversation about the representation of girls in popular culture along the axes of race, disability and sexuality. How does it feel to grow up at the periphery of the mainstream norms? To never have role models in dominant narratives; and to have one’s self-experience misrepresented? PhD candidates Elodie Silberstein and Belinda Glynn; and Dr Whitney Monaghan, author of the book Queer Girls, Temporality and Screen Media: Not 'Just a Phase' (Palgrave, 2016) will share their personal experiences in light of the current feminist resurgence. Join the conversation in a Q&A oriented session to have your say on how to empower the new generations of girls

From Cinderella to Telenovelas, New Narratives of Girlhood in a Globalized World

From the romance of fairy-tales to the sexual appeal of popular culture, the characterisation of girlhood in the media landscape presents a passive and commodified image of femininity in a hegemonic fashion. The development of new media technologies and the rise of consumer culture have increased anxieties surrounding the social identity and the corporeality of girls. How do girls interpret and negotiate these mainstream narratives? Is there room for alternatives? What can we learn from how girlhood has been defined in other times and cultures? Join Elodie Silberstein (Monash University) in conversation with Michelle Smith (Deakin University), Sofia Rios (Monash University) and Freya Bennett (founder of Tigress Magazine) as they problematise the idea of girlhood across borders and across time. Organisation: Free University Date: Thursday 3 December (6.30-8pm) Location: The Alderman, 134 Lygon St East Brunswick Format: 45 minute panel presentation and 45 minute open discussio