Tracking the conversations at All About Women, Sydney Opera House’s annual International Women’s Day event, is an interesting way to track where mainstream feminism in Australia is at with a range of issues.
In the first panel, How to be a Feminist, Celeste Liddle talked about feminism as a collectivist movement to overthrow structures of oppression. Anita Sarkeesian decried the hyper-individualism of ‘choice feminism’ and Tara Moss spoke about advocacy as a crucial part of her feminism.
Roxane Gay pulled the discussion back down to earth, reminding the panel that if you start talking about the overthrowing structures of oppression in her mid-western hometown of Lafayette, Indiana, you won’t get much traction and we need to find ways to make these conversations more accessible, to take all women with us. And while she’s right, it’s exciting to hear mainstream feminists talk about collectivist action and systems of oppression at such a high profile event.
One of the most powerful things about Roxane Gay’s work is how she has given feminists permission to be imperfect. Her book Bad Feminist has had such a huge impact not just because Gay is a truly remarkable writer, but because she has so coherently given a voice to something so many feminists feel. The overwhelming pressure to think and behave with perfect consistency to feminist ideals at all times, then ruthlessly tear people apart when they inevitably can’t live up to those ideals. Her influence through talking about being forgiving when people make mistakes and giving each other the benefit of the doubt, was palpable throughout many of the discussions.
Anita Sarkeesian talks about the representation of women in video games. She made a webseries where she talks about tropes that objectify and dehumanise women characters in games. To someone who is not engaged with with gaming culture, this seems admirable and not particularly controversial. However, for the past three years Sarkeesian has been on receiving end of the most extraordinary campaign of harassment and threats from men who feel completely violated by the encroachment women and feminism into a space they feel should be there’s alone. In the wake of the recent Gamer Gate situation the double down on her has been horrifying.
It is fascinating how this extreme and completely disproportionate reaction within a subculture is a microcosm for how men react when their entitlement to - well, everything - is questioned or encroached on. Mainstream feminism can learn a lot from what is happening to women in this space.
I wasn’t at every session, but I was impressed that none of the panels I attended needed to explain intersectionality. While All About Women has a way to go to embody true intersectionality, it’s reassuring that the concept has been largely absorbed into the basics of feminism. Issues for women with disabilities and trans* women were raised by able-bodied, cis women on panels. Hopefully next year we will see women with disabilities and trans* women speaking for themselves. The contributions of Celeste Liddle and later in the day Larissa Behrendt were an important part of the day, however a greater focus on issues facing Indigenous women would be very welcome.
Towards the end of the day, a young woman asked a question about how an event like this, which ‘preaches to the choir’, can spread the word to people outside the church. This is an important question, but to extend the metaphor, most people don’t go to church to be converted. They go to have their faith renewed and to commune with like-minded people. This renewal and strength in solidarity experienced at events like this are just as important as new conversions.
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