As a feminist activist and scholar for the last couple of years, I have been considering the dilemma of working as a feminist in communities that were either weary of the feminist label or were unaccepting of my women’s rights politics altogether. I first started to consider this while working with a girls leadership program at the University of Central Florida. The mentoring program is for seventh-grade girls who are chosen by their teachers and counselors for showing leadership potential. The curriculum centers around helping girls negotiate girlhood and to encourage them to take on active leadership roles. It facilitates this process by attempting to foster a non-socially aggressive environment with positive older role models that can give each little sister the support and resources to make positive changes in their local communities. While this program works on feminist principals and methodology, it does not use the feminist label out respect for the parents and community we work in.
The result from my experiences with this leadership program is what I have termed, with the help of my dear friend Meredith Tweed, underground feminism (for lack of a better term). This is a topic that I discuss in depth in my MA thesis project. In this work, I attempt challenge the belief within the feminist community that subtle activism is automatically weak or inconsequential. Underground feminism is a method of activism that works by conducting feminist activism without the use of the polarizing rhetoric. I begin by breaking down selected third-wave “how to” feminist texts by Jessica Valenti and Megan Seely that I argue perpetuate the problems of the second wave by maintaining strict definitions of feminist activism in which girls and women “are expected to get on the picket line and wave a one size-fits-all feminist flag that may not represent them” (7). It is the lack of a feminist model that recognized the labor of the no-label activist that led me to consider the inclusion of new methods. This is not to say that the methods of the second wave and third wave have not worked in past and cannot continue to work in some spaces. On the contrary, it is clear that the feminist movement has made many advances in women’s rights. However, as is the case with the UCF program, our current feminist models simply are not always conducive to getting the work done. This blog and the tenets of underground feminism are meant to be an extra tool. When denied access to communities unfamiliar with feminist politics, instead of trying to make our through by force, we can cleverly sneak by the barriers.
I understand that many feminists will find this problematic. Why should we have to give up using the label? While the repercussions of using feminist language are highly problematic, as a feminist community our focus here should be to cast a wider net in order to reach women and girls that may otherwise remain unfamiliar with feminist ideas. If we continue to value the issues of rhetoric over getting results, we will only succeed in keeping ourselves insular without any hope of the radical widespread change we hope to see in the world.
However, while underground feminism does operate under the principal of disidentification (a term I adapt in my thesis from Jose Munoz’s Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics) with the label, this is not to say that all activism can claim to be underground feminism. Being a woman does not automatically mean one is a feminist anymore than being a man means that you are automatically sexist. The activism must show a commitment to feminist ideals and to ending all forms of oppression. Underground feminism is NOT a denial of feminist theory or political goals. In fact, the defining of underground feminism in my thesis is developed through the amalgamation of various feminist theories by authors like Charlotte Bunch, Nieto Gomez, and bell hooks. The tenets of this methodology already exist within the movement. In fact, this is already a widely practiced form of activism. I am merely attempting to bring all of these various readings, methods, ideas, models, and experiences into one place everyone can access. While I ground my own work in literary studies, I hope that this blog will cast a wider net that will allow us as a feminist community to understand how we can use this method and how it is already being used daily. As a result, this blog will work on a submission basis from any interested author.
The blog is broken down in to various page topics explained below. If you have a submission for one of these sections please email me at undergroundfeminism@gmail.com . No sexist, racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, ageist, classist, or bigoted posts of any kind will be considered for the blog. The email should include your name, reason of interest or affiliation, and your writing sample. There is NO limit on the amount of submissions. Please send as many as you would like, but please show patience as I read through them. I will look over all samples for editing. If your post has no errors, I will post it on the blog within a week. Otherwise, I will email you back with suggestions for possible changes and post it to the blog once the sample has been edited and returned. Below is an explanation of each topic page:
Make it Your Own: What Methods Have Worked Best for You?
Now that we have named the process of underground feminism, have you ever done it and what tactics did you use? Have you ever discussed feminist ideas at work without using the term because it was not acceptable? Have you ever found yourself conducting feminism activism, but unable to use the word because of the regulations or standards? Tell us your strategy so we might all benefit from your experience.
A Path from Girlhood: How Underground Feminism Made You More Open to Feminism in the Future?
As a member of the feminist community over the years, I have found that many feminist activists can trace the influences of their childhood that made them more open to feminist ideas as adults. I myself remember thinking – “Oh so this is feminism? I already felt this way because of my mom.” So, while my mother never used the term feminism, I was able to recognize that the ideas and beliefs mirrored each other. This page then is about your first exposure to feminist ideas that did not include use of the label.
Covert Organizations: Examples of Underground Feminism in Your Community
Do you think you work for an organization that practices underground feminism? Tell us about it. If you cannot divulge the name of the organization for reasons of confidentiality, let me know and we can work on maintaining anonymity.
Media Awareness: Underground Feminism in Pop culture
Did you ever watch a film or read a comic book that you felt was feminist friendly even if it did not use feminist rhetoric explicitly? Submit a review and tell us how the piece adheres to underground feminism.
Personal Narrative: What You Do Daily to Practice Covert Activism
So you may not work for an organization where you use underground feminism, but maybe you use it in your personal life. Tell us your activist stories.
Reading Responses: Book Reviews and Analysis of Useful Texts for the Underground Feminist
If you read an essay, novel, article, or even another blog that may relate to underground feminism, let us know about it. This can be in the form of a review, short description, or analysis. However, please make sure that you give credit to the author and let us know how to gain access to the work.
Living in Doubt: Why We Still Need Feminism and How Underground Feminism Can Help
Some people still doubt that feminism is needed at all. Disagree? This is the page to tell us about it.
Where in the World is Underground Feminism: Discussing Global/Transnational Examples of Underground Feminism
On this page, we will have the opportunity to discuss examples of feminist activism abroad that may practice feminism without the label. Entries that demonize, other, or stereotype cultures or peoples will not be considered for the blog.
* Blog Design by Meredith Tweed
Interesting.
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