Moving Toward the Ugly: A Politic Beyond Desirability | Leaving Evidence

Moving Toward the Ugly: A Politic Beyond Desirability | Leaving Evidence.

Many people assume that I identify as femme and even call me femme, but the truth is that “femme” has not felt like a term where I belonged nor was it a place I wanted to be.   I rarely see femme being done in a way that actually challenges and transforms gender, rather than colluding in an alternative enforcing of gender.  Many of the people in this room are more invested in being beautiful and sexy than being magnificent.  Even something as small as the time I nervously asked a comrade femme of color friend of mine to wear sneakers in solidarity with me, instead of her high heels, because I didn’t want to be the only one and didn’t want to get chided from other femmes of color about my shoes (as so often has happened).  She said “no,” but she (of course) “totally didn’t think there was anything wrong with wearing sneakers.”

Comment: Beyond ‘quick wins’: Decolonizing British Columbia – Op-Ed – Times Colonist

Comment: Beyond ‘quick wins’: Decolonizing British Columbia – Op-Ed – Times Colonist. Way to go, Times Colonist. How can I encourage them to keep posting thoughtful pieces like this? Should we be sending letters in response?

Redress settlements are necessary, but not enough. As the Idle No More movement so well illustrates, the problems associated with a century or more of white supremacy are hardly over. The murder and disappearance of hundreds of indigenous women is tragic testimony to that fact. Without mainstream society taking responsibility for the past, do we have a future?

For its part, the provincial government has done even less than the federal government. In our classes, students are often stunned and at times end up in tears when they learn the truth about the province’s past. They deserve better.