tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post4614700711797194474..comments2024-03-16T00:39:49.573-07:00Comments on IEPI: Tell US PoetsTon van 't Hofhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09887032597668813687noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-40068345488709950962007-10-31T21:52:00.000-07:002007-10-31T21:52:00.000-07:00Yeah, I've been writing about Meghan Williams a lo...Yeah, I've been writing about Meghan Williams a lot and other Black women coming up missing, mutilated and otherwise abused and assaulted and it seems that the dynamic is to briefly notice this violence against women of color, if at all. I'm sure that many poets are aware of this, but how many writers make note of the contradictions it is fraught with? For example, the Jena 6 and Genarlow Wilson were newsworthy injustices that should be exposed, but what about Nailah Franklin (who was believed to be abducted by an ex-boyfriend and was then found dead), Meghan Williams who was tortured and sexually abused for days by 6 white people and the woman and her son who were assaulted by a group of boys in Florida's Dunbar Village community. It is shocking that these types of events don't fall in the purview of the media. <BR/><BR/>Also, I wonder why these communities of color (or communities that are typically perceived as other) are pushed to tell someone else their experience. Tell me what it means to be sensitive to you, to treat a woman like a human being, to tell me how I contribute to someone else's suffering, to tell me how to avoid being racist. Again, it puts the burden on the communities tagged as "other." How can a space such as this be co-mediated by all the parties involved to consider such dynamics?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-37925646934183901102007-10-30T12:46:00.000-07:002007-10-30T12:46:00.000-07:00Barbara,The heading of this post was, "Tell US Poe...Barbara,<BR/><BR/>The heading of this post was, "Tell US Poets," which for me started this whole thing and my initial visceral response. This heading strongly suggests the sender(s) of the post to be non-American.Therefore, when I saw Julians's and Stephanie's I felt a usurpation had taken place.<BR/><BR/>Now that I think of it, I am not sure that heading was put there by them. It may have been an addition by the blog coordinator, which changes the whole thing.<BR/><BR/>Ciao,<BR/><BR/>MuratMurat Nemet-Nejathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231699257136721725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-11413648113856264142007-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:002007-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:00Thanks for your response, Juliana. Murat, not to a...Thanks for your response, Juliana. <BR/><BR/>Murat, not to act as translator, but I read this post/letter not as an American direction-giving, but a rather open asking: what do we Americans need to know but don't (for whatever reason)?<BR/><BR/>Tara, that is also my stand on feminism in America, and my community's position as immigrants and transnationals. There are issues of power dynamics, economics, language and resource access which differ from or are divergent from the American mainstream feminist dialogue. As well, I noticed you've recently written on Megan Williams, and I wonder to what extent her story is even acknowledged by American feminists, rather than viewed solely as a racial issue?bjaneprhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07212077947146090915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-40943846605758322302007-10-29T21:39:00.000-07:002007-10-29T21:39:00.000-07:00I'm also curious about international intersections...I'm also curious about international intersections. What about immigrants and first-generation U.S. citizens? Also, what about mixed identities? Nationally, ethnically, culturally, faith-wise, racially? <BR/>There are communities throughout the world where women are horribly violated or agree to relationships with soldiers. What of the feminist implications of these women and those who may write from this perspective? <BR/>There's so many dynamics that can broaden this discussion of feminism because feminism does not mean the same thing all over the planet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-73903443524047921022007-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:002007-10-29T21:31:00.000-07:00Barbara,The following quotes occur in the post:"Ou...Barbara,<BR/><BR/>The following quotes occur in the post:<BR/><BR/>"Our plan right now is to start this conversation outside of the US." <BR/><BR/>"We'd also like to know if there is anything you think we should say to US poets."<BR/><BR/>Whom is this "we" referring to? Reading the post, my assumption was that a group of non-American women poets, impatient with American women experimental poets' myopic attitude towards feminism in other cultures and countries, are calling to arms to develop an independent, non-appropriated definition of feminism.<BR/><BR/>When, at the end, I saw Juliana Spahr's and Stephanie's Young's names, I realized that my assumption was wrong. This was, in my view, another example of Americans telling others how they should feel, that is to say, another example of the myopic attitude the post seems to be attacking. That's the irony I am talking about.<BR/><BR/>Ciao,<BR/><BR/>MuratMurat Nemet-Nejathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231699257136721725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-75156997253240491102007-10-29T18:52:00.000-07:002007-10-29T18:52:00.000-07:00Thanks BJR for the response!The answer is no. Ther...Thanks BJR for the response!<BR/><BR/>The answer is no. There is not an assumption that all women or communities of women in North America are subject to the same standard of feminism.jmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06247591618961321838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-35934900526768607232007-10-29T16:15:00.000-07:002007-10-29T16:15:00.000-07:00Hi Murat, I'm not sure what you mean about non-iro...Hi Murat, I'm not sure what you mean about non-ironic, but what I am thinking is whether there's an assumption here that all women, or all communities of women in North America are subject to the same standards of feminism. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, to be constructive, I've emailed my response re: ethnic rather than geographical conditions.bjaneprhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07212077947146090915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-6283103846534016312007-10-29T15:28:00.000-07:002007-10-29T15:28:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.bjaneprhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07212077947146090915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6100776413149670920.post-76603599075989797062007-10-29T14:47:00.000-07:002007-10-29T14:47:00.000-07:00The last I know Juliana Spahr and Stephanie Young ...The last I know Juliana Spahr and Stephanie Young are American poets. Is there not something ironic in two American poets initiating this letter? <BR/><BR/>Ciao,<BR/><BR/>MuratMurat Nemet-Nejathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18231699257136721725noreply@blogger.com