catching up with sepia mutiny + feelings

Bobby Jindal

keywords: masculinity, america, identity, confused desi

interesting condom ad

keywords: transnationalism, sexuality, postcolonialism, nationalism


I wouldn't find Sepia Mutiny feminist, per se, or even politically consistent in a direction I could find affinity with. The point is that it keeps up with transnational desi issues with a specificity that is hard to come across in feminist blogs and women-of-color blogs--in the same way that my favorite fashion blog might do the same for my cable-knit sweater issues. The plight of having to "pick" apart a hybrid identity in order to find my place on the internet remains, yet the possibilities triggered by structural and spacial elements of web-based communities could be quite interesting, I think.

Perhaps in these "borderless" landscapes, identitarian borders do not disappear after all, and intersectionality as practice is just as hard--or even harder--within the political blogosphere. Usernames and IP addresses render us unfit to be "posthuman"--but certainly do their job to make brownness appear browner and less white, gayness appear gayer and less straight, and so forth. And of course, as my library co-worker reminded me, "it" or the locale for these "communities," still takes up space on a server somewhere, even if we can't see it.

But let's get back to material experience. Is it possible, that the hyperlink, as a structural and design tool with which the web functions for the user(person), allows for the possibility of materializing the pause, the moment of convergence, the "space between" that we so seek as a site for activism to emerge? I would like to propose the worlds of art, communications, and interactive design not as elements that aid in technology, but as the technology itself that facilitates those necessary moments between one sphere of identity practice and the next.

(No real sources, just blabbing, but definitely
Butler + Anzaldua + Gunn Allen + Haraway + MORE MORE MORE)

Embedded Anthropologists

A rather worrisome article highlighting the newest weapon in the war on terror: Anthropologists. Definitely leads one to question the role of POSTcolonialism when we (academics, americans, and women) are actively colonizing.
A True Culture War


Also, has anyone else seen the CNN special "Planet in Peril?" Not surprisingly, it's focused almost exclusively in the "third world. "

Our Pop Culture

I'm not really sure how these may/not relate to our class discussion or any of our projected courses of study, however I find these articles pretty interesting. One is about the Pussy Cat Dolls and their oh-so- televisable and marketable relationship with third wave feminsim; the other about Tila Tequila, a self made internet and teevee star and her (transnational?) identity issues.

Dolls Clad in Feminism, and Hardly Anything Else
nytimes.com

She's Famous (and So Can You!)
nytimes.com




-Jessica

Postcolonial Studies and Transnational Feminist Practices

This is a very important piece by two of the greats in postcolonial and transnational feminist theory and practice. Please take a look at it.

Grewal and Kaplan

Transnational Feminisms

While we have talked about the blurry lines between postcolonial, transnational, Third World Feminisms, there are some differences that are important to understand. Below is a link that clarifies Transnational Feminisms. There are some great links to theorists and organizations that practice this feminisms theories.

Transnational Feminisms

KEY CONCEPTS

I want to make sure that as we follow our own directions for research that we do not lose sight of history and key concepts in postcolonial feminisms. The following link takes you to a good site that outlines many of the key concepts and people of interest to this area of study.

The Imperial Archive

Human Rights Film Festival

October 4-6
Fifth Annual Human Rights Film Festival
Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building

The three-day film festival features dynamic documentaries on social justice issues from across the globe, including Palestine, Rwanda, India, and Nicaragua. Traditionally focused on South Asia, the festival has been expanded this year to cover Asia, Africa, South America and beyond. Screenings are free and open to the public. Films and times are available at http://symposium.syr.edu/film.html Co-sponsored by the Syracuse Symposium, the South Asia Center in the Maxwell School’s Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs, U. Encounter, and the South Asian Student Association in collaboration with Breakthrough, an international human rights organization. For more information, contact Kandice Salomone at (315) 443-7192 or salomone@syr.edu.

The symposium link has the full schedule of events... some of them look pretty interesting and relevant. I also know the professor than organizes this festival pretty well, so if we were particularly interested in viewing I could ask her about it. And best of all-- the whole festival is free! I've been for the past three years, and it's always a good job.