Today in my women's studies class we talked about the importance of consciousness building, which is done by making each other aware of our experiences through our stories in order to keep from hiding our difficulties and human-ness. The point of this is to know for ourselves and to make sure others realize that we are not alone in our plights and journeys, particularly in regards to marginalized groups. My professor mentioned how our culture has sadly veered away from personal storytelling in favor of allowing the power of storytelling to be controlled by the higher-ups in media, subsequently believing hollywood portrayals of difficulties over our own experiences and stories, and over the stories of our friends. That's really problematic since, regardless of how hard the creative people involved may try, big media companies always have at least a tiny sliver of an agenda, even if that agenda is simply, "it'd be nice if we could make some money off of this thing, lest we starve" subsequently there is more of a push to be appealing than telling the truth.
Not only that, but due to the people in power who do want to actively subdue people whose voices have historically been more stifled, there is often a pushback when personal stories of marginalized peoples are told. The oppressors often say things to the effect of, "Why are you whining? There are children in third world countries starving to death and you're crying about microaggressions and misrepresentation like a big baby..." This isn't the right approach, this is simply a way to further silence the stories of people who aren't at the top of the media pyramid.
This struck me so strongly, since I've been struggling for ages with going back and forth between wanting to tell my own story of my survival semester difficulties, and feeling like I'm some big whiner who doesn't have the right to complain about my struggles since I wasn't left for dead in an abandoned ditch (or whatever). What this specific class today did was make me feel empowered, so that whenever I get those feelings, remember, no matter how minute the stories may seem, storytelling is activism!
Going off of that, it seemed strange to me that, upon being asked if I consider myself an activist, I was the only person in my class to raise my hand. I've always felt like one to some degree- Lisa Simpson was one of my fictional childhood heroes, before I even knew what the words meant, I was belting along with 'HAIR', I remember holding Peace signs on street-corners on election night in 2004. It didn't seem like a groundbreaking, soul-searching question. My professor mentioned that everyone in the class should consider themselves such, or at least had good reason to, considering they were actively taking a class meant to help us better understand other people's struggles.
My professor mentioned how much she appreciates our written responses to such wide-reaching issues as sexual harassment, ablism, domestic violence, body image, religion as enrichment or interference, etc... She said many of the stories we tell, she never would've heard from anyone but us, since many stories we write are so unlike what's portrayed in widespread media. I think that's why I need to keep on with my feminist memoir project- I haven't the slightest idea as to what will become of it, but it's worth being put into the public sphere, since it might be of use to someone else knowing they are not alone in this.
While I'm on the subject, I am really happy and thankful for the people who have put their stories out into the world. They help me on a daily basis to know I'm not alone in my difficulties. Sometimes that solidarity comes in the form of a song, and sometimes in the form of a poem on a friend's blog. Other times it's fictionalized, yet no less personal, for instance two of the things that helped me through my most difficult times were stories of trying to find love in a world full of cruelty, and using art to help you until then, even if everyone else thinks your art sucks ('Demo Reel' and 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch').
Storytelling saves lives- I recently came upon the song 'Ukulele Anthem', which has the lyric, "You may think my approach is simple-minded and naïve- like if you want to change the world then why not quit and feed the hungry, but people for millennia have needed music to survive, and that is why I promised John that I will not feel guilty".
That's why I need to tell my story- it will help someone somehow, even if that someone is simply me!
Not only that, but due to the people in power who do want to actively subdue people whose voices have historically been more stifled, there is often a pushback when personal stories of marginalized peoples are told. The oppressors often say things to the effect of, "Why are you whining? There are children in third world countries starving to death and you're crying about microaggressions and misrepresentation like a big baby..." This isn't the right approach, this is simply a way to further silence the stories of people who aren't at the top of the media pyramid.
This struck me so strongly, since I've been struggling for ages with going back and forth between wanting to tell my own story of my survival semester difficulties, and feeling like I'm some big whiner who doesn't have the right to complain about my struggles since I wasn't left for dead in an abandoned ditch (or whatever). What this specific class today did was make me feel empowered, so that whenever I get those feelings, remember, no matter how minute the stories may seem, storytelling is activism!
Going off of that, it seemed strange to me that, upon being asked if I consider myself an activist, I was the only person in my class to raise my hand. I've always felt like one to some degree- Lisa Simpson was one of my fictional childhood heroes, before I even knew what the words meant, I was belting along with 'HAIR', I remember holding Peace signs on street-corners on election night in 2004. It didn't seem like a groundbreaking, soul-searching question. My professor mentioned that everyone in the class should consider themselves such, or at least had good reason to, considering they were actively taking a class meant to help us better understand other people's struggles.
My professor mentioned how much she appreciates our written responses to such wide-reaching issues as sexual harassment, ablism, domestic violence, body image, religion as enrichment or interference, etc... She said many of the stories we tell, she never would've heard from anyone but us, since many stories we write are so unlike what's portrayed in widespread media. I think that's why I need to keep on with my feminist memoir project- I haven't the slightest idea as to what will become of it, but it's worth being put into the public sphere, since it might be of use to someone else knowing they are not alone in this.
While I'm on the subject, I am really happy and thankful for the people who have put their stories out into the world. They help me on a daily basis to know I'm not alone in my difficulties. Sometimes that solidarity comes in the form of a song, and sometimes in the form of a poem on a friend's blog. Other times it's fictionalized, yet no less personal, for instance two of the things that helped me through my most difficult times were stories of trying to find love in a world full of cruelty, and using art to help you until then, even if everyone else thinks your art sucks ('Demo Reel' and 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch').
Storytelling saves lives- I recently came upon the song 'Ukulele Anthem', which has the lyric, "You may think my approach is simple-minded and naïve- like if you want to change the world then why not quit and feed the hungry, but people for millennia have needed music to survive, and that is why I promised John that I will not feel guilty".
That's why I need to tell my story- it will help someone somehow, even if that someone is simply me!
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