FemSem

Very funny! One looks like Mandy (sort of)

Newly Discovered Trove of Vermeer Works Reveals He Painted Mainly Dogs A cache of 243 paintings found in an English castle, all depicting canine subjects, suggests Vermeer’s true aspiration was to become a dog portraitist.

Superfemsem January 25, 12-6 in Sewell (social sciences) 8417
be there if you can!

Check out the first blog post of the semester: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/gender/?page_id=548

https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/62dtt8rt9780252041730.html

Keisha Lindsay's comments on her new book:

The Perils and the Possibilities of All-Black Male Schools
What do Louis Farrakhan, George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They are examples of the strange political bedfellows in support of separate, public schools for black boys.

As a public school graduate and one of the few black women faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I know what discrimination in the classroom looks like. So, when I first heard about the effort to establish ABMSs, I was relieved that school districts were finally listening to anti-racist activists’ assertion that structural racism in schools is unacceptable. In other words, I situated the push to open ABMSs within black people’s well-established understanding of the classroom as a place for resisting racism. To this end, proponents of the forty-plus ABMSs established since 1991 rightly argue that: black urban schools are under-resourced relative to white suburban ones; traditional public schools utilize racist curricula; blacks students are disciplined more than white students, and black teachers are under-represented in the nation’s schools.

At the same time, the anti-feminist ethos sometimes present in Lives Matter and other expressions of black politics is also evident in conversations about ABMSs. It is unsurprising then that my initial optimism about ABMSs soon turned to concern. Why? Because I recognized that despite their best intentions, some advocates of ABMSs minimize the degree of black girls’ own oppression in school. Equally disturbing, is many ABMSs supporters’ assumption that black schoolboys underperform because they are distracted by black girls. This claim reproduces harmful images of black women as “jezebels” who sexually corrupt the males around them.

There is much to learn from the movement to open ABMSs. One lesson is that intersectionality - the analytical framework pioneered by black feminists to illuminate how racial, gendered, and other systems of power are mutually reinforcing can be used to advance multiple political agendas including anti-feminist ones. On the one hand, many advocates of AMBSs embrace intersectionality when they assume that black boys underachieve not only because they are black in racist schools but also because they are black boys in white, female-dominated classrooms. This intersectional logic highlights black boys’ experience of gender-specific racism or the fact that the nation’s predominantly white women teachers suspend black boys at higher rates than other students, including black girls. On the other hand, numerous advocates of ABMSs assume that black boys underachieve because white women teachers create racist, “feminized” classrooms at odds with these boys’ “naturally” aggressive learning style. This intersectional approach ignores research which indicates that biology does not automatically make boys tactile learners and girls oral learners. The end result is that supporters of ABMSs often ignore black children, including highly verbal black boys, who defy stereotypical gender roles.

So where does this reality, that the push for ABMSs is anti-racist and sexist, leave those of us committed to challenging inequality in our personal, activist, and/or professional lives? I believe that supporters and critics of AMBSs can form politically progressive coalitions. This might seem like an unrealistic goal given that advocates of ABMSs sometimes reject black feminist criticism of their efforts. Indeed, black feminists who express concerns about these schools have heard that we are “colluding with the enemy” or giving racist whites the opportunity to condemn ABMSs and, in turn, stifle black boys’ academic prospects. It is also true, however, that while many proponents of ABMSs conceptualize black children’s oppression in ways that threaten bridge building, other advocates recognize that the sometimes sexist and heterosexist rhetoric in favor of these schools harms black boys and black girls.

Building on this insight ultimately requires all participants in the debate about ABMSs to embrace a particular kind of educational advocacy - one which recognizes that public schools are key to addressing oppression and that black children are forced to learn in some of the worst public schools. Putting this kind of nuanced advocacy into practice means using accessible, community-based spaces to challenge our assumptions and demands regarding how and why black children are oppressed in school. It also means defining “good” public schools as those which foster all black children’s capacity for self-determination and self-actualization in the classroom, and beyond.

My comments: It's a great read about democracy, feminism, schools and intersectional politics. 🙂

In a Classroom of Their Own: The Intersection of Race and Feminist Politics in All-Black Male Schools Antifeminist and antiracist currents within an education reform movement

Take a look at Keisha Lindsay's new book! her website provides ordering info. https://www.keishalindsay.com/
And here is what she has to say about it:

What do Louis Farrakhan, Gorge H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They support publicly-funded, all-black male schools (ABMSs). My new book - In a Classroom of their Own: The Intersection of Race and Feminist Politics in All-Black Male Schools – critically analyzes what motivates these and the other strange political bedfellows in favor of separate schools for black boys.

As a public school graduate and one of the few black women faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I know what discrimination in the classroom looks like. So, when I first heard about the nationwide effort to open ABMSs, I was relieved. I felt that local school boards were finally listening to what anti-racist activists have been saying for years – that something has to be done to address structural racism in the nation’s schools. In other words, I understood the move to open ABMSs as part of black people’s well-established understanding of the classroom as a place for resisting racism. To this end, proponents of the over forty ABMSs that have opened to date rightly argue that: predominantly black urban schools are underfunded relative to white, suburban ones; the voices and experiences of black people are absent from school curricula; white teachers discipline blacks students more harshly than other students and blacks are grossly under-represented in the nation’s teaching force.

At the same time, the anti-feminist ethos that is sometimes present in Lives Matter and other contemporary expressions of black politics is also evident in conversations about ABMSs. It is unsurprising then that my initial optimism about ABMSs soon turned to concern. Why? Because I recognized that, despite their best intentions, some supporters of these schools minimize black girls’ own academic underachievement. For instance, the discourse in favor of ABMSs pays little attention to the disproportionately high number of black girls are suspended from school and assigned to special-education classes relative to their white counterparts. Equally disturbing, is many ABMSs supporters’ oft-repeated assumption that black boys’ fail in school because they are “distracted” by black girls. This claim reproduces deeply entrenched stereotypes of black girls and black women as “jezebels” who sexually corrupt the males in their midst.

There is much to learn from the push to open ABMSs. One lesson is that intersectionality - the analytical framework that illuminates how race, gender, and other systems of power are mutually reinforcing - can be used to advance diverse political agendas. On the one hand, many advocates of AMBSs embrace intersectionality when they assume that black boys underachieve not only because they are black in racist schools but also because they are black boys who are forced to function in female-dominated, and consequently harmful, classrooms. This intersectional logic reveals that many black boys experience gender-specific racism. For example, the nation’s teachers – most of whom are white women – assign black boys to so-called special education classes at rates higher than all other students. On the other hand, numerous advocates of ABMSs assume that black boys underachieve because white women teachers create racist, “feminized” classrooms at odds with these boys’ “naturally” testosterone-driven, aggressive learning style. This latter, intersectional approach mistakenly presumes that black children have biologically based ways of learning or that all black boys are aggressive learners and all black girls are verbal learners. The result is that supporters of ABMSs often ignore black children - like black boys who thrive in collective, communicative spaces - who do not fit into these stereotypical roles.

So where does this complicated reality, that the push for ABMSs is both anti-racist and sexist, leave those of us committed to challenging inequality in our personal, activist, and/or professional lives? I believe that supporters and critics of AMBSs can form progressive antiracist and feminist coalitions. This might seem like an unrealistically positive claim given that advocates of ABMSs sometimes reject black feminist criticism of their efforts. Indeed, black feminists who express concerns about separate schools for black boys have heard that we are “colluding with the enemy” or giving racist whites the opportunity to stifle the growth of ABMSs and, in turn, black boys’ ability to achieve in school. It is also true, however, that while many proponents of ABMSs conceptualize black children’s oppression in ways that threaten bridge building, others recognize that the sometimes sexist and heterosexist rhetoric in favor of these schools harms black boys as well as black girls.

Building on this important insight ultimately requires all participants in the debate about ABMSs to embrace a particular kind of educational advocacy - one which recognizes that traditional public schools play a key role addressing multiple oppressions and that black children are burdened with having to learning in some of the worst public schools. Putting this kind of nuanced advocacy into practice means using accessible, community-based spaces to challenge our assumptions and our demands regarding how and why black children are oppressed in school. It also means defining “good” public schools as those which foster all black children’s capacity for self-determination and self-actualization in the classroom, and beyond.

ABOUT Keisha Lindsay website

Commencement weekend! Congratulations to Gina, Daanika, katrina, Casey, Sun and Heba! On to new adventures.

This week in Femsem: Di Wang (王迪) presents "Walking in Stinky Socks": Radical Feminist Activist in Repressive Regimes
1pm, Thursday, 2435 Social Sciences

This week in Femsem:
"Q***r Bee: A Le***an Beekeeper at a Madison Farmers’ Market"
Jaclyn Wypler, Sociology PhD student

http://www.slis.wisc.edu/chpccollq.htm

A Revolutionary Has No Gender: Black Women, the Radical Black Press, and Gender Roles in the Black Power Movement

Tuesday, October 21, 12-1 p.m.

Room 7191
7th Floor, Helen C. White Hall

Ashley Farmer
Duke University, Sociology

School of Library & Information Studies | University of Wisconsin–Madison Unless otherwise noted, all colloquia are held in: The Bunge Room (formerly SLIS Commons) 4207 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park Street Madison, WI 53706

Congratulations to our own Michelle Robinson, winner of an Outstanding Women of Color Award at UW-Madison! http://www.news.wisc.edu/23006?utm_source=iUW&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=iUW2014-07-22

Eight honored by UW–Madison as Outstanding Women of Color Eight winners of the 2014-15 Outstanding Women of Color awards, who are heavily involved in the campus as well as the Madison community through their work toward research and civic enrichment, have been announced by UW–Madison.

Coming up this Thursday in Femsem! Don't miss Katrina Quisumbing King's presentation of her (half-baked) dissertation ideas entitled: "Defining the Nation through Empire: Filipin@s as an American Foil"
1pm, 2435 Social Sciences

Today in femsem: Nancy Rydberg is here from Uganda to present her dissertation work on Global Discourses about girls' education in post-conflict northern Uganda. She will give a presentation of ongoing data collection and early data analysis. We start at 1pm in social sciences room 2435, see you there!