Hi!
RE: "Yesterday, the same man who called his female
colleagues "girls" said no, he didn't like Thai food,
in fact he doesn't like any "slanty eyed food." Wow.
I was too stunned to say anything. But I'd love
anyone's input on how to address that sort of racism."
Have you read the book "Words that Wound"? The authors' names escape me
at the moment -- it's an edited book from the perspective of Critical Race
Theory and a must read. It talks about the kind of comments used by the
man you noted above and thier implications and ways to combat racism more
broadly, including assaultive/hate speech.
Jessica
On Thu, 15 Apr 1999, Heather McKenzie wrote:
>
> I recently read an "article" in some silly "women's
> magazine" (maybe Self?) about women proudly reclaiming
> the word "girl," which I thought was a bunch of hooey
> propagated by the "token torturers" (Mary Daly's
> phrase) in influential places. Reclaiming the word
> girl may have it's place - like people have said,
> maybe to give oneself a sense of youth, or perhaps it
> has different connotations in African American
> culture, for example. But in white, mainstream
> america, calling women "girls" puts them in a position
> of disempowerment, where they are made of sugar and
> spice and everything nice. I think you have to
> respect the labels people apply to themselves, and
> really try not to label them or put them in boxes
> yourself. I think that is a tenet of ecofeminism.
>
> The whole workplace thing is another can of worms. I
> changed the battery in my car yesterday and was late
> for work because of it, and boy were the men in shock.
> How did I get it out, they asked. It is so heavy.
> Give me a break! I also have men telling other men
> not to use "that kind of language" in my presence,
> setting me up as delicate. And inferior. Not
> acceptable.
>
> Yesterday, the same man who called his female
> colleagues "girls" said no, he didn't like Thai food,
> in fact he doesn't like any "slanty eyed food." Wow.
> I was too stunned to say anything. But I'd love
> anyone's input on how to address that sort of racism.
>
> Heather
> ===
> "The book of history has many missing pages
> murmured the madonna of the middle ages."
> -Michele Shocked
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