Living a Feminist Life

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I found myself moved to tears when she described incidents of sexual harassment; her father accusing her of being "sick in the head" because she is a lesbian, and how he used to beat her as a child; and the walls and resistance she encountered while doing diversity work, to name a few. R]eading her book provides a tentative vision for a feminist ethics for radical politics that is applicable far beyond what is traditionally considered the domain of feminism. Maybe there are compromises; maybe there is a diversification of styles of feminine accomplishment; maybe heterosexuality can now be done in more ways than one; but the investments remain rather precise. This book has it all: transfeminism as the political heir of lesbian feminism, direct relevance for loved experience, a defense of killing joy, a genre-defying form, and all framed though women of color feminism.

Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed is not a book about feminist theory; rather, it's about the experiences of feminists in real life. It moved quickly from thought to thought, and was largely composed of wordplay that at times reminded be of Debord. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. This was a very thought-provoking text to listen to while I was drawing, but I am also aware than my comprehension is much higher when I read than when I listen, so hopefully I will have time to get a copy of this book in print to underline and highlight. Maybe that "will be" can also be heard not only as prediction but as a moral instruction: not only will she do this, but she will do this happily.The violence of judgments that tend to follow violence against women and girls has been documented by feminists over generations. Accessible language, not only intended for the exclusive Academic sphere), very relatable and enlightening. Not to be assaulted: maybe you might try to close yourself off, to withdraw from proximity, from proximity to a potential. As girls you learn to be cautious and careful in public spaces with that caution and care directed toward those who do not belong, whose presence or proximity is illegitimate.

Written in Sara Ahmed’s trademark evocative style whereby concepts, experiences, words, ideas, structures, and bodies are examined thoroughly from all possible angles, the book documents what it means to understand and lay claim to living everyday life as a feminist. The history of the word woman teaches us how the categories that se- cure personhood are bound up with a history of ownership: woman is derived from a compound of wif (wife) and man (human being); woman as wife-man also suggesting woman as female servant. You might not have used that word for it; you might not have the words for it; you might not be able to put your finger on it. How the reports and measurements and self-congratulatory events can become the very tool of oppression by managers that do not at all understand the issues of diversity in the workplace. My only slightly negative comment would be the repetition of the author - not just in the book but in a following sentence.

It’s not easy being a feminist and Sara Ahmed has written a powerful, thought provoking and moving account of just what that means. Ahmed also explores the idea of how people label those who complain about these injustices as killjoys. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit.

These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Living a Feminist Life is the perfect introduction to Ahmed’s academic work, if a general reader is unfamiliar with her. Been reading this for two months and while I only got 2/3 of the way through, I have decided I am done with it for now. As Alison Jaggar describes, "Only when we reflect on our initially puzzling irritability, revulsion, anger, or fear may we bring to consciousness our 'gut-level' awareness that we are in a situation of coercion, cruelty, injustice or danger" (1996, 181; see also Spelman 1989). Ahmed also provides her most sustained commentary on the figure of the feminist killjoy introduced in her earlier work while showing how feminists create inventive solutions-such as forming support systems-to survive the shattering experiences of facing the walls of racism and sexism.The documentary takes this form: we are introduced to many of the characters by snapshots attached to stories gathered by a surveillance team; the voice-over introducing each character as a suspect, as if to the police; different individuals who make up the Women’s Army, who are protesting against this new regime. I did not appreciate how questioning sexism is one of the most profound ways of disrupting what we take to be given and thus learning about how the given is given. Over time, with experience, you sense that something is wrong or you have a feeling of being wronged. The history of woman is impossible to disentangle from the history of wife: the female human not only as in relation to man but as for man (woman as there for, and therefore, being for). Especially compelling is Ahmed’s insistence that living as a feminist is not a sudden, euphoric escape from patriarchy and other structures of domination.