notyourkinddear:

timcl:

faineemae:

Dear Nicki Minaj,

Next time you dress yourself in animal print clothing and dance around in a cage while being a colored woman, you should realize that you the result of years and years of male-dominated media stereotyping colored women as exotic, hypersexual, promiscuous, animal-like things. Not even human, just things, objects. Hope you’re proud of yourself and how you make colored women look. So, next time…just don’t.

Sincerely,
a disappointed young woman. 

While I’m not a young woman…

How about “no”.

First off, the very fact that the word “colored” is used rather than “woman of color” is WAY wrong. Like, a million times wrong. “Colored” is NOT an acceptable term. It is a racist term. Full stop.

Second, when non-Black women decide to chide Black women about how Black women are hypersexualized, objectified, etc., that is absolutely anti-Black and overstepping basic decency.

Third, I am tired of this ridiculous notion that Black women need to present themselves a certain way because they represent everyone and how they “make us look”. Nicki represents Nicki. If you don’t like her stuff, hey, that’s cool. You don’t have to. But she isn’t representing you, she isn’t the one oppressing you, and it’s pathetic to blame her for patriarchy. You have issues with how male dominated media deals with women, and women of color in particular? Take it up with men.

Fourth, do you think we can’t read the slut-shaming coded into this? We need to get past this idea that we have to tear down other women to build ourselves up. If you believe in modesty, do your modest thing. If you believe in an open sexuality, do your thing. Neither one of those needs to talk down to the other. Just do you and stop policing everyone else. If a woman has real self-respect, she won’t feel the need to tear down the ways other women express their own self-respect.

Fifth, you clearly don’t even understand Nicki’s work or how she is taking those expectations and playing on them. And that’s okay. You don’t have to agree with her. But don’t assume that you understand her intentions or methods or purpose.

Sixth, sorry, all the love, but men agreeing with this need to sit down. When men get in on this, you aren’t supporting women/women of color. You are contributing to hurting a woman of color. You don’t need to inject yourself into this.

mylifeasafeminista:

This list is stil a work in progress, but I really wanted to get it posted.  I have either read parts of/all of the texts below or they have been recommended to me.  Please reblog and add your own suggestions to the list.  Each time someone adds something new, I’ll go back to this original post and make sure to include them.  Thanks and enjoy!

Books

  • Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
  • Women Culture and Politics by Angela Davis
  • Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
  • Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua
  • Aint I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
  • Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks
  • Feminist Theory from Margin to Center by bell hooks
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
  • Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
  • Medicine Stories by Aurora Levins Morales
  • Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill
  • Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
  • Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide by Andrea Smith
  • Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes: Theorizing Coalition Against Multiple Oppressions (Feminist Constructions) by Maria Lugones (submitted by oceanicheart)
  • Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism by Jessica Yee (submitted by oceanicheart)
  • Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks (via easternjenitentiary)
  • Nervous Conditions by Tsisti Dangarembga (via easternjenitentiary)
  • A Taste of Power by Elaine Browne (via tinajenny)
  • Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism by Aileen Moreton-Robinson (via jalwhite)
  • I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism by Lee Maracle  (via jalwhite)
  • Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics by Joy James (via jalwhite)
  • Re-Creating Ourselves by Molara Ogundipe-Leslie (via reallifedocumentarian)
  • Chicana Feminist Thought by Alma M. Garcia (via eggplantavenger)
  • Queer Latinidad by Juana Maria Rodriguez (via eggplantavenger)
  • The Truth That Never Hurts by Barbara Smith (via sisteroutsider)
  • Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes: Theorizing Coalition Against Multiple Oppressions by Maria Lugones (via guckfender)
  • Consequence: Beyond Resisting Rape by Loolwa Khazzoom (viagalesofnovember)
  • The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid (viawherethewildthingsmoved)

Anthologies

  • Companeras: Latina Lesbians by Juanita Ramos and the Lesbian History Project
  • Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism edited by Daisy Hernandez
  • This Bridge Called My Back edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
  • this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation edited by Gloria Anzaldúa and AnaLouise Keating
  • Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critial Perspectives by Feminists of Color edited by Gloria Anzaldua
  • Women Writing Resistance: Essays from Latin America and the Caribbean edited by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez
  • Unequal Sisters edited by Ellen DuBois and Vicki Ruiz
  • Chicana Feminist Thought: The Basic Historical Writings edited by Alma M. Garcia (submitted by oceanicheart)
  •  Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice (submitted by oceanicheart)
  • The Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology
  • I Am Your SIster by Audre Lorde (via marlahangup)
  • Indigenous Women and Feminism: Politics, Activism, Culture edited by Cheryl Suzack, Shari M. Huhndorf, Jeanne Perreault, Jean Barman (via jalwhite)
  • Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire edited by Sonia Shah (via jalwhite)
  • Pinay Power: Feminist Critical Theory: Theorizing the Filipina/American Experience edited by Melinda L. de Jesus (via titotibok)
  • Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire edited by Sonia Shah (via titotibok)
  • MOONROOT: An Exploration of Asian Womyn’s Bodies (more Asian Pacific Islander American ones here) (via titotibok)
  • Making Space for Indigenous Feminism edited by Joyce Green via jalwhite)
  • All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But Some of Us are Brave: Black Women’s Studies, more commonly known as But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women’s Studies edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scot, and Barbara Smith (via jalwhite)
  • Homegirls: A Black Feminist Anthology edited by Barbara Smith (viasisteroutsider)
  • Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women edited by Stanlie James and Abena Busia (via sisteroutsider)
  • Black Woman edited by Toni Cade Bambara (via ancestryinprogress)

Essays

  • “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” by Kimberle Crenshaw
  • The Combahee River Collective Statement
  • “Tomboy, Dyke, Lezzie, and Bi: Filipina Lesbian and Bisexual Women Speak Out” by Christine T. Lipat and others (via titotibok)
  • “Rizal Day Queen Contests, Filipino Nationalism, and Feminity” by  Arleen  De Vera (via titotibok)
  • “Pinayism” by Allyson G. Tintiangco-Cubales (via titotibok)
  • “Practicing Pinayist Pedagogy” by Allyson G. Tintiangco-Cubales and Jocyl Sacramento (via titotibok)
  • “Asian Lesbians in San Francisco: Struggle to Create a Safe Space, 1970s – 1980s” by Trinity Ordona (via titotibok)
  • “A Black Separatist” by Anna Lee (via girlsandgifs)
  • “For the Love of Separatism” by Anna Lee (via girlsandgifs)
  • “Separation in Black: A Personal Journey” by Jacqueline Anderson (via girlsandgifs)
  • “Separatism is not a Luxury: Some Thoughts on Separatism and Class” by C. Maria (via girlsandgifs)
  • “Coming Out Queer and Brown” by Naomi Littlebear Morena (via girlsandgifs)
  • “Internalising the Lesbian Body of Color” by Jamie Lee Evans (via girlsandgifs)
  • “In Search of Our Mother’s Garden” by Alice Walker (via wherethewildthingsmoved)

Other authors and poets you should know

This Bridge Called My Back is out of print. I spent 30 minutes looking for an online copy the other day and was very disappointed. Then today, I see this and notice a link to download each chapter! Awesome.

fromonesurvivortoanother:

unbrokencircle:

theoceanandthesky:

mylifeasafeminista:

This list is stil a work in progress, but I really wanted to get it posted.  I have either read parts of/all of the texts below or they have been recommended to me.  Please reblog and add your own suggestions to the list.  Each time someone adds something new, I’ll go back to this original post and make sure to include them.  Thanks and enjoy!

Books

  • Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis
  • Women Culture and Politics by Angela Davis
  • Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
  • Borderlands/La frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldua
  • Aint I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
  • Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks
  • Feminist Theory from Margin to Center by bell hooks
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
  • Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
  • Medicine Stories by Aurora Levins Morales
  • Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home by Anita Hill

  • Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Jessica Yee

  • Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide by Andrea Smith

Anthologies

  • Companeras: Latina Lesbians by Juanita Ramos and the Lesbian History Project
  • Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism edited by Daisy Hernandez
  • This Bridge Called My Back edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
  • this bridge we call home: radical visions for transformation edited by Gloria Anzaldúa and AnaLouise Keating
  • Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color edited by Gloria Anzaldúa

  • Women Writing Resistance: Essays from Latin America and the Caribbean edited by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez
  • Unequal Sisters edited by Ellen DuBois and Vicki Ruiz
  • The Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology

Essays

  • “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” by Adrienne Rich
  • “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” by Kimberle Crenshaw
  • The Combahee River Collective Statement

Other authors and poets you should know

  • Maya Angelou
  • Toni Morrison
  • Alice Walker
  • Nawaal El Sadaawi
  • Mary Crow Dog
  • Zora Neale Hurston
  • Arundhati Roy
  • Zadie Smith
  • Dorothy Roberts
  • Nikki Giovanni

Feminism For Real: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism - Jessica Yee

bookmarkin’ for later

This list is pretty great

colorblinding:

I want to talk about being Asian American in America. I want to talk about what it is like to be denied the legitimacy of color by other folks of color and to be denied the legitimacy of humanity because we are not white. I want to talk about how being Asian American in…