[Smashpatriarchy] Fwd: Workshops/Presentation Proposal: Solidarity Against Patriarchy

[reg johanson]

thanks very much for your effots on this aylon. isn't it interesting how
much we have to say in order for folks to feel comfortable with what we're
doing? that men doing anti-patriarchy work is so new, so fraught, that we
need to show up-front that we've tried to think through a lot of issues,
because the thinking-through cannot be taken for granted. no wonder we've
struggled to organize events.

for my bio: reg johanson is a writer and teacher from vancouver, the
traditional and unceded territory of the squamish, musqueam and tseil
waututh peoples.




On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 3:48 PM, Aylon C <aylon.c at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Folks,
>
> the bookfair collective got back to me (see email below). They want to
> know about more about what SAP does, about the poeple who will be
> presenting the workshop, and our thoughts for creating safer spaces and
> whether we will chat about transphobia.
>
> I wrote up a little something for the presents. Given that others know
> more about what SAP has done, can you guys fill in any missing detials
> about SAP's work and about safer spaces. Also, please challenge and
> critique anything i've written that you feel does not accurately represent
> the shared understandings of the group.
>
> Solidarity Against Patriarchy (SAP) is a group of (mostly) male-identified
> people working against internalized and external systems of patriarchy. The
> work that the group engages in can be divided into two categories: internal
> and external. Internally, SAP is both a dialogic and experientially focused
> discussion group targeted towards men but open to all genders for the
> purpose of exposing and challenging internalized forms of sexism and its
> associated intersectional oppressions, such as racism, homophobia,
> trans-misogyny, classism, ableism, etc. Externally, the group works to
> support the voices of women speaking out against sexism by creating film
> nights and establishing open discussions where women can publicly speak
> about and critique patriarchy. In addition, SAP seeks to educate men about
> how their behaviours uphold rape-culture by spreading anti-sexist
> propaganda across Vancouver (for instance, see
> http://www.wavaw.ca/solidarity-against-patriarchy/)
>
> In regards to the workshop, SAP wishes to deconstruct and challenge
> internalized forms of sexism and various oppressions that intersect with
> it. We acknowledge that when a person with male privilege speaks in a
> public setting about sexism, whether their own or someone else’s, they are
> exposing people affected by sexism to this oppression, while reasserting
> their own privilege to speak about sexism. The folks of SAP understand that
> this is not helpful to intersectional practice, as it implies that only by
> making an oppression about the oppressor can power-holders work towards
> becoming allies. In addition, to speak about one’s internalized sexism in a
> public setting disregards the feelings of women and non-binary identifying
> people by exposing them to further sexism in an effort to work on male
> privilege. SAP formed as effort to do this work on men in a setting that
> made it explicit that this type of dialogue will occur and strives not
> publicly perpetuate sexist discourse as men figure out their own baggage.
> SAP, however, is not a gender-exclusive group because we want to allow
> people of all genders the opportunity to consent to being confronted with
> sexism in the hopes that men can maybe start to exorcise their own
> internalized issues. SAP specifically speaks with, to, and for a male
> audience in efforts to radicalize them.
>
> Part of making the workshop a safe space is being explicit about the
> above. Namely, that the workshop will focus on men not in an effort to
> re-centre sexism on men but in an effort to confront men and their
> internalized forms of sexism and so de-centre the male perspective. That
> said, we also understand that sexism also affects men in unique ways, from
> the ability to form intimate male friendships to the chastisement of
> expressing fragility and emotions. We will provide non cis-gendered men and
> women the opportunity to check-in with their present state and gauge
> whether they feel comfortable confronting a dialogue that will
> inevitability be laden with sexist,, trans-phobic, homophobic, etc.
> language for the purpose of challenging this dialogue. Part of this will
> involve a discussion of transphobia, about who gets to speak ‘as men’, and
> also tips on being better trans* allies (e.g. don’t assume pronouns). In
> the work of challenging internalized sexism, transphobia, and homophobia,
> the facilitators will make it explicit that a key part of being an ally and
> making the space safer for marginalized people is listening to the
> experiences of folks who are directly affected by the oppression we are
> trying to fight against. While our aim is to educate men shutting up and
> listening to marginalized voice, we do not wish to silence men for good. We
> want men to listen, learn, and to eventually to speak as men in solidarity
> against patriarchy. We do not presume to know all the answers about how
> to be good allies and understand that being an ally is a process. We see
> that for many men this process has not started largely due to a lack of
> space – physical and emotional – that would allow men to unpack and reflect
> with other men about how they perpetuate sexism, about how sexism affects
> them, and how to work towards becoming better anti-sexist men. As long as
> patriarchal structures of power exist, men will always have to work at
> uprooting their sexist habits and tendencies. Patriarchal systems will not
> be overcome unless we perpetually work at root outing the sexism in our
> heads and everyday behaviour, the sexism that causes us to love power and
> to desire the very thing that dominates and exploits all of us in different
> ways. SAP wishes to provide our understandings and ideas on why such as a
> physical, emotional, dialogical, and experiential space should exist and
> how men can go about creating it.
>
>
>
> Presenters for the workshop:
>
> Aylon Assael Cohen is a white cis-gendered queer scholar and activist.
> Currently completing his masters on a queer intellectual history on the
> origins of liberalism, he is primarily involved in both anti-sexist
> struggles in the UK (http://ithappenshereoxford.wordpress.com/) and in
> Vancouver (Solidarity Against Patrarichy) and also in animal rights
> struggles in Vancouver as part of Animal Voices Radio (
> http://animalvoices.org/) and the BlackPawPrint Collective.
>
> Harjap Grewal:
>
> Reg Johanson:
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: <workshops at victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca>
> Date: Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 12:41 PM
> Subject: Re: Workshops/Presentation Proposal: Solidarity Against Patriarchy
> To: Aylon C <aylon.c at gmail.com>
>
>
> Hi Aylon - thanks for offering this workshop.
>
> The bookfair collective was interested to hear about your group, and we're
> wondering if you can send us a little more information on what SAP does,
> and about the individuals who would be presenting the workshop.
>
> We'd also love to hear your thoughts on how you plan to create a safer
> space for the workshop. We're also curious about whether discussion of
> transphobia or transmisogyny will be within the scope of your workshop.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Shannon
>
>
> > Hi there!
> > My name's Aylon and i'm a member of the Vancouver group, Solidarity
> Against
> > Patriarchy, a group of (mostly) male-identified folks on Vancouver,
> unceded
> > Coast Salish Territories, working for gender equality and against
> sexism.
> > I and another member are coming up for the bookfair and would love to
> contribute the following workshop to the bookfair's events:
> > Solidarity Against Patriarchy: Questions and Challenges for Men Who Call
> Themselves Anarchists
> > What does it mean for men, especially anarchist men, to do
> anti-patriarchy
> > organizing? Why should men engage in anti-patriarchy organizing? How
> should
> > men engage in anti-patriarchy organizing? Vancouver’s Solidarity Against
> Patriarchy (SAP) is a group of mostly male-identified folks trying to
> answer these questions. At this workshop SAP will share questions,
> ideas,
> > and challenges. From the often-unseen patriarchal forms of organizing to
> the divisions of emotional and physical activist labour, we will explore
> the importance of male involvement in anti-sexist organizing and why
> fighting against patriarchy should be central to anarchist praxis. This
> workshop will consider the ways in which patriarchy is not merely a
> political problem "out there", but one that shapes our personal desires
> and
> > attitudes in ways that can be hard to "see", impacting not just
> relations
> > between men and women, but also ties amongst men.
> > While this workshop will focus on men, we encourage people of all
> genders
> > to come and share their experiences and ideas.
> > Thanks!
> > Aylon
>
>
>
>
>
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