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

Mon Aug 12 14:54:55 EDT 2013

i'm free pretty much anytime between now and the beginning of september.

On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 1:22 PM, Aylon C <aylon.c at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Goodnews. SAP will be presenting at this year's victoria anarchist
> bookfair. See email below from the workshop organizers.
>
> Harjap and Reg - when are you folks free to put together this workshop
> (and anyone else who wants to help out!)?
>
> Aylon
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: <workshops at victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca>
> Date: Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 8:42 PM
> Subject: Re: Workshops/Presentation Proposal: Solidarity Against Patriarchy
> To: Aylon C <aylon.c at gmail.com>
>
>
>
> Wow, this sounds amazing! Thanks so much for offering this workshop.
> Would Sunday September 15, from 2:30-3:20 work for you?
>
> A couple more things I'd like to confirm:
> -Do you need any audio/visual equipment? Right now we have you in Room 2,
> which doesn't have these capabilities, so we'd need to know asap if you
> need A/V so we can do some juggling.
> -While we will likely be able to provide fruit for presenters this year,
> we unfortunately probably can't provide sandwiches like past years. There
> will be a food stand outside, as well as a coffee shop just down the road,
> or you can bring your own snacks.
> -Please arrive at least 20 minutes before your workshop starts and check
> in with the downstairs welcome table. We like to know presenters are here,
> so we're not scrambling looking for people at the last minute!
> -Workshops are 50 minutes long. Someone will give you a heads up shortly
> before it's time to wrap up the workshop.
>
> We're able to provide billeting for out-of-town presenters. If any of you
> will need a place to stay, please let me know how many nights you'll be
> staying, and any billeting considerations like accessibility needs, pet
> allergies etc.
>
> Thanks for offering this workshop Aylon, Harjap and Reg! Please send me an
> email back confirming the time, and asking any other questions you may
> have.
>
> Best,
>
> Shannon
>
> > Hi Shannon,
> > Thanks for getting back to me. The organizers for the workshop have
> discussed your questions and tried to the best of our abilities to
> describe
> > the kind of work we do below. Let me know if you would like to discuss
> about these issues further or would like more information.
> > Best,
> > Aylon
> >  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 verbal 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 thus strives
> not
> > to publicly perpetuate sexist discourse as men figure out their own
> baggage. SAP 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, transphobic, 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 on how to
> better
> > shut up and listen to marginalized voices, 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
> > on uprooting their sexist habits and tendencies. Patriarchal systems
> will
> > not be overcome unless we perpetually work at rooting out 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 currently completing his masters on a queer
> intellectual history on the origins of liberalism, and is involved in
> anti-sexist struggles both in the UK (
> > http://ithappenshereoxford.wordpress.com/) and in Vancouver (Solidarity
> Against Patrarichy).
> > Harjap Grewal is a regional organizer in Vancouver (Coast Salish
> Terrotires) with No One Is Illegal and Council of Canadians.
> > Reg Johanson is a writer and teacher from vancouver, the traditional and
> unceded territory of the squamish, musqueam and tseil waututh peoples.
> On Fri, Aug 2, 2013 at 12:41 PM,
> > <workshops at victoriaanarchistbookfair.ca>wrote:
> >> 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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