Activism Issues: Collectives and Conferences
 

I've been watching some of the discussion around the Butch Voices Conference issues of late unfold on these boards and many others over the last few days. It occurred to me that these "top-down" steering issues where sexism, capitalism, internalised misogyny take root is not specific to just the BV conference.

I was a founding member of the Femme Collective and worked on the organizing committee from 2005 - 2008. I stepped down in 2009 after some very similar issues now being discussed started manifesting.

I also remember attending the Queering Femininity conference in Seattle in 2005 and some of the inherent issues that were brought up in that conference.

All of the discussion lately has compelled me to start a thread where we can specifically discuss these issues - what we expect financially from conferences put on by our community, how we feel about the identities of steering committee members in identity-specific conferences. Maybe even the idea of organizing around politics and not identity.

I have a dim view of any Board, committee or collective activity. I served on the Board of my former synagogue and that is why it is my former synagogue!! I don't think anyone of us can know all sides of these things. I almost don't want to know. I am sure that sounds horrible. My experience on the board was deeply troubling to me and I am still dealing with the aftershocks almost 4 years later. When I hear about abuses I think about the abuses I witnessed. When I hear people being criticized I think of the criticism I received when I really thought I was doing my very best to represent the needs of my community. It has burned me so bad that even thinking of being in a group environment scares me.

So short answer is that I support all the players and organizations. I want some healing to happen.

Did you guys read Ivan's latest article? It is super good. I am posting a link here.

http://www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/...drG40.facebook

I did, and it is a very good read.

I realized I did not address the specific issues you asked about:

I don't really expect anything financially from conferences put on by the community. Maybe I am not understanding the question. I expect to get some good content for my money. I don't know that I expect more than that. I have not been disappointed in any community conferences I have attended thus far.

Again I think that as long as the content is good in a conference I am not too concerned about the identities of the steering committee members. I am disconcerted at the discussion of Joe's identity .

Organizing around politics sounds great to me!! This is what I have been wondering in the religion threads but was not communicating as succintly.

I too have been thinking back to "Queering Femininity," and the way in which that conference provoked femmes to come together and make their own conference space, rather than leave it to others to carve out space and grant it to us. (I planned that initial discussion in Seattle and was a co-organizer in 2006 and 2008).

Although there were conflicts and issues, I'm not sure the femmecon experienced an analogous conflict over the definition of "femme," as butches seem to be experiencing over the replacing of "butch" with Masculine-of-center." I can't imagine trying to express inclusion with the term "Feminine-of-center." I recall that we settled on "Queer Femmes" as our inclusive term. Would "Queer Butches" work? I think not. Fact is, "butch" is now seen as "too female."

So, what does that boil down to? I think it comes back to the intense policing of masculinity. The fact that there is really so little room to do masculinity in diverse ways, protestations to the contrary. Once "butch" gets un-coupled from women/female/lesbian, it enters the very limited and limiting realm of what is considered "masculine enough" And make no mistake, lesbians of the 70s had a hand in pushing butches out of women's communities. This is one of the failures/faults of the lesbian-feminist movement.

I think the BV troubles are related to something I mentioned in the Leaping Lesbians thread: serious, unaddressed, and unresolved issues between queer women and trans-masculine people - especially when it comes to marginalization and leadership. It may be past time to stop tiptoeing around this.

Next point: I have been saying since at least 2004 that we need to organize around issues in queer communities, not identities. Organizing around identities will always result in fractures and divisions and breaking things up into ever-narrower slivers.. It is the issues we share: hate crimes, access to health care, immigration, civil unions/marriages, parenting, queer youth, aging, feminism, anti-oppression work, racism, classism, misogyny, etc where we can truly be allies to each other.

I also suggested to both Joe (BV) and Sasha (Butch Nation) that they explore the possibility of using a Non-Violent Communication model (sometimes called Collaborative Communication) to work through some of the current conflicts, prevent escalation, and manage the fallout.

Heart

In reference to the BV issues, I am cross-posting this blog link in a couple of threads.

http://butchenough.wordpress.com/201...pe-not-a-line/

I hope this discussion about activism, allyship, organizing, leadership, etc continues. Painful as it is, it's necessary.

Contrary to what some may think, I am not "taking sides," -- at least not any side I haven't always taken. And I am not investing in what any individual butch/stud/MoC should call him/her/zieself.

I am, however, adding my voice to the discussion despite the fact that I'm not butch because I absolutely see this as an issue for women, dykes, feminists, allies, and organizers. In fact, I think it's more about that, than it is about inclusive descriptors for butch identities. I know -- that sounds appropriating, but bear with me....

I think the context of butch identity is one in which the dilemma of being a woman in a woman-hating and woman-devaluing world gets constantly played out, and also obfuscated by concerns about masculinity. I think the current controversy is an opportunity to take a crystal clear look at how woman and butch are NOT antithetical. How woman does not need to be altered, adapted, parsed, or minimized in favor of male-ness or masculinity in order to be butch. We all know that butch is varied and diverse, and like any term is stretch-y. We all know that some butches id as male, as genderqueer, as 3rd gender, as transmasculine; some have come from butch to arrive at another place.

What seems to get forgotten, (or considered out-dated or somehow passe), is that butch is also woman. Not just female-identified or female-bodied, but woman. Woman, as an identity, as a butch identity does not need justification or qualifiers. In fact to do so reeks of internalized misogyny. That's what I call it when women are devalued, under-represented, co-opted, and under-estimated.

Heart
(not shutting up)

My position exactly. Thanks for articulating it so well!

For me, I tend to expect the exact same thing from any "conference" I attend, regardless as to which "community" I am supporting at the time ( LGBT, BDSM, Womens, Gardeners, etc).

I have the expectation of having:
a) Educational opportunities ( workshops/ demos/ panel discussions)
b) Networking
c) Community building
d) Socialization/ Entertainment
e)Self discovery
f) Safety ( in as much as the staff can provide)

It is a natural happening that the organizers of community events become targets of both adoration and scrutiny. I try to participate in neither of those pits. I can both appreciate the hard work ( and I DO believe it is no easy task to pull off a conference),AND ask questions/ send comments when I see areas that may benefit from some improvement or have downfalls.

Financially, as long as my above expectations are met, then I feel my money was well spent. As someone for whom conferences have traditionally been pseudo-vacations ( as I could rarely afford time/ money for both), I try to make the most of my experiences at conferences. Meeting new friends/allies, gathering as much information as possible, relaxing in a safe "like-minded" space with comrades. I feel "robbed" when my experience becomes fraught with in-fighting and the continuous gossip mill. I would much rather have intense community round table sessions open to the community ( usually at the end of conference) to openly discuss concerns and take THAT back to our perspective communities. I know these discussions generally have no solid decisive outcome, however, they do host the conversation in a forum that allows everyone to have their position honored.( Hopefully)

I agree, that the BV event is sooooo not the only one having these types of issues. Actually, I have yet to find a community that strives for civil/ human rights/ equality/acknowledgement that does NOT have internal issues, especially in the formative years.

I think the tricky part of figuring out the political vs identity alignment is in determining whether we are the focus group member or the ally?. I have often thought myself a "member" only later to realize that no, indeed I am an ally. Our politics and identities, while VERY similar, are NOT the same. Our struggles, while again, similar, are DIFFERENT.

I can be an ally and it is really ok. I think it more honorable to realize where I truly stand and show respect to those with whom I feel kinship, even when I realize we are different in many ways. I think the snare of the big ass umbrella, is that it projects a notion that we must all be the same.

Good topic, thanks for separating it from event specific discussions.