An Introduction of Sorts.

Evil Feminist Witch. Outside of (almost) always multi-faceted, various-stand-point sharing Women's Studies classes, I really feel the struggle to hold on to my feminist beliefs, to maintain my political vision. Why? Because outside of the spaces that nurture such activisms and worldviews, admitting to the f-word is sometimes akin to political leprosy.

When I'm in these classes, or otherwise surrounded by inspiring activists, I feel such an invigorating charge. It's so crazy how that one Intro to Women's Studies class, taught by Dr. Andrea O'Reilly really lifted the veil from my eyes. That class, and my subsequent classes changed so much for me, personally, politically and even artistically.

But then I go outside the classroom. And I'm sitting there, somewhere, maybe in another classroom that's not feminist-feuled, maybe some bar, maybe at work. I reveal what I'm majoring in university and the looks of dismay are just so, well, dismaying. Someone will joke and call me a man-hater, or worse tell me that we don't really need feminism anymore. Sometimes I just don't even want to bother arguing. Instead, I just want to point so-and-so in the direction of my far more strong-willed, eloquant professors who seem to inspire and explain it all so much better than I can. Especially when I talk to those friends of mine, usually male, who tell me that they'd love to sit in on one of my classes, so they can say something so 'radical' (and, they presume, therefore un-feminist and anti-thetical to whatever it is we're there to learn) and really "stir shit up".

As if. As if they really expect to be more intelligent and knowledgable than my profs, discrediting them automatically on the basis of the kinds of classes they are teaching--Women's Studies classes--while knowing almost nothing themselves. As if it is completely impossible that instead of being bearers of shit-disturbance, that they too may actually learn something, and really see what this coven of feminism is all about. And how big and varied and complicated it can truly get.

I've started this blog mainly because I'm tired of having my voice silenced, particularly in other academic fields, because often when I have a feminist analysis of something (or I think it's quite obvious that an author is using one)in a different kind of class, I get shot down. Or, as has been suggested to me by another really good prof of mine, I have to hide the word "feminist" behind "gender analysis". Shame on me for trying to cast my evil Women's Studies spells all over this work we're trying to decipher here. Silly girl, don't you know that feminism is dead and that no one really believes in it anymore? This kind of shit really gets me down, and ends up distracting me from the real work that must be done.

I guess I have me some raising of the dead to do.

I swear, sometimes when I argue with people it's like I'm inconveniencing them with my politics, like they are so over feminism, when really how many feminists do you know? How many feminist experiences have you dealt with, so negatively I might add, that made you so tired of it already? Usually, the answer is very limited.

I'd like to thank blogs like feministing.com and angryblackbitch for inspiring me to seek my voice through this venue. I'd also like to invite friends, and maybe make Evil Feminist Witch into a community, a coven of blog-posters in which as many viewpoints as possible can be expressed.

To paraphrase my favourite keychain,

You say I'm a witch like it's a bad thing.