ZWARTE PIET & EVERYDAY RACISM

ZWARTE PIET & EVERYDAY RACISM

How do (historical) representations of black people in the Netherlands relate to experiences of everyday racism?
With Jennifer Tosch & Miss Kitty

Please sign up! Send an e-mail to feministischverzet@gmail.com

About the speakers:
Jennifer Tosch lets people explore representations of Black people throughout history in the streets of Amsterdam with her Black Heritage Tours.
http://www.blackheritagetours.com/

Miss Kitty and her team broadcasted ‘The other side of Black Pete’ which shows how much the figure of Zwarte Piet influences the everyday life of many people. http://www.tmks.nl/

zwarte_piet_2014

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on ZWARTE PIET & EVERYDAY RACISM

THE IDEA IS TO WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE STRUGGLING IN SOCIETY – Kim’s interview about Feministisch Verzet

Kim, one of the members of Feministisch Verzet (FV) was interviewed about FV and Kim themself, about Kim’s ideals and the ideals of the group, and what FV works on. Read the whole interview here.

Posted in General | Comments Off on THE IDEA IS TO WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT ARE STRUGGLING IN SOCIETY – Kim’s interview about Feministisch Verzet

Generations of Feminist Movement in the Netherlands

Generations of Feminist Movement in the NetherlandsFriday, 14th March 2014, @Casco, Nieuwekade 213-215, Utrecht

19.30 – 22.30 (the doors open at 19.15)

with Anja Meulenbelt, Nancy Jouwe, Mercedes Zandwijken and Iris van der Tuin

How do feminists today relate to the earlier feminist movements of the 70s, 80s, 90s and the 00s? Is there really a disconnection between feminist generations? And if yes, how do we overcome it?

In this event, we bring together feminists of different ages, movements, generations and moments to explore the histories of feminisms in the Netherlands. Our speakers will share their experiences in feminist movements and their (dis)connections. This is an evening to discuss, exchange ideas and build alliances.

Anja Meulenbelt has been active in the Dutch feminist scene since the 1970s as an activist, writer, teacher and politician. She has published more than 40 books, of which the most well known is her 1976 memoir “The Shame is Over,” a taboo breaking account on how feminism changed her life. Since 1995 Anja Meulenbelt has been working in Gaza as director of the Kifaia foundation, which supports an organization for disabled people. She regularly blogs at  www.anjameulenbelt.nl

Nancy Jouwe is a publicist, organizer and activist in the fields of gender & ethnicity, postcolonialism, arts, culture and human rights. She is one of the editors of Caleidoscopic Visions (2001), a book which adresses the histories and trajectories of the black, migrant and refugee women’s movement in the Netherlands. The book introduced intersectionality within a Dutch context. Currently, Nancy Jouwe is director of Kosmopolis Utrecht, a multimedia platform for art and culture, that focuses on the development and strengthening of intercultural connections on local and national levels, as well as a lecturer at SIT, Amsterdam.

Mercedes Zandwijken is an organizer and activist who works on strengthening social cohesion, civic participation, developing networks and inter-ethnic relations. She is the initiator of the Keti Koti Dialoog Tafel, a ceremony to commemorate the history of slavery through sharing a reconstructing slave meal and participating in symbolic acts of remembrance. Mercedes Zandwijken is currently active in the Committee 21 Maart, organizing a national demonstration against racism.

Iris van der Tuin is assistant professor of gender studies and philosophy of science at Utrecht University. Her academic work is on third-wave feminist epistemologies, and she won an NWO Veni grant for a project entitled “The Material Turn in the Humanities”. With the concept ‘jumping generations’, she theorized about how contemporary feminists relate to the canon of feminist scholarship. As a feminist in academia, Iris van der Tuin’s contribution is mostly in the field of feminist philosophy.

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on Generations of Feminist Movement in the Netherlands

Raise your voice! Your body, your choice! International Women’s Day 2014 – Utrecht

Saturday, 8 March 2014 14:00 – 17:00

Starting point: outside Winkel van Sinkel, Oudegracht 158

IntWomensDay2013

Raise your voice! Your body, your choice!

Born out of the Socialist movement, the 8th of March has traditionally been the day to celebrate women, the day to especially address and fight for women’s rights and recognition of the (mostly unpaid) work we do as mothers and caretakers. Every year demonstrations and events to make struggles of women visible are organized worldwide.

That’s great and we support it because gendered violence against women is always an issue, but for us this is not enough! Yes, women’s bodies are controlled and often violated (anti-abortion laws, sexualized violence, objectification, unequal payments, etc.) but not just women are made to have less choices!

When people say woman, many think about a person assigned as a female at birth living happily ever after as: (cis) female, white (not experiencing racism), abled-bodied, heterosexual or normsexual (non kinky, heteronormative, sexual, monogamous), thin, as well as being privileged in other ways.

This 8th of March we actively recognize those who have often been left out, silenced or willfully ignored. We want to critically address who is included in our queerfeminist struggles.

When we say my body, my choice, we include in our thinking the migrant bodies, who are controlled by migration laws, border- regimes, at times imprisoned in detention centers or threatened by deportation.

We include trans* people who need to access hormones, health care or body- modifications and who are asked to prove their ‘problem’ by stating every little detail of their past and present life.

We include gender non-conforming people who might not fit into the gender- binary, and not be understood as ‘male’ or ‘female’, who face harassment and other kinds of violence in the streets, which takes away their choices of expressing themselves.

When we say my body my choice we include in our thinking women or/and queers of colour who experience racism or harassment because their bodies are often racialized and sexualized.

We include people who are labeled ‘disabled’ and for whom choices around their daily lives are made or who don’t have access to certain places because their abilities are not taken into account.

And we include sex-workers’ struggles against the often moralizing discourses around their bodies.

For us, all of these issues are feminist issues that have to be addressed on a queerfeminist demonstration like this one!

So we, as all these bodies and not all of us ‘women’, at this 8th of March event, shout out loud and together: OUR BODIES OUR CHOICES! TAKE YOUR LAWS AND YOUR HANDS OFF OUR BODIES AND OUR CHOICES!

Freedom of movement! No Borders! Stop rape, racism, body policing, the beauty norm, sexism, trans* hate, homo hate, transmisogyny!

Let’s embrace our bodies & our choices today and every day! Let’s fight next to each other against oppression and all the other negativity that is put on our differing bodie

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on Raise your voice! Your body, your choice! International Women’s Day 2014 – Utrecht

Feministisch verzet presents the documentary ‘Ruins. Chronicle of an HIV witch hunt by Zoe Mavroudi (2013)

ruins

‘Ruins’ is a documentary about the criminalization of HIV. The story of a group of HIV-positive women who were detained by the Greek Police, forcibly tested, charged with a felony, imprisoned and publicly exposed, when their mug shots and personal data were published in the media, in the run-up to the country’s 2012 national elections.

For more information visit: http://ruins-documentary.com/en/

Doors open at 19:00, screening starts at 19:30

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on Feministisch verzet presents the documentary ‘Ruins. Chronicle of an HIV witch hunt by Zoe Mavroudi (2013)

November 15th: Tradition is not given. Feminists debate Zwarte Piet and racism in the Dutch public sphere

flyer Zwarte Piet event

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on November 15th: Tradition is not given. Feminists debate Zwarte Piet and racism in the Dutch public sphere

October 24th: Feministisch Verzet screens Camp Butchinson

camp butch_ed_1

a film by Lauren Soldano,

There are times in many of our lives that leave us feeling not quite ‘butch enough.’ For truly hopeless cases, there’s only one place left to go: Camp Butchinson. A brutal place run by sadistically macho counselors who don’t hesitate to use force, the camp’s narrow vision of masculinity quickly makes campers thirst for gruesome revenge. An affectionate homage to the tender-hearted, Camp Butchinson delivers a feel-good message of fag-tastic proportions.
If you have ever been told to “man up”, if you have ever been accused of being “too emotional”, if you have ever thought high heels should be considered studly – this film is for you. – Lauren Soldano

Door open at 19:00
Movie starts at 19:30

Free entry! Donations are welcome!

trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2mMtbF9pmW8

and about the project when it was seeking funding:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/funding-for-camp-butchinson-to-pay-actors-and-crew

Posted in events, General | Comments Off on October 24th: Feministisch Verzet screens Camp Butchinson

under construction

… this blog is under construction. Just wait for this fabulous website to appear in its fullest feminist beauty!

You can join our next meeting: 28th of October; 19:00; ACU Utrecht

Posted in General | Comments Off on under construction