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<br>
YOs-<br>
<br>
There are subtle shades of meaning in play here, and they aren't all
the same for everyone who uses the same language. The following is
my personal take on it only:<br>
<br>
Feminism is a wide range of philosophy and ideology that asserts the
absolute equality of rights and self-determination between genders,
including in situations where each gender's circumstances may differ
(the obvious one being that women can get pregnant, therefore
certain implications for reproductive rights, such as the right to
safe, legal, and affordable abortion).<br>
<br>
One of the implications that has arisen from the intersection of
feminism and gay/trans rights, is the right of each person to choose
the elements of their own gender identity for themselves, and retain
full equality of rights and self-determination. <br>
<br>
The word "inclusive" when attached to a specific noun or adjective,
as in "X-inclusive," means that a given organization is making the
statement that it is friendly to the needs, wants, and concerns of
the individuals in question. <br>
<br>
Examples of ways this is implemented for gay/trans/gender issues
include the provision of private non-gendered bathrooms, equal
membership considerations for persons in any relationship status
(e.g. no "married/couple discounts" for membership charges), and
membership rules that treat gay/trans/gender issues in the same
manner as racial/ethnic/religious issues (e.g. homophobic language
treated in the same manner as racist language). <br>
<br>
The word "centered" when attached to a specific noun or adjective,
as in "X-centered" or "Y-centric," means that an organization is
making the statement that it exists primarily to serve the needs,
wants, and concerns, of the individuals identified by the X- or Y-,
but that others are welcome to attend. <br>
<br>
The example that comes to mind for "-centered/-centric" has to do
with language: an organization might say that it is "-centric" to a
specific language-related cultural group, and use that language as
its primary language for its published output, mailing lists, and
spoken communication at meetings. Persons who don't speak that
language are welcome to attend, and some efforts may optionally be
made to provide materials in their languages, but the primary
purpose of the group is to serve the constituency that speaks the
identified language of the group.<br>
<br>
Though, there is a risk that "centered/centric" can be used to
establish cultural hierarchies: if X is at the "center", then Y and
Z are at the periphery. For example the phrase "family-centered"
has been used to effectively imply "gay folks need not apply." <br>
<br>
Often these kinds of language are used to signal to various
communities of interest, and attract membership from those
communities. <br>
<br>
And lest we forget, living in the Bay Area where certain kinds of
discriminatory attitudes are uniformly unacceptable, the various
forms of discrimination, meanness-in-action, and overt violence up
to and including torture and murder, really are still with us today:<br>
<br>
The US Secret Service reports that threats against the president
increased 400% for Obama compared to earlier presidents: it's clear
that much of this is overt racism. Worse, it has coincided with a
shift in the media whereby the use of racist language that even 30
years ago would be universally condemned, is now promoted as "free
speech." (Compare the incident that got sportscaster Howard Cosell
fired, with the kind of hate-spew that gets Rush Limbaugh a
multi-million-dollar contract.) <br>
<br>
Nazi movements that include overt statements of policy against Jews
and immigrants are on the rise in Europe, with Greece and Hungary
being two examples frequently in the news. Nazi hate groups exist
in the US and are a real terrorist threat (as in hate-crimes) to
those they target for their spew. The KKK has lately re-appeared in
certain states: America's original domestic terrorist group.<br>
<br>
A number of states in the US still have state constitutional
amendments against marriage equality, even as the tide has begun to
turn toward equality (Minnesota and Maryland most recently enacting
equal marriage laws). (Credit to President Obama here: his way of
handling this issue, starting with equality in the military, has
made all the difference.)<br>
<br>
A number of states have passed draconian laws against abortion, and
many other states use regulatory red-tape to effectively limit
access to abortion as far as possible. In many parts of the US it
is effectively impossible for poor women and abused teens to
terminate a pregnancy, even if it occurred through rape. <br>
<br>
Undocumented immigrants, AND immigrants on certain types of work
visas in the US, are still used as a form of un-free labor,
discriminated against in the law in numerous ways from
family-shredding deportation to effective indenture to their
employers, and providing the excuse for exploitative employers to
refuse to raise wage rates to true market levels. <br>
<br>
A number of states' public education systems are still dominated by
the extreme religious right, including teaching creationism in the
public schools, watering-down all science curricula that differ with
their particular religious dogma, and banning any discussion of
homosexuality such as to effectively isolate gay youth. (The
suicide rate for gay youth is 300% of that for heterosexual youth:
the no-talk policies contribute to this in a provably causal
manner.)<br>
<br>
And in a number of countries including Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan,
women are effectively PROPERTY, having zero to minimal rights as
individual persons, and being subject to the absolute will of their
male family members. Keyword search "child brides" and "honor
killings" for examples. IMHO this is a human rights atrocity
comparable to slavery, that demands the strongest possible
international sanctions. <br>
<br>
So when a group in the US or elsewhere uses language that they're
feminist, inclusive, and whatever-centric, this is more than a
philosophical statement: it reflects the reality that in the "world
of tomorrow" that is the 21st century, we are still fighting
cultural wars that date back at least to the Middle Ages. <br>
<br>
-G.<br>
<br>
<br>
======<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 13-05-15-Wed 1:15 PM, Andrew wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CADWgu_mwbfRMa+E6HyrNqkzgHvydO56Vnz5kzu2ukijXiruk-w@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"> I really want to know more about what makes this
space more "<span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:13px">feminist,
woman-centered, and trans- and queer-inclusive" then any other
space specifically. </span>
<div>
<span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I
know that most hacker spaces would love to be more inclusive
in those ways, but most of us know first hand that just
declaring something an inclusive or safe space doesn't make
it one. I'd be curious to know how specifically they are
going about organizing around the idea of gender and
sexuality inclusiveness.</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br>
</span></div>
<div style=""><span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:13px">--Andrew</span></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 11:12 AM, John
Love <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:john@curiousjohn.com" target="_blank">john@curiousjohn.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">As a queer hacker desiring more
queer/fem/trans/POC friendly spaces this excites me!
Thanks for sharing! :)</div>
<div class="HOEnZb">
<div class="h5">
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 10:14
PM, Rabbit <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:rabbitface@gmail.com"
target="_blank">rabbitface@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Awesome!
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I would love to brainstorm about how to
make Sudo Room as welcoming as possible to
queer/trans/fem/etc people.</div>
<div>I'm genderqueer and if anyone has questions
about how to be kind to genderqueer and trans
people I would really love to have a friendly
conversation about it.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Relatedly, there's a women/trans/non-male
group at Noisebridge</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Anarchafeminist_Hackerhive"
target="_blank">https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Anarchafeminist_Hackerhive</a><br>
</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://bookmaniac.org/feminist-hackerhive-meetups/"
target="_blank">http://bookmaniac.org/feminist-hackerhive-meetups/</a><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">Also BTW there's a free
programming boot camp for trans people in SF:</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://transcodesf.org/en/"
target="_blank">http://transcodesf.org/en/</a><span><font
color="#888888"><br>
</font></span></div>
<span><font color="#888888">
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">-- Rabbit</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">who prefers
"them/they" pronouns</div>
</font></span>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">P.S. Also of course
there are many kinds of inclusivity to strive
for in addition to this</div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 14,
2013 at 8:18 PM, Romy Snowyla <span
dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:romy@snowyla.com"
target="_blank">romy@snowyla.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="auto">
<div>Rad!!<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPad</div>
<div>
<div>
<div><br>
On May 14, 2013, at 6:12 PM,
Matthew Senate <<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:mattsenate@gmail.com"
target="_blank">mattsenate@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">Sounds
excellent!</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On
Tue, May 14, 2013 at
4:52 PM, William
Budington <span
dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:bill@inputoutput.io" target="_blank">bill@inputoutput.io</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote
class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px
0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">This
just came across the
wire. A
fem/queer/trans
positive hackerspace<br>
just opened in Seattle
called the Seattle
Attic! Check it out:<br>
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.seattleattic.com/" target="_blank">http://www.seattleattic.com/</a><br>
<br>
Perhaps we should open
up some lines of
west-coast
communication and<br>
dialogue and invite
them to visit our
space. Sounds like an
awesome<br>
place and somewhere
I'd like to check out
some day.<br>
<br>
Bill<br>
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</blockquote>
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<div><br>
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-- <br>
-------
<div>Andrew Lowe</div>
<div>Cell: 831-332-2507</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://roshambomedia.com"
target="_blank">http://roshambomedia.com</a></div>
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