Inquiry into MMIWG, Intersectionality, and Bell Hooks’ Feminism
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Timeline
August 2016: The Canadian government announced the commencement of an official inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
September 1, 2016 (): The inquiry was officially launched.
Process and Outreach: The inquiry traveled across Canada to speak with people and communities. This phase of the inquiry was lengthy but considered essential for deep community engagement.
2018: The results of the inquiry were submitted.
2019: The inquiry concluded, resulting in the release of the final report.
Statistics of the Truth Gathering Process
Total Participants: There were total participants involved in the truth gathering process.
Family Members and Survivors: individuals provided testimony as family members or survivors of violence.
Artistic Expressions: individuals shared their stories through artistic expressions rather than verbal testimonies, using creative mediums to communicate the issues.
Experts and Knowledge Keepers: specialists and knowledge keepers participated in the proceedings.
Institutional Hearings: There were participants involved in institutional hearings.
Geographic Focus in Saskatchewan: Hearings for the inquiry were held in both Regina and Saskatoon.
Outcomes and Calls to Action
Substantive Equality: A primary focus on human rights, indigenous rights, and the achievement of substantive equality.
Inclusion: Explicit inclusion of families and survivors in the solution-finding process.
Indigenous-Led Solutions: Emphasis on solutions and services that are led by Indigenous people and communities.
Recognition of Distinctions: An acknowledgment that Indigeneity is diverse and that not all Indigenous people share the same experiences across Canada.
Implementation Methods: Any implementation of findings must be done in a culturally safe way using trauma-informed approaches.
Red Dress Day
Objective: Red Dress Day serves to acknowledge and bring attention to the broader issue of violence against Indigenous women.
Context: It is considered a significant part of community history and is linked to the study of Indigenous feminisms.
Identity and Indigenous Feminism
Western Constructs: The term "feminist" is often viewed as a Western construct. Not all individuals who perform feminist work identify with the label.
Case Study: Wanda Nanabusha: * Nanabusha is an author and scholar who emphasizes her Anishinaabe identity over the label of "feminist." * She highlights the relationship between herself and her community. * Her perspective is that Indigenous people have been repeatedly labeled by non-Indigenous people, making personal and cultural self-identification (such as her Anishinaabe identity) more crucial than adopting Western academic terms.
Analysis of Bell Hooks and "Feminism is for Everybody"
Credentials of Bell Hooks: * She was a prominent cultural critic and professor of Women's Studies and Gender Studies. * She authored over books and was recognized as one of the most influential American thinkers. * She was particularly known for her scholarship on Black feminist thought.
Defining Key Terms: * Feminism: A movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression (as defined on page of her text). * Sexism: Forms of gender discrimination, typically against women and girls, though it also impacts gender non-conforming individuals and those who move away from binary gender concepts. * Patriarchy: Defined as institutionalized sexism. It is a system or structure where men hold more social, cultural, and political power than folks of other genders.
Structural Influence of Patriarchy: Patriarchy manifest in various social systems including: * Religion * Family structures * Education
The Intersectional Lens: Power and privilege are not distributed equally among all men. Factors such as race, sexuality, religion, and ability create different levels of social location. * In Canada, a system that privileges whiteness means white men often have more social, political, and cultural power than Men of Color or Indigenous men. * Heteronormativity privileges straight men over queer men.
The Impact of Patriarchy on Men
The Cost of Privilege: While Bell Hooks argues men benefit most from patriarchy, she asserts that this benefit comes at a significant cost/harm to men themselves.
Ways Patriarchy Harms Men: * Emotional Suppression: Men are often pressured to suppress emotions leading to isolation and fear; often the only socially "valid" emotion for men is anger/rage. * Social Pressure: Men feel the need to dominate and control, which can be uncomfortable or fear-inducing for many. * Access to Care: The "real men don't complain" stigma can impede men's access to mental health and physical healthcare. * Childhood Roles: Cycles of harmful norms are often reinforced at home, where boys are told what they are "supposed" to be, creating a loop of negative behavior.
Questions and Discussion
Question: What does Bell Hooks mean when she says "feminism is for everyone"?
Group 1: Discussed how feminism is a tool to break binary constructs (e.g., toys for boys vs. girls) that start in childhood. They emphasized that identities overlap.
Anecdote on Medical Bias: A student shared an experience of being ignored by doctors regarding her son’s medical complexity because she was the mother, while a "white guy" colleague was listened to immediately, illustrating how gender and race intersect in systemic privilege.
Group 3 (Abby): Noted that male privilege is not universal because socioeconomic status and sexuality influence how it is performed and experienced.
Group 4 (Rebecca): Discussed how some people use feminism as an "aesthetic style" for broader problems. They noted that some women use it to "hide behind" to bash men, which causes men to avoid the movement because they only see the negative misconceptions.
Group 5 (Connor): Emphasized that feminism benefits everyone regardless of identity and specifically that feminism "doesn't take anything away from anyone."
Group 8 (Andrea): Focused on how systems shape lives by rewarding some and harming others. Feminism works to dismantle these "patterns of domination."
Group 2 (Melanie/Sarah): Highlighted that feminism is about choice. A woman might choose to stay home and raise kids, but feminism ensures she has the opportunity to make that choice rather than being forced into it by gender expectations.
Group 9 (Dayton/Julie): Discussed how parenting roles are gendered; for instance, men are often praised for "babysitting" their own children or changing a diaper, while for women it is the bare minimum expectation. Feminism aims to normalize equal parenting.
Group 7 (Morgan): Reflected on the "stigma" or misconceptions of feminism. They argued feminism is a discipline that allows one to think for themselves, which is both a blessing (broad inclusion) and a curse (vulnerability to misinformation).
Group 10: Concluded that breaking down patriarchy is necessary because even straight white men are forced to act in specific "tough" ways that limit their humanity.