Intersectionality-April 28

The Bridge Poem

I understood the narrator of this poem to be someone who feels conflicted by her intersecting identities.  She constantly feels like the mediator between different spheres of people.  And because people constantly rely on her to understand people different than themselves, she forgets to focus on who she is a person.  I believe that when she says "I must be the bridge to nowhere--but my true self--and then--I will be useful," she is trying to say that she can longer waste her time and energy on making sense of communities to others.  She does not identify with one single group, and she certainly does not believe that any group dominates over the other.  People that ask her to explain other groups of people are foolish because it perpetuates the polarization and power dynamics of communities.  The "bridge to power" is discovered when she focuses on her uniqueness and individuality, like everyone else should too.

Why do you think Donna Kate Rushin has an issue with translating between different communities?

Do you think that if people identify with communities instead of embracing their intersecting identities, they are losing power?

La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness

the duel of the oppressor and the oppressed are in mortal combat; reduced to common denominator of violence --- what does this have to do with translation?  Is violence the only common language of humans?  How do groups of people overcome the barriers that language and violence create?

rigidity means death -- patterns and behaviors become the enemy within

"This step is a conscious rupture with all oppressive tradition of all cultures and religions.  She communicates that rupture, documents the struggle. She reinterprets history and, using new symbols, she shapes new myths..."
How does the history of the borderlands and the people who have dominated it affect the mestiza?


How does culture contribute the struggles of the mestiza?
Machoness enforced by Anglo culture creates an insecurity in men that they deal with by abusing their female counterparts
dichotomies of gender are polarized
polarization leads to violence
gay men have the courage to be in touch with their feminine sides and break the bondage of gender norms


"I will not be shamed again, nor will I shame myself." 
In what spaces does shame occur, and where is it most damaging and restricting?



What can people who are burdened by intersecting identities gain from acknowledging and embracing the queer within their community?
Queer fight the dualistic nature of white supremecy
step outside of gender norms
unite all over the world, much more knowledgeable
have the confidence to contribute politically and artistically