Videos on Intersection of Gender, Race, Class

The following discussion offers suggestions for videos/films that
show the intersection of gender identity with race, class, and national
differences.  The discussion took place on WMST-L in April 2002. 
For additional WMST-L files now available on the Web, see the
WMST-L File Collection.

Greetings--

I am teaching Sociology of Gender this term and I have a section on
differences among men and women. I specifically look at how sexual,
racial, class and national differences/inequalities intersect with gender
identities. Do you know of any video clips or movies that touch upon the
intersection of (at least, two of) these categories? Your responses are
greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Burcak Keskin

U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dept. of Sociology

BREAD AND ROSES is really good for gender/class/ethnic issues -- It's about
the Justice for Janitors organizing campaign.  The main character is a
Mexican-American illegal immigrant -- very strong and resourceful woman.
There are a lot of vignettes in the film that illustrate the intersection of
class and gender wonderfully well.

You might look at:
Tongues Untied by  Marlon Riggs (black, gay, male)
Performance clips of Carmelita Tropicana (Cuban, lesbian, plays with ethnic
stereotypes of masculinity and femininity), and of Marga Gomez (Latina,
lesbian, also ethnic stereotypes of masc. and fem.)

Can anyone recommend performance, visual or fine arts, memoir, women's
comix that deal with incest in an activist, sex-positive, non-therapeutical
mode  (i.e. no healing, recovery, self-help, inner child, etc. in the
narrative).  You can e-mail me privately.

Robin Maltz
missrobinm  @  earthlink.net

PhD candidate
Performance Studies, NYU
Research Associate
5 College Women's Studies Research Center
Mt. Holyoke College, Mass.
(and currently not teaching to work on dissertation)

I used the film "girlfight" about a young urban latina who becomes involved
in boxing (d. karen kusama) this semster in intro to Women's Studies and
found it really successful in terms of visually grounding the theoretical
discussions/readings we did on intersectionality and the body. It was
particularly useful in troubling gender binaries and their relations to
ethnicity, class, and race.

Doreen

Impropriety is the soul of wit--Oscar Wilde

-------------------------------------
Doreen Piano
English Dept
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403
email: dpiano  @  ev1.net

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 12:29 PM
To: bkeskin  @  UMICH.EDU; hlaube  @  nycap.rr.com; Oboler, Regina

Dear all-
I wanted to add that Hammering It Out: Women in the Construction Zone is
specifically geared to address affirmative action regarding race and
gender. It focuses on a multi-racial group of women telling their
experiences in construction in the 1980's and 90's-- with lots of
footage from the workplace. See my website at www.hammeringitout.com
It is distributed by Women Make Movies. I produced it in 2000 and it has
just gotten favorable reviews from Kathleen Sullivan in Library Journal
(Nov 2001) and M. Tribby in the Video Librarian (Jan-Feb 2002)

I can't post to the list for some reason, but if you'd like to send this
to the list, I would appreciate it.
thanks-
Vivian Price
UC Irvine

In my sociology of women and gender courses for the past five or six years I
have successfully used the award winning movie Paris is Burning to explore
and deconstruct performed identites of inequality and gender.  I have also
written an article about using the movie to this end titled, "Paris is
Burning: How Society's Stratification Systems Make Drag Queens of Us All."
Race, Gender, & Class 7(2000): 147-166.  I believe the movie does a wonderful
job of demonstrating how many of the observed differences between and among
men and women are entirely performed in basis.

Cheers,

Steve

Steve Schacht
Department of Sociology
PSUNY
spschacht  @  aol.com
http://www.nostatusquo.com/Schacht/

There is an interesting, yet controversial movie called "The Bandit
Queen" about Phoolan Devi in India.  She was a notorious leader of a
dakoi (gang) in India, who killed many men, and later even came to
hold public office, I believe.  It shows the hardships she endured
because of her class, caste, and gender, and the ways in which these
experiences shaped her behavior and identity.  However, it is very
controversial; there are some graphic rape scenes, and Phoolan herself
never authorized the movie, yet she referred to it in her favor when
running for office.  It may be something you will want to look at.
Hope this helps.

Pam Newport
University of Cincinnat
PNfeminista  @  aol.com

I would add that the analysis piece _The Great Indian Rape Trick_  by
Arundhati Roy (activist & author of _The God of Small Things_) may work
well with the movie and one of the books (or excerpts, none are without
controversy), particularly as far as illustrating a gendered and cultured
presentation (or, some might argue appropriations/fetishizing) of Devi's
early life.

Arundhati's piece is available for web viewing at
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/sawweb/sawnet/roy_bq1.html (part 1)
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/sawweb/sawnet/roy_bq2.html (part 2)
I believe that it was originally published in the Times of India, Aug 1994,
however, that needs to be verified.

And yes, Devi was an elected MP from Uttar Pradesh to the lower house of
the Indian parliament.  She was assassinated last July.

Warm regards,
Margaret
kosal  @  s.scs.uiuc.edu

"This is nice, being in society.
  But I felt more powerful then, when I was a bandit.
  Sometimes I think I shouldn't have surrendered."
  -- Phoolan Devi, on her election to the Indian Parliament in 1996.