Sara Ahmed reclaims the word feminism and shares her deeply intersectional view of the daily work of feminism in her 2017 book Living a Feminist Life. Grounded in lived experience (the author’s and those of a variety of literary figures, feminist scholars, friends, colleagues, etc.), this book is (for me anyway) an easier read than some of Ahmed’s earlier work. It is still full of insights, novel theoretical concepts, and the rich play with words that characterizes so much of Ahmed’s writing. In fact, it pulls together many of the theoretical innovations of her last several books, weaving the concepts together in the day-to-day work of resisting a patriarchal, racist, ableist, classist status quo.
So what does Ahmed think it means to live a feminist life? Speaking up in the face of injustice. Being willing to interrupt the flow of the way things are to point out structures and actions that hold down groups of people. And being willing to be called to account for your own actions as well, when they may be holding down those around you. In her feminist killjoy manifesto, she tells us that a feminist must be willing to make people unhappy, if their happiness is predicated on maintaining systems of injustice. She explains how those who speak up are often blamed as though they are causing the problems they name, as if there would be no problem if there was not someone giving it voice. Ahmed frames the work of a feminist life as the work of surviving and responding to experiences of injustice, work that many of us can recognize in our own lives.
I find this a useful book, especially in the ways it helps me think about social justice work (that Ahmed calls feminism) as daily practice in my life, as in fact, living itself. There is both an ease and a sense of responsibility inherent in this way of holding feminism, for me. The call to do feminist work is inescapable when one experiences sexism, when one believes that there is injustice in sex- and gender-based discrimination. And the work is daily. It’s in the choices we make about who to include, when to speak up, what jokes to laugh at. This is as true in our dance studios, performance events, and college departments as it is in any other workplace or community.
What does it mean to you to live a feminist life in dance? Is it pushing back on programming choices of the companies you love, like Kathleen Rae did last fall when Les Grands Ballets Canadiens commissioned an evening of dances about women, but hired all male choreographers. Is it checking your own laughter when someone makes a joke in the dressing room at the expense of others? Is it naming what you see when a heated discussion amongst a group of dance professionals is being dominated by the male-identified voices in the room? Is it structuring your class fees so that those with fewer resources are able to pay a lower price? Is it examining your own teaching practices to see if/how your feedback to students enforces gender, race, class, etc. stereotypes? What does a feminist life in dance look like for you?
If anything I’ve written here speaks to you, I encourage you to explore your own feminist life and think about reading Ahmed’s book. Start from the beginning though. Living a Feminist Life accrues is own world of stories, words, concepts, and mantras as it makes its way through the layers of Ahmed’s argument, chapter by chapter. Jumping right to the juicy bits – like the killjoy manifesto at the end–will only make partial sense without the architecture that Ahmed has built in the preceeding chapters (trust me, I learned this the hard way 😉 .)