ASSIGNMENT #1:
THE PATHFINDER BADGE
Feminism = A History of Unnatural Women (HB, p. 32)
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In both LFL and HB Ahmed eloquently “defines” feminism and describes her figure of the feminist killjoy. In one regard, she likens feminism to being “out on a limb.” Feminists go against the grain of the mainstream; they cause a disturbance and stick out like a sore thumb. Out on that limb they may feel alone, but eventually the limb will snap, and that snap is a feminist hope because it is a not just a moment but the start of a movement. Before y’all can climb out onto that limb, or recognize that you are already out there, you’ll need to collect your thoughts on what feminism means, and what it means to be a feminist killjoy.
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Book it: Read Chapter 1 in Living a Feminist Life, and Chapter 1 in The Feminist Killjoy Handbook. Based on these chapters, define feminism and the feminist killjoy. Combine your own words with at least 3 quotes from the chapters that helped you form your understanding of these concepts.
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Live it: Recall/reflect on how feminism and the feminist killjoy specifically “show up” in your everyday life. You may recall “gut feelings” - times that you had sensed things were wrong, you were wrong, or wronged (LFL, p. 22-26). You may recall things you do, things you see/experience socially in real life or in media. Are there things you can see now as feminism/feminist killjoy that you didn’t consider feminism/feminist killjoy before? How has reading about these concepts impacted how you navigate through the world?
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Make it: Using your “book knowledge” and the “embodied knowledge” produced through your lived experience, make something that brings the feminist killjoy to life. In the kompanion podcast Konjuring Killjoy, I delve into the figure of the feminist killjoy as “monstrous” – you may want to listen to Konjuring Killjoy, Episode 6 HERE.
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Produce/conjure the killjoy as a monster, or something else, through a written description ("paper"), video, audio, zine or another visual/textual/somatic form of expression you prefer. You have full “creative” license and leeway here, to imagine the killjoy in a literal sense (ie: as a person, movement, or outcome) or in a more figurative sense (ie: as a feeling, a sense).
