On Tuesday night, I went to a workshop entitled “Whiteness and the Complexity of Anti-racist Allyship,” led by St. Lawrence’s own Dr. Meghan Carpenter. We talked about ways in which everyone participates in racism through systems and institutions instilled in our society for centuries. We also talked about ways in which we can attempt to subvert that systematic racism through everyday actions and efforts of allyship, whether that’s calling someone out for a racist remark, or checking our own privilege. We focused on anti-racist activism, but we also discussed how a lot of allyship strategies can be applied to many different ongoing struggles.
March is Women’s History Month, and you may have noticed the bedazzled poster display in the student center as part of this month’s “Do Something” campaign. The campaign aims to target and suggest ways to intervene in and subvert everyday acts of sexism by “showing, telling and supporting.” While the campaign poster is a great start to an ongoing conversation of what it means to be an active bystander and ally, I learned in Dr. Carpenter’s workshop that there are endless ways to subvert oppressive systems and be an active ally besides calling out individual remarks.
Like any -ism or -phobia, sexism is institutionalized and systematic, meaning that there are oppressive forces at work that go far beyond your uncle’s uncomfortable jokes at the dinner table.
So, while you should absolutely shut down Uncle Joe’s sexist jokes at Thanksgiving, there are many varied and wide-reaching ways you can do something to subvert sexism, on both a personal and institutional level.
I’m focusing on anti-sexist allyship, but many of these suggestions can be applied to many different forms of allyship, like anti-homophobia, islamophobia, ableism, etc.
Here are some tangible ways in which you can be an active ally:
On the most basic level, listen to women. You may know a lot about sexism, feminism and advocacy, but when women are telling you about their lived experiences and how you can help, don’t but in with your opinion. Instead, listen to learn, not to respond.
Call out microaggressions. If someone makes a problematic or degrading joke, comment or insult, tell them what they said was wrong, and why. (Check out the poster in the student center with specific suggestions for how!)
Check your own privilege, and apologize when you mess up. And you will mess up. We have been indoctrinated with some pretty messed up societal messages from birth, so working to dismantle those messages is tough. When you do slip up, apologize, learn from it and move on.
Support artists from marginalized groups! One of my New Years resolutions was to listen to more woman-led music, and it has been nothing short of delightful so far. Not to mention the powerfully woman-dominated Grammys season this year. Hello Alicia Keys and Michelle Obama on the same stage??
On that note, stop supporting artists with problematic or downright violent views. The number of times I have heard R. Kelly play at parties this semester has been sickening, despite the very public outcry about his prolific sexual abuse. We live in a capitalist society, so when you play a song by a problematic musician, you are continuing to financially support them and their sexist art. I don’t care how catchy the song is, money is power.
Last but not least, do the work. Being an ally is not a label you get to give yourself, it is not a brownie badge, not an instagram bio. It is a lifestyle, and an ongoing effort towards dismantling oppressive systems and institutions. It is hard work, it is ongoing work, but it is necessary work.