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Circle for women of color
Putting this on the list so it's on our collective radar.
So far I have seen mentions for:
a general women of color Circle
a Circle specifically for Asian women
a Circle specifically for Black women
Would love to hear more from our users on this.
Edit: I tried to fix this ugly formatting but I got a server error OH WELL.
Insert Bernie support meme
I am once again asking for circle/s that are specifically for global majority women, where we can discuss often social, economic and cultural barriers or flavours to our struggles which our white counterparts do not face.
I'd love a WOC circle, but I'm worried there may not be enough users to separate them out into specific races. Maybe there could be topic flairs for ones that pertain to specific race groups?
Agreed, if we did create a WOC circle I would hope it's all inclusive and not broken out by each race. Flairs would be a great way to highlight topics of particular interest to particular groups of women.
I know for a fact there are a great number of Asian women here, and there are plenty of black women as well.
Frankly I feel that it would help our population on Ovarit grow if we acknowledge the diversity rather than trying to ignore it.
By Asian do you mean Asian American or living in Asia, which is the biggest continent on Earth with many different cultures?
That would be up to users to decide and what would best suit their needs.
Not sure why this doesn't already exist tbh
Because a circle needs good and dedicated mods and rushing the process will just cause problems later on. That’s why new circles are being introduced so slowly.
Lots of people asking for the space; many fewer volunteering their time to create and run it.
How can people volunteer themselves and what criteria do they have to fit to be chosen? If the issue is that no one's volunteering, well I haven't heard a call for any volunteers of the sort. The process has to be less opaque if that's the limiting factor in making this kind of circle a reality.
Edit: Really wonder what the deleted reply to my comment was to be deleted so quickly, and who posted it. I think more transparency all around would be a good thing here.
I think a circle for Black women would be good. I've heard Black women say that they would like one, as the things they want to talk about are different from that of other Woc. To help save the admins trouble, a general Woc circle with the ability to massively flair by cultural or racial topics, could function as separate segments for different groups.
On a personal note, I'm rather ambivalent about an Asian circle. Putting aside Asian Americans/Europeans, the culture demographics for Asia are very wide. And due to the way racial discourse is done in Anglophone countries, there are way too many Asians pretending that just on a tangential relation, they have the right to speak on things they don't specifically live through because we are all one interchangeable Asian blob, and that really annoys me. There is also a slant towards certain pole-end viewpoints, while I favor dialogue on difficult topics.
But of course, this latter part is more my personal opinion and not meant as a recommendation for the circle creation.
I second this. women of color should have their own circles where white people can't comment
This came up just a month ago and I am sure it's come up before. It's a very popular idea.
I on one hand would love to see a WOC circle and think it would be a great space for Ovarit but I can also see some potential issues:
I like the idea a lot, and I'm not hand washing it away... I'm personally torn.
I think we really need a WOC space. Just like women feel more free to talk in spaces away from men, WOC feel more free to talk about certain issues in spaces where we don't have to disclaim everything with "not all white people."
Agreed a thousand percent, I think my goal is more; I shouldn't have to disclaim on Ovarit with a "not all" statement.
ETA: Included quote for clarity.
No circle on Ovarit is a safe space. The lesbian circle, for instance, is lurked on even by men here. Let's not try to make it seem like asking for a WOC circle is a call for a woke safe space.
WOC should feel comfortable enough to be themselves as fellow radfems, but the reality is the existing circles do not foster that kind of environment and it is clear that white women are to be centered in all those spaces. For starters, having a circle deliberately centering women of color can bring out more non-white voices and instill more confidence and connections for the women who feel ignored, dismissed, and attacked even though we're in the same fight against Patriarchy. For one, a secure WOC circle with good mods wouldn't entertain racist derailing and concern trolling that is rampant whenever racism is brought up on this site.
I perhaps said this inelegantly, and if so I apologize. I am not trying to make it seem like asking for a WOC circle is a call for a woke safe space predominately because I do not know what a "woke safe space" is. What I had intended was that if we have 1 and 2 firmly in place what is the intrinsic benefit seen to be?
Agreed entirely.
I am likely a bright eyed idealist. I want the exact same thing but I also think that we should be pushing that in the main circles. I think you are right that such a circle can serve to bring out more WOC, and I shouldn't have omitted the benefits when pointing out what I see as potential issues.
I think you are likely too idealistic. I've already read between the lines, and I'm guessing the reason why we don't already have spaces for women of color here is because none of the leadership here includes women of color. That is not meant as an insult, but it's easy not to see respecting non-white experiences as being a priority if everyone who matters here is white.
You can already see the backlash from bringing race out into the open. White women here are vocally decrying racism while also telling us to stay in our place and stop trying to "prioritize race over sex" or "fracture" the movement. At this point, I'm not sure if a WOC circle will be enough to combat the culture here that is too easily outraged when we refuse to obfuscate whiteness. But if you have some ideas for transforming the dominant culture here rather than creating a smaller counter-cultural circle, by all means put them into action.