Kiki Beswick

Annotated Bibliography RD
October 12 2017

Bad Feminist Roxanne Gay

In her book of essays, Gay explores the ways in which many of us are Bad Feminists.
To her, this term is not a negative connotation, as those who are bad feminists are those who
are willing to admit their wrongs, to learn, and most importantly to try. This connects to my
concentration on Women and Justice within the realm of social justice, because it gives room
those who are exploring and grappling with feminism for error. It is hard to learn when you are
expected to know everything about a certain topic, but it is easy to learn when you make
mistakes. Furthermore, this book allows readers to explore feminism comfortably, while still
acknowledging the discomfort in learning new things. It further allows readers to broaden their
ideas of feminism, to positively challenge ideologies that are widely accepted within modern
feminism. This book also allows me to mentally explore my concentration on Women and
Justice because it pushes me to think about how we as humans involved in social justice might
need to step out of typical narratives to see them in a different light, which can open new paths to
understanding privilege and oppression and its many aspects.

Age Race Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference Audre Lorde
In this short essay, Lorde explains the power dynamics in American society from her lens
as aforty-nine year old, black, lesbian, feminist socialist mother of two [and] member of an
interracial couple. She further explains how difference is often viewed as deviance, and is
ultimately used to support the profit economy. She highlights the idea that it is our refusal to
accept and understand these differences that separates us, which is an important note when
thinking about women redefining difference in terms of justice. This entire essay points to the
value of working and struggling across difference, as it can create new paths to survival, as she
puts it. This assists me with my understandings of women involved in justice, because it shows
me the ways in which difference can be used as a tool in uplifting all relationships and
understandings in terms of social justice,

The Combahee River Collective Statement The Combahee River Collective

This statement was written by a group of self-defined Black Feminists from the
Combahee River Collective. In short, this statement brings readers through the history of black
feminism, mostly in terms of why it is needed based on historical trauma to black women in
society. Furthermore, it breaks down common forms of oppression against black women under
the law, and explains where these oppressions play out in social situations. This broadens my
perspective when thinking about Women and Justice, because as a black woman in America, I
should know about my oppression and how it is used in society to keep dated hierarchies in
place. Furthermore, I can use this essay to see my personal experience as a black woman in
America, and understand how it is different from other black womens experiences in America.

The Sisters are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America
Tamara Winfrey Harris
This short book focus on the incorrect narratives of black women in America. Harris
uses this book to explain past stereotypes of black women (and people), and to further explain
how these dangerous narratives trickle into today more than we as consumers realize. Harris uses
her position as a black woman in American to break up this narrative and suggest better, more
real, versions of black women. This book is important for my interest in Women and Justice,
because it supports my development as a young black woman in America, who has been placed
into many of the stereotypes suggested in this book, of course without my permission. Many
times, black women have narratives placed onto their bodies without us knowing or realizing,
because of the heavy burden internalized oppression brings to us. This book helped me realize
many of these oppressions, and pushes me to think above these stereotypes so I can work against
these negaitce narratives. This book also highlighted the fact that there in not just one black
experience, as there is not just one type of black person. This book will help me further study
the ideas of Women and Justice, as it will help me realize stereotypes and incorrect narratives of
all women, so I can further delve into the real and lived experiences of all women.

Black Girl Dangerous Mia McKenzie

This short book of essays began as an online blog and eventually grew into a popular
place in which queer people of color examine issues of race, gender, class and queerness. The
stories written in this book cover recent events, as well as personal instances of oppression from
the writer. This book served as my first real glance into the intersections of race and sexuality,
especially as it pertains to black women. This directly connects to my interest in Women and
Justice, as it is a book dedicated to black women seeking justice. The intersection of queerness in
this book allows me to factor sexuality when thinking about my concentration, as many women
experience the same intersections covered in this book. This book prides itself on being written
casually, as an important goal for the author is for this book to be accessible to non-academics.
This is important, because access to education is another social issue that women face all over
the world.

Performative Acts and Gender Construction Judith Butler

This essay is an extensive overview of gender in American society. It explains gender
from a social context, noting that someone becomes a gender, rather than being born into one.
Butlers belief is that gender is a social construction which can and should be looked past in
order to expand current ideas of gender and the binary it creates. She also notes that gender is
done through physical action, which suggests that gender can be done in more than two ways.
This essay for me is a direct connection to women and justice because gender is a something that
women all over the world deal with. The intersection of gender greatly impacts day-to-day life
for most people, if not everyone, and this essay breaks up this day-to-day process of doing
gender.