Forum examines feminism

Spread over last Thursday and Friday, the symposium "Unleashing Our Legacies: Exploring Third World Feminism" drew large crowds to Houston Hall from both Penn and other area universities and organizations. The symposium -- co-sponsored by an array of Penn academic programs, administrative offices and student organizations -- created a forum for people to discuss issues affecting feminist theory and feminism, including grass-roots activism, social policy and practice, and the effects of colonialism and imperialism. The event gathered acclaimed scholars, writers and internationally distinguished activists for various panel discussions and two keynote speeches. Friday night's event also showcased various works of feminist artwork, choreography, films and poetry. The symposium opened Thursday with a showing of Miss India Georgia, an award-winning film documenting South Asian beauty pageant contestants. The film addressed the everyday gender and cultural identity struggles women of color face in America. The symposium consisted primarily of three panel discussions entitled "Developing Women's Studies: Confronting the Legacies of Colonialism, Imperialism and Racism," "Feminist Movements: Social, Political and Economic Movements" and "Representations of Third World Women and Sexuality." The panel discussion on sexuality and the Third World focused on the "exotification" of women of color, the representation of homosexuality in the Third World and the contrast between traditional and modern expectations of women of color. Jacqui Sadashige, a panelist and professor of Classical Studies at Penn, said that for women of color, "it's a question of visibility and exposure to the varieties of feminist issues." "The voices of women of color such as these have often been marginalized," said Hang Nguyen, a 1996 College graduate and organizer of the symposium. "Their issues have never been to the forefront. We're providing a different forum for them to voice their political agendas." Keynote speaker Maria Lugones, a professor of Philosophy and Interpretation of Culture at the State University of New York at Binghamton, spoke on feminism and popular education and bridging the gap between theory and practice by encouraging women to work together. "Women [of color] need to begin talking to one another," Lugones said. "We need to form a collectivity with the promise of emancipation." "We can't make that kind of effective change individually," said Athima Chansanchai, head of research at the Village Voice, the New York alternative weekly newspaper. "It has to be on a collective level." For many attendees, the symposium offered a starting point from which to launch a national feminist consciousness. "It's time to do more than just talk. It's time to take a stand," Nguyen said. "We have a responsibility." College sophomore Katherine Sosnoff agreed, adding, "these women made me think about feminism in a way I have never been able to before."