Discourse About Feminism
Above is an interview of Tarana Burke on The Daily Show. As the first woman who brought up the phrase “me too”, she has a deep understanding of sexual harassment in America, especially the sexual harassments towards colored women.
Compared to the enthusiastic participants in the movement in America, most women in the Asian countries are quieter contrastively. The is an interview of Shiori Ito, a Japanese freelancer talks about Japan’s silence on rape, which brings more perspective on the issue of sexual harassment.
The foucauldian concept of discourse
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Discourse is organized and organizing bodies of knowledge, with rules and regulations that govern particular practices, ways of speaking, thinking and acting.
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Discourse produced knowledge and knowledge is always a weapon of power. Through discourses, power produces the “truth” (it may not have to be true) and “general politics” of truth.
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Discourse transmits and produces power; it reinforces it, but also undermines it and exposes it, renders it fragile and makes it possible to thwart it. "Where there is power there is resistance ".
Analysis of the Discourses
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women being objectified and sexualized in the advertisement is common in the mass culture.
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Under the male dominate world, Women are often portrayed as sexual objects.
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The black women are marginalized in the movement in which they start.
Analysis The Me Too movement
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Me Too movement is not focusing on taking down a powerful man but giving rights and justice to the victims.
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Talking about sex is a taboo, and there is a strong stigma in some countries about sex.
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Because of the chilly attitude towards victims in sexual harassment and rape, many victims choose to stay silent from shame or fear of criticism.
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The social status of gender is extremely unequal in Japan as well as other Asian countries.
Implications
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When we start a revolution, the key is to let the people who are in silence to speak.
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The main reason for why sexual harassment and rape happen so often is sexism in the society.
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Women are often being objectified and sexualized in the media, it reinforces the idea that women equal to commodities and men dominate women.
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Discourse not only reinforces power but also undermines power.