A Global Survey of What it Means to be a Feminist in Your Country

Last week, NPR's Goats and Soda's asked, "What does it mean to be a feminist in different countries around the world?" People were asked to tweet in their response with the #FeminismInmyCountry.

My field of study being in the Liberal Arts, for the longest time I was trapped in this bubble. And in this bubble it was understood what this word meant, that individuals proudly embraced this label and it was a rare occasion you would come across individuals who thought "Feminism" was a bad word.  Being so immersed in that privileged sphere allowed me to not only freely discuss but to debate with peers and colleagues about issues surrounding gender disparity.  But beyond this bubble, talking about controversial topics such as gender, race, class, etc. generally people have discomfort sharing. 

With the goal of my work ultimately to open a Feminist discourse with my participants, first and foremost I need to create spaces that comfortably shift my audience's role from spectators to participants.  Creating that engagement is always challenging; as an added obstacle, I want my work to function beyond the confines of liberal arts, academia and the white cube, therefore I am always concerned with the environments I create.  For me, what it comes down to are all the small details.  The careful curation of space, objects and language are the backbones of creating safe spaces for discussion.  That being said, for me a maker of success is when I have a varied degree of response from participants.  

Which brings me back to Soda and Goats initial inquiry.  In the lawlessness of the twittersphere, it is amazing the varied response that were tweeted.  Embedded below is a live feed for their #FeminismInmyCountry which varies from the curated selection presented in their article.  

#FeminismInmyCountry Tweets