"MY MARXIST FEMINIST DIALECTIC BRINGS ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD" ... but not really.

Man-repelling outfit (lol)

Black organic cotton women's tank top // Threads 4 Thought

Organic cotton, recycled polyester blend. Ethically and sustainably made in one of the world's most advanced water recycling programs in the world. Runs a bit large. I am typically a M and should have gone for a S in this style.

Screen Printed // Inspired Buffalo

Locally, water based screen print

Sky stretch denim, Stevie Ankle Jeans // AG Jeans via Ebay

Sustainable fibers, vertically integrated factory and excess fabric upcycled

Handwoven Inkkas Low Top Sneakers  // via Modavanti

Sustainably dyed and made with traditional textiles from Latin America

Breathable nail polish // Inglot

Does not contain toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) or camphor

Coupons for this outfit:

10% off Inkkas Shoes "DEAL10"

10% off Modavanti "BeyoutifulYOU"

40% off Threads 4 Thought "GiveAShit" (for Earth Week)

Short post for today, since I'm in the middle of the end of my semester and since I am in too many courses which means the normal coursework plus the end of the semester coursework is all culminating to my blog taking the backmost part of the back burner. But, I have some cohort members who are also writing their theses (which I am not doing), so props to them!!! AYYYE!

Okay, so let's begin. What do we have here?

Well, last month for my friend's birthday I decided to screen print her this tshirt. Of course it was on a Threads 4 Thought top, since they are my ethical fashion basic fave and always have sales. As far as "Marxist feminist dialectic," it is basically academic talk bringing class struggle and gender misrepresentations into dialogue with development inequalities globally. Or this is how I interpret it with my one year of economic geography training under feminist scholars. The top was actually inspired by someone (a male, although it's not only males who think like this) I got into an argument with about the importance of reaching out to and being a resource for women specifically. Basically I was arguing that yes, the family unit is important, however with the immense inequalities created through development which always focuses on the male (specifically the white male, if we look through history), it is now turn for development to help correct this or at least move forward in a way that accepts this mistake. Anyhow, the conversation culminated in him passively deciding to not be my friend anymore... and that is the story of the selected choice of words on this tank top (I also saw this saying on Instagram and across various websites)!

And so my friends, how many times does this conversation "bring the boys to the yard" (gosh is that song ridiculous)? Let me tell you... about... nope, I can't say that it is most of the time. Although, I tend to find that my male friends who do have a higher education level tend to identify as feminists. Of course, a large handful of guys and even girls don't even understand what feminism is, even if they are superficially advocating for it or against it. Here is a definition of feminism from the Oxford dictionary,

"the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes."

Voting, representation in politics, economics and society are all part of this equality portion of feminism. Yes, there are extremists, we can see this everywhere not just in the feminist movement (if I mention Trump here do I count as a relevant American?). However, looking through a feminist lens at development or society allows the work which women do (household, representation in media, assumptions which lead to workplace inequalities and unequal opportunities to participate or succeed, etc) to surface and be counted. Moving to a short mention of Marxism,

"Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis, originating from the mid-to-late 19th century works of German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, that analyzes class relations and societal conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and a dialectical view of social transformation. 

Marxist methodology originally used economic and sociopolitical inquiry to analyze and critique the development of capitalism and the role of class struggle in systemic economic change. According to Marxist analysis, class conflict within capitalism arises due to intensifying contradictions between highly productive mechanized and socialized production performed by the proletariat, and private ownership and appropriation of the surplus product in the form of surplus value (profit) by a small minority of private owners called the bourgeoisie."   -- Wikipedia 2016  (sources on bottom of page)

I know that citing Wikipedia isn't the best option but I liked this definition and you can click the hyperlinks to investigate more on the topics. So taking feminism with Marxism, we see the conversation of how class struggle, fostered through the dominant bourgeoisie who were fueled by capitalism, can be seen today in a new(or maybe just different) form where class struggle and development misrepresents women, leading to further socio economic (for class and gender) inequalities. Perhaps I will interpret this shirt differently when I finish my graduate studies or continue in life. That's one of the great things about life, there is always an opportunity to continue learning and developing your ideas and opinions.

So I come to the end of this post with a somewhat brief explanation of this ironic tank top and how it actually is a machismo repellent. Which in itself isn't really a bad thing.  Although, it would take people with an understanding of theory to follow this tank top in the first place. Welp, "c'est la vie," as I always resort to!

Now... back to writing final papers for me! Have an abundantly blessed day in Christ Jesus!

Happy Sunday,

Christine

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P.S. Blog posts always take me like 3 times longer than planned. #BloggerProbs