Episode 13: Julie
*Content Warning: this episode deals with issues of violence against women, stalking, online harassment, and contains harsh language.
Here’s the question that inspired this week’s episode (the message has been slightly altered to preserve anonymity): I have been undecided all my life about feminism and it's weird because I’m a girl and I have very strong opinions about the issues. But when I see posts online about feminism that I don't quite agree with and all the arguments and the fights of feminists against other feminists, i rethink it. Do i really want to be a feminist?
A lot of us learn about, explore, and engage with feminism online. We’ve discussed in many episodes of Rebelliously Tiny how the internet can make learning about feminism more accessible. But the internet can also be host to hurtful, harmful interactions where call out culture grows and spreads, sometimes out of control. Anonymous users starting fights just because, trolls, harassment… But problems within activist movements do not rely solely on the anonymity and distance of sitting behind a screen. Sometimes the aggression comes from within our own feminist circles, and the nuance between right and wrong or ally and enemy becomes more painful and difficult to sort through. In this episode, we talk to women’s rights advocate and public educator Julie S. Lalonde and together we take a look at some of the conflicts that exists within feminism, we reflect on all of our mixed feelings and we discuss how we can work on together to find alternative ways of communicating when we disagree.
Learn more about Julie’s work at yellowmanteau.com or @JulieSLalonde on Twitter and @yellowmanteau on IG. To learn more about the Outside of the Shadows project visit outsideoftheshadows.ca or @outsideoftheshadowsproject on IG
A podcast by Ambivalently Yours
Co-produced by Hannah McCasland
Recorded at Oboro Arist-Run Center in Montreal
Technical support: Stéphane Claude
Music: Greg Barkley