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Richardson's perspective on writing stories was really impactful to me. I love how she infers that all writing is impacted by the perspectives of the person who is writing, no matter how hard we try not to. I appreciate the perspective of writing as a method of discovery because it celebrates how each writer sees the world. I think this is especially important to understand as an educator. We must be intentional of the authors and perspectives we are sharing with our students, in order to expose them to the many voices that are silenced. Richardson celebrates writing-stories because she feels it encourages the writer to discover new things about the world and the writer in order to understand the complexity of humanity. We should be encouraging our students to understand and embrace the power of their voices and learn how to apply their perspectives to their writing in order to give all perspectives a chance to be shared.

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For this week, I focused on Richardson’s (2011) “Getting Personal: Writing Stories”, which was a really interesting read. What resonated with me most was that “writing is a method of discovery, a way of finding out about yourself and your world” (Richardson, 2001, p. 35). Interestingly enough, a former coach of mine suggested I use writing for these very reasons and I had never suspected that the process I was undergoing was a feminist approach. In the past, I used writing to find out more about myself, my past, present and future. Similarly to Richardson (2001), through my writing, I felt very connected to others. Writing brought up memories of people, places and things and allowed me to situate myself socially, historically and politically and learn details about who I was. It was a challenge, but also very cathartic.

Prior to these writing experiences, I never wrote because I felt I had nothing to say. I see that writing, especially from a feminist perspective, supports the idea that we all have something to say, words that are valued and important. I look forward to continue “writing differently” more often!

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I thought that reading through the Jensen-Clayton (2018) article was such an eye-opening experience! I was shocked that I had never really considered the androcentricity of writing before even though I have written papers on the hegemonic institutions in curriculum design, but it somehow hadn't occurred to me that writing, specifically academic writing, was impacted by gender as well. This reading asked us to think about our own experiences and I was reminded of the experiences I had in school. As a child I loved writing- poems, stories, letters, papers, you name it! I always thought that is such an amazing way to communicate my ideas and experiences, and as a chatty child I was able to take all those big thoughts in my head and put them down on paper and even more, communicating my thoughts in a way that was valued. I was praised by my teachers and passed my classes with flying colours! As a child suffering from high functioning anxiety this assurance that what and how I thought was worthwhile was reassuring. This all changed in high school! I was an A+ student with a file full of awards for writing to barely passing my first term of English. The reason? My writing was not clear or concise enough, I used too many analogies, and anecdotal or personal stories were considered inappropriate…ultimately my writing was not considered academic enough. I couldn’t understand why my main form of communication which had been previously valued was now considered so subpar. This completely shook my confidence, and I began to dread writing in all forms. As a student I did not have the confidence to challenge the system in place, to stand up for myself and say that this was how I wished to communicate. Obviously, I was still in school and learning but my high school teachers where adamant that there was no room for deviation from the prescribed academic standard, a standard that I now realize could be constructed around androcentric and masculine ideas of writing based on containing meaning and displaying mastery and reason. To me, these are only a few ways of knowing and greatly overlooks the contribution women and other cultures can have to the field. By expanding what is considered academically valued to include more feminine styles of writing, academia can become more diverse and inclusive and young girls and women will not have to struggle to feel their writing identity is accepted.

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Jessica de Wolde - My thoughts on Jensen-Clayton, C. (2018). Women writing to ourselves. 

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Jessica de Wolde - My thoughts on Jensen-Clayton, C. (2018). Women writing to ourselves. 

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I was moved by this chapter. Some social constructs are overt, other insidious. Males and females technically born into the same world are in fact born into vastly different ones. Society chooses strength for one and  passivity, or even burden for the other.

Perhaps this is why I am so interested in anthropology. Humans have existed for 200,000 thousand years; we live in a time marked by andocentricity, & patriarchy. Captive to an institution that undervalues womanhood. Yet this is no more real than profits who insisted the world was flat.

Female, female writing, feminism is not about being anything other than who we are and being recognized for the strength we inherently carry in the blood coursing through out veins. Trying to be anything other than is disingenuous. Concerning me is this new wave of feminism that seems to feeding directly into the patriarchy.

Child birth, maternal instinct, breast feeding, nourishment, communication, sisterhood should be revered; as they have been in many tribes throughout millennia. Feminist writing must focus on the what vs the what not.

Wondrous biological female qualities, things that teether us to home, and children are seen as weak only because male biological qualities are the societal ideal. To be truly free of the constructs placed upon us we must be responsible for writing genuine stories that celebrate womanhood that is based in female strength.

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Sonja's Thoughts :) on Women Writing to Ourselves.

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Sonja's Thoughts :) on Women Writing to Ourselves.

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I also read the chapter by Cecily Jensen-Clayton.
I'm really appreciating the readings (like this one) that centre ways of being/doing/writing that are striving not to be rooted in the colonial, white-dominant, patriarchal ways of the Academy. Seeing these articles published and filled with academic references is reminding me that many voices and ways are or can be present.
I also appreciate how the author emphasized that the purpose of female writing isn't to be the opposite of or anti anything, but rather to embody, celebrate, disrupt, and bring together.
Finally, I really appreciate her noting that academia is a place for this type of writing, and so are other spaces, that female writing does not need to be constrained or defined or held within arbitrary, possibly male-centric boundaries, but that the writers (and readers) can define and decide the where and how (and why) of the writing.
This connects to the anti-dichotomous, ambiguity-embracing framework of the pedagogy of discomfort, which is swirling deeply for me right now, too.
The idea of writing differently but deliberately not being framed as in opposition to the mainstream is a challenge I think, but leads to thought, discussion, reflection, and growth, which is essential.

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Amanda Surujpaul -  Women writing to ourselves

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Amanda Surujpaul -  Women writing to ourselves

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I really appreciated how Jensen-Clayton (2018) ties the intellect of females to resistance and writing.

This makes me reflect on voices of women that have been historically silenced and that writing gives us the opportunity to voice ourselves in a patriarchal society.

With this said, when we come together as a community of women or feminists, who listen to and embrace stories and also believe the experiences of women, then this gives us an opportunity to feel heard.

I have witnessed this in healing circles that I run with community partners. Women are given a topic to discuss or journal and everyone contributes their experiences in this brave space, with some reclaiming their childhoods, which is very powerful.

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Jensen-Clayton's chapter on "Women Writing to Ourselves: Rescuing the Girl child from Androcentricity" explores the idea of writing differently as a means of empowering girls and challenging androcentric perspectives. The chapter highlights the significance of providing girls with opportunities to express themselves through writing, allowing them to develop their own voices and persepctives.

To be honest, I have never even heard the use of the term 'Androcentricity' prior to this module. Drawing from this reading, writing differently involves encouraging girls to embrace their unique experiences, thoughts, and emotions. It calls for creating spaces where girls can freely explore and articulate their ideas, without conforming to established gender norms or being overshadowed by male dominated narratives. By writing differently, girls can challenge androcentricity. Through their writing, girls can reclaim agency, assert their identities, and contribute their valuable voices to the larger discourse.

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Diane Watt - A personal example of writing "difference" or differently to disrupt assumptions 

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Diane Watt - A personal example of writing "difference" or differently to disrupt assumptions 

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For my doctoral thesis, I wrote a non-empirical "auto/ethno/graphic bricolage" (Watt, 2011), which uses the juxtaposition of various texts/narratives to provoke thought. This experimental text sets out to decenter patriarchal forms of knowledge and the sedimented layers of our understandings about the self and other. Through deconstructing media representations and my own understandings/experiences, placed beside narratives of the lived experience and sense of identity of Canadian Muslim female youth, it sets out to disrupt dominant assumptions about Muslim, female identities as it deconstructs the self.

I have attached an article related to my thesis to show anyone who might be interested what this particular form of writing might look like. You can see how I connected narratives of my lived experience to academic theory and research. I also included images. If you are a poet, you could include your poems. There is a journal on autoethnography if anyone is interested. It was my idea to also add the concept of "bricolage" as I had many complicated strands I was trying to pull together in one text.

This is just one option, of course, and something that worked for me and what I was trying to do. There are many forms of feminist writing that speak back to patriarchal forms of knowledge and knowledge construction. I invite you to think about writing as a woman/feminist for your final paper! I wouldn't expect it to be a masterpiece if this is your first try and will keep this in mind when grading...