Leading Post: Attenello, Pruce, and Greenston

Attenello’s Navigating Identity Politics in Activism

Attenello has a strong sense of her identity, from her race, ethnicity, social class, gender to her culture. From her writing, it is apparent that Attenello is very aware of the privileges and disadvantages each identifying factor has. In activism, she is always conscious as to not overstep her boundaries and become the leader that actually further marginalizes the minority group. What she keeps reiterating is the role of a leader. Though some think of very vocal leaders, Attenello stresses that it’s important for a leader/researcher to not come off as “the expert” that has all the answers. This overshadows the true stars of the activism group. Even when she got the leadership vice president position working with Unidad de New Brunswick, Attenello thought about who she possibly taking that position from. Would it help the Mexican women learn about empowerment if she had stepped down? The balance between supporter and an overshadowing leader is what Attenello struggles with the entire chapter. Eventually she starts to wean off the group and get the group to wean off of her by merely training the activists how to organize and organize effectively. In the end she felt like she didn’t have enough in common with the movement and participants itself to continue. She felt like an illegitimate leader so she stepped down.

I have many criticisms of Attenello’s piece, but I do have to admit that she is still someone to admire. She taught the group how to be independent and this is very impressive. Instead of relying on an “outsider”, so to speak, the group could operate by itself. I thought Attenello was very observant and very analytical in the way she understood her identity and how it plays out in the world she lives in. However, this that makes her such a strong woman is also what flaws her, in my opinion. I think she’s too aware to the point that it paralyzes her and hinders her from being that go-getter. Her mind was just filled with differences – how am I different from these group of women? What about things she has in common? What about unifying factors and things that can bring them together? I think these women really could have benefitted from Attenello staying in the group because she is privileged in comparison. Like we talked about in class, sometimes having an “outsider” advocate strengthens the argument and the cause. I think Attenello definitely had the potential to do great things with Unidad de New Brunswick, but her impeccable awareness of identity differences stifled it. But I do understand that if she doesn’t feel like she belongs, then she doesn’t.

Pruce’s Blurring the Lines that Divide

Pruce also talks about the development of her identity and how she nourishes it by travelling to Israel. At the same time, it is a journey in realizing biases she has, how to control it, and to just be aware. Like Attenello, Pruce also discovered women’s studies in the midst of a breakdown from the harsh feedback she received by challenging stereotypes and the negative political messages about Israel. What was very interesting about this chapter was how we got to read from a woman that could not use feminism. She said how she had to keep her feminist goals and passions “in the closet.” I think this is a very realistic piece because realistically, there are some identities one has to hide at one point and play up at one point. All the other pieces we’ve been reading talked about feminism, straight up. Pruce talked about how she struggled to keep that low-key in order to emphasize and equally important part of her identity. This, in my eyes, doesn’t make her less of a feminist than the other writers we’ve read from.

What I enjoyed about Pruce’s piece was that she was speaking directly to the reader – to me – and gave us advice. It made the reading more personal and I felt as if I was in conversation with Pruce.

Greenstone’s Learning the Meaning of One

Greenstone was given the position as the exception when her friends made harsh comments about Jews. Remarkably, even under the safety of this position, young Greenstone turned down this position to stand up for her identity. This experience prompted her to continue exploring her identity, to explore social justice. Afterwards, she was employed and very involved with ADL, where she was the youngest employee. This presented challenges for her and she spoke about the “imposter syndrome.” She acknowledges that some men experience this, too but I agree with her when she says that it is very pertinent to women. Even though a woman may feel fully qualified for the job, there is an internalization of what society says women can and cannot do. There is a doubt and it affected the way people saw Greenstone. When she worked with ADL and conducted leadership programs, she saw this at work first in hand in the classrooms. She observed that girls were much shyer about sharing their thoughts. Instead of trying to gain attention through what their mind had to share, she observed that the girls were trying to gain attention through their clothing, for the most part sexualized clothing. This became such an influential experience that she went back to school. Before ending her chapter, she leaves the reader with a message to stand one’s ground, even if it means “compromising relationships.” We all have to do our part as agents of change.