Thinking about Gynaecon and Inclusiveness

[sqbr]

I thought about posting this to gynaecon but I feel my ideas are still too brainstormy and vague at this stage, also there's just not many people on that comm! I'm definitely not meaning to talk about them behind their backs, what with all but three of them being on my friends list :D¹. If I feel like I've poked at the idea enough to make a coherent point I'll post it.

For those who haven't heard of Gynaecon: it's a "guerilla feminist con", run during the local sf con Swancon, and consists of everything from impromptu room conversations and clothes swaps to official items on the main program. A lot of events are somewhere between those two extremes and are publicised in semi-pubic ways eg word of mouth, flyers inside the women's toilets etc. EDIT: it's been pointed out that stuff is often advertised in the lifts and men's toilets too.

I think Gynaecon does a fantastic job of creating a safe space for talking about gender at Swancon, and making sure those conversations happen, and in a constructive way (which is definitely not a given otherwise) They're also pretty good at intersections between gender and race, sexuality etc.

I'm less sure that it's as inclusive as it could be: I realise that it's impossible to create a safe space without making some people or behaviours feel unwelcome, but I think it can end up being a rather cliquey collection of the same group of women which feels unwelcoming not only to those who have an issue with feminism etc² but anyone who doesn't feel like they're friends with the right people. I felt that way myself for many years, and while my becoming comfortable with going to Gynaecon did coincide with me becoming more feminist I think it had more to do with me getting to know everyone socially and feeling like I'd be welcome as a friend rather than because of my political beliefs (which were always pretty feminist). And even now that I'm entirely comfortable going to, and being involved in Gynaecon, I ended up missing a panel last year because it was only advertised in the women's toilets and I never ended up using them. (EDIT: As has been pointed out, this is a serious issue for trans etc people) But this is a complicated issue, I'd be curious to hear suggestions from people who are interested in and supportive of the content of Gynaecon but feel uncomfortable attending. Also I think Gynaecon has become much more welcoming (and mainstreamed) than it used to be.

What's really bothering me at the moment is the way Gynaecon has in some ways become the gatekeeper for all conversations about social justice, including those other than gender, and the limits this puts on the dialogue. Now I don't think Gynaecon can be blamed for the fact that non-Gynaecon Swancon culture doesn't have a space for this sort of conversation, so this isn't a criticism of Gynaecon so much as it is pointing out a problem with the situation.

The situation that's got me thinking about this is that I'm pondering doing a panel about disability in sff for Swancon. I was thinking about how to run this so it didn't turn into an ableist trainwreck, and I pondered doing it as a more controlled, smaller, informal Gynaecon discussion. But the problem with that is you end up with the same 19 people turning up as always³, plus a few extra, and as much as I have a huge amount of respect and trust in those 19 people that means that the conversation will be more controlled by, and welcoming to, the able-bodied members of that group than it would be to a disabled man, or even disabled woman⁴ outside the Gynaecon circle.

I'm pretty sure that my conviction that everyone on this hypothetical panel should be disabled would be more welcomed by Gynaecon than general Swancon, and I could probably find a panel's worth of disabled Gynaecon people (assuming there was a formal panel structure at all). But I'm less sure that the Gynaecon system is flexible enough to easily allow for a panel talking about a social justice issue other than gender which generally privileged the voices of, eg, non-Gynaecon disabled people above non-disabled Gynaecon people. And that makes me uncomfortable.

Do other Swancon-types agree with my take on things? I'm not sure how to fix it, obviously I could just make my own disability panel/discussion without recourse to Gynaecon but that feels like reinventing the wheel. I feel like there should be a way to expand the more gender-focussed Gynaecon approach into a toolkit and intersecting safe spaces for dealing with diverse social justice issues.

1)Admittedly, that's my lj friends list. But the intersection on dw is pretty big too *waves*
2)EDIT: Also men. Whether or not those sorts of people should feel welcome too is a more complicated question. There's always a play off between becoming bogged down in social justice 101 "Prejudice is bad mmkay?" and preaching to the choir, and while that's a valid thing to discuss it's not what this post is about.
3)The edges of Gynaecon are obviously a lot fuzzier and amorphous than that of the lj community, it just make a a nice symbolic number
4)Or someone who identified as neither etc.

Comments

[bunny_m]

Okay, I'm gonna put on my asbestos suit and then try to express why Gynaecon strikes me as a great idea, but the actual implementation of it that I have seen at Swancon has always gotten up my nose.

"Prejudice is bad mmkay?" is something I totally agree with and try to live, but it seems to me there should be some way to make/have/announce a Gender-A-only space/event without making Gender-B feel like they are unwanted/insulted/less 'worthy' than Gender-A.

And yes, I know in the real world there can be breakdowns in even the best communication and some people will get their undies in a twist no matter how hard you try not to, but I* really feel that, for at least the Swancons in the current hotel, Gynaecon has totally failed to manage that. (Not least with the Gynaecon flyers posted in/on the door to the Men's toilets.)

(*) Yeah, the white, straight male is complaining that his privilege is being ever-so-slightly damaged. Which is why I haven't said anything about this before, because there's enough sexist bullshit in the world without me adding to it anymore than I can't possibly avoid, but "Prejudice is bad mmkay?" pretty much sums it up.

And I'm pretty sure I've made a complete mess of expressing this without offending someone, but I felt it was time I finally said something. If all this achieves is someone successfully applies the Mallet of Loving Correction to my prejudices, then I'll call it a win. If I manage to inspire some-one to re-examine their own prejudices, then that'll be a major win.

[rainbow]

How are they at non-binary gendered folk?

I remember far too clearly back in the 80s when there was a women's event that specifically did not allow anyone who was not born female to attend and kicked one woman out because she was post-surgery but had been born male.

The idea of leaving the flyers only by women's bathrooms just hits those same buttons, possibly unfairly to Gynaecon.

[emma_in_dream]

Life sucking right now so no time for a detailed response.

My quick thoughts about the past - one item which was gender-restricted in a decade is not exactly a policy of exclusion.

And teh future - I think the time for Gynaecon is over and now all diversity issues should be on the main program.

[ex_peasant441]

Obviously not a 'local' to Swancon, but if my 'disabled but dislikes using the actual word' credits have any value, here are my two cents.

I think if you want to talk about disability then you need to do it as part of the main con, not as a sub part of a sub con. If you only wanted to discuss disabled women then Gynaecon might be a suitable venue, but even then I would have my doubts.

Being or becoming disabled doesn't automatically make you sympathetic to feminism or comfortable in the presence of feminists, so by piggy-backing on their con you would risk making some disabled peeps feel excluded. This is I feel the single most important issue. A raving right wing white middle class male who is disabled should feel just as welcome at your panel as any other disabled person, if it is at Gynacon he will feel either excluded or be so defensive he will end up being attacked which will disrupt and upset the entire thing. (Since mentally I equate with a right wing middle class male, I am pretty much speaking from the heart here.)

And, as you know from your own experiences, being feminist doesn't automatically make someone sympathetic or helpful on disability issues, let alone knowledgeable, so to give the Gynacon folks the privilege of having the talk on their turf is to give that privilege to people who neither need it nor may make the best use of it.

Yes, I would hope that many of the people at Gynacon would be sympathetic to and interested in the cause, but that just means do some advertising in places they specifically will hear about it - either at Gynacon or in the female toilets if that is their chosen space - it doesn't mean you should transfer ownership of an entirely separate issue to Gynacon.

[gretel]

Well, I'm kinda glad to find out what Gynaecon actually is. I kept hearing it mentioned.

However yeah... not my thing I suspect.

Although if you wind up doing the disabled panel thing, make sure SOMEONE has a big rant about people who are quite injured being yelled at for using the lifts at Swancon. Not that I'm bitter.

[baby_elvis]

gynaecon organising person here. I think you are exactly right about it being difficult to walk into a session, that it seems cliquey -probably because it is! Of course, this was never our intention but has happened. The toilet door advertising started for 2 reasons: to honour the women who had gone before us and because we weren't sure that our advertising wouldn't be torn down. We always try to put the posters up on the male doors, too, but I don't know many men see them. Generally, the person whose idea it was for an event makes up a poster, grabs a few friends ad puts them up wherever they can find space - some people used the lifts to advertise last year. It's hard to advertise beforehand because people don't usually decide when to hold the items until they see the programme at the con, so that they don't miss out on something they want to see/attend.

Men are more than welcome to any panels; we have had one where they weren't - it was a women's health session and many women said they'd feel awkward with men there.
That said, I am sure some men may find it intimidating to walk into a room full of women and not be sure they are welcome (just like many women I know used to feel about walking into panels full of men, but no-one worried about that).

We are trying to become more 'mainstream' with asking for space on the main programme as well. Hopefully,this will make people feel happier to take part.

As for whether gynaecon is past its use by date, I think the answer is 'No'. I honestly believe that without it, discussions of social justice issues would not appear on the programme or the impetus for them to appear would be quickly lost. I also know that many people feel very vulnerable speaking about the issues that affect them personally - they have seen how other people have been shot down and attacked when discussing race; sexuality and gender identity gynaecon has given these people a safe space to speak.

In the end, though, gynaecon is just a bunch of people with ideas who want talk about a few things that interest them. There is nothing official or formal about it. It is a very ad hoc group and process. I know that I'd love to see more people take up their own banners and fly them: we were and are nothing special. All we did was have an idea and follow it through - and what we found was a lot of women who had subjects they wanted to discuss that had been rejected by programmers or that they didn't feel belonged on the main programme, for whatever reason.

gynaecon is specifically feminist in nature - but there are many different versions of feminism in it. I'd hate to see it lose that because I honestly believe that the fight has NOT been won.

There is no committee or membership of gynaecon; there's just generally a group of women who talk about things and then make it all up at the last moment. I know my litmus test for its success was for the day when I'd see a session being run by someone I didn't know about something that interested them - that they'd taken the idea and used it for their interests. I'd hate the name to be appropriated for something that would damage people, though.

As there is no formal 'gynaecon' group, it's hard for me to say whether anyone would not wlecome trans people and discussion of their issues, but I believe I can say that everyone I know that is involved would welcome trans people and discussion of their ideas, issues and experiences with enthusiasm and open arms. I also would hope that no-one who was trans would feel as though they were expected to 'represent' those issues. One of the ideas of gynaecon is that it's okay to sit and listen - no-one should be forced to do anything they don't want to.

Next Swancon is gynaecon's 10th anniversary and I think those of us who were there at the start are probably amazed that its still going; many of the 'original' group have stepped back and much to our delight others have stepped in. I suppose my 'message'is this - if you think you aren't afforded a space at Swancon, then take it upon yourself to grab some; try to get others involved because there's safety and courage in numbers and GO FOR IT. If you want to be associated with gynaecon then just ask. If you think gynaecon has gaps that you'd like to fill then please offer; you'll probably find some one who is also interested or who will at the least hold you hand when you take that scary step of putting yourself on the line. We all love admitting we know nothing about a subject and learning anew.

gynaecon has an lj http://community.livejournal.com/gynaecon/profile
contact us there if you would like.

[baby_elvis]

I sort of lost focus on your post S. I think you are right about the crossover between people interested in social justice and the gynaecon people, but I think I there is an untapped well of other people who are interested in social justice stuff, but don't know where/how to engage. I think a panel on Disability in SFF would be awesome.