You and your work:
My work began in a career in Human Services where I was involved with domestic violence and the use of Narrative Therapy, especially Men’s Behaviour Change Programs. I particularly like Narrative Therapy because it arose from a social work perspective, where people were placed within complex social worlds of gender, culture, ability etc. as part of considering where their lives were and what they wanted to change. This critique is inherently political, so feminist and postcolonial politics are central to such practices for rethinking lives and communities. In fact, Narrative Therapy arose from work in Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa, and was developed as part of community processes including Indigenous practitioners and scholars. This all drew me to it in the first place.
From this background, I’ve had a research life focused on masculinities, how they are structured hierarchically among men and work to support the suppression of women, other minority groups and nature. I have always been interested in alternative formulations of masculinities as a way to think through future possibilities, and map changes and challenges to hegemonic forms. Most recently, this work considers environmental crises and masculinities, and uses speculative fiction as a way of re-thinking futures for gendered/post-gender worlds, particularly drawing on postcolonial scholarship to consider Indigenous, care-giving, Queer and/or relationally-oriented masculine epistemologies and practices, for example.
Being in AWGSA:
I first came to AWGSA through a conference about a decade ago when I was finishing a Gender Studies PhD. It was like finding a warm home for thinking critically together, so I stayed, and eventually became part of the Executive. In my last term, I became the inaugural Disability Rep, and I’m really thrilled to now be serving in that role again, but as Co-Rep, with Dr Ebony Muller. My hope is that we can infuse AWGSA with increasing inclusion and flexibility for accommodating diverse needs, particularly when it comes to conferences, which are such an important part of our organisation and our caring for one another. Ebony and I are currently drafting a policy we hope will help us all increase our attention to a widening range of needs as we plan future events, so I would love to see that adopted and continuing to grow AWGSA.
What does feminism mean to me?
Feminism means community and critique. Feminisms are always plural and contextual, relational, political and care-ful, by which I mean, deeply attentive to others’ positionality, reflexive as to privilege. It is not something gained, but something in flux, being, learning and doing.
I appreciate how the movement has shifted across time and places, responding to invigorating activist and intellectual input and debate. I am very interested in histories of feminisms, as the research I am just completing focuses on the nineteenth century notions of the New Woman and New Man; so many of the issues return across generations and locations, and there is always so much to learn, to be inspired by, to realise we are not alone in our concerns, harms, griefs, joys and frustrations. Feminism is being aware gender is a significant category that determines our lives, physically and politically, and that these determinations are often obscured, enforced unequally, through intersections including race, sexuality, ability, class, species, etc. For me, feminism means a focus on the future, what we might do better, how formations are being challenged and shifting, can be changed. I’m very inspired by those who have come before us; I do see us in a historic lineage, and am grateful for all the earlier work and thought, which continues to guide my thinking, and renew my energy in efforts to improve futures.
Influences/recommendations
My work has focused on men and masculinities. I consider it important to critique the ways in which patriarchy has been, and is, supported and reproduced, as well as mapping resistance and reconfigurations of practices among men in relation to power. I am particularly indebted to sociologists in this regard, particularly Raewyn Connell’s construction of hegemonic masculinities, and, more recently, combining this with scholarship on ecomasculinities (Paul Pulé and Martin Hultman). I have long had a passion for the environment, so postcolonial ecofeminism is important to me, particularly when considering futures, with scholars like Val Plumwood, Greta Gaard and Erika Cudworth always inspiring. I often return to the work of Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Toril Moi and bell hooks – and every time, these are voices of challenge, intimacy, relevance and enrichment.
One thing I wish others knew
That we shouldn’t let men get away with not being studied, power needs to be in the hot seat! Seriously, it’s always of great interest to students that feminism studies men – a great conversation-starter. There’s also a lot of hopeful work in critical masculinities studies, because we have always had many diverse allies for feminism, and students in the classroom love hearing about this scholarship over the past thirty years.
Biggest issue:
Right now, it’s hard to choose a biggest issue, as I think about famine, war and backlash. Regarding my own research area, I would say one of the biggest issues is engaging with complexity thinking, ‘wicked problems’. Globally, neocolonialism via neoliberalism dominates, while we are facing increasing environmental and climate breakdowns that are existential, and affect the most vulnerable – marginalised women and children – first. There is a need to understand the interconnected nature of geopolitical and environmental crises, particularly at a time when expertise is questioned and people are seeking simple solutions and easy ‘enemy’ targets to blame (always the most vulnerable). Paradoxically, although that sounds overwhelming, I think such an education informs us on local levels, to do what we can to be politically involved, connecting to activism and to communities that are countering extractivism and individualism with change, connection and care. It helps to remain aware of global issues, and engaging politically, while in local groups, where community matters, and there is intergenerational sharing among feminists from around the world, who have been involved in a myriad of political fights across their lifetimes (and are still fighting), whether for Indigenous land rights, or an end to violence against women. Feminists have always believed that from gathering together, and doing political work together, we gain strength, as we forge connection and care for one another. They’re right; it’s how we can keep going, as well as have rest and care when we need it.
