WGS Program Welcomes Dr. Katherine Goodwin

The Women’s & Gender Studies Program at Hope College welcomes Dr. Katherine Goodwin (Ph.D. Baylor University) as an Assistant Professor in the WGS program!

The WGS program at Hope College has had a thriving major and minor for decades. We currently offer five stand alone WGS courses and an array of courses that are cross-listed with other departments (such as Gender and Society, Psychology of Gender, and Gender Communication). To date, however, all WGS courses have been taught by faculty who were originally hired by other Hope departments and who became affiliated WGS faculty and joined the WGS Council at Hope College. For instance, I (Dr. Sarah Kornfield) primarily teach for the Communication Department and usually teach one or two courses for the WGS program at Hope College per year. This is one of the key strengths of Hope’s WGS program: we are a truly interdisciplinary program with faculty who contribute their expertise from across the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural and Applied Sciences.

As WGS has grown over the past decade and as the WGS program became an intrinsic part of Hope’s curriculum and general education Anchor Plan, we needed a faculty member whose expertise and full commitment would be to teaching in this area. We are thrilled to announce the hire of WGS Assistant Professor Katherine Goodwin.

Dr. Goodwin is formally trained as a historian, with an emphasis on the Late Medieval and Early Modern European eras. Her feminist research specifically focuses on the hidden networks of women’s theological production within religious cultures during these eras.

In addition to scholarly publications and awards, Dr. Goodwin’s research has also been featured in popular culture venues such as Patheos’ newsletter, “The Anxious Bench.”

Join us for a brief interview with Dr. Katherine Goodwin!

What do you want your teaching and research to accomplish in the world?

I could say a lot here about the liberating potential of feminist pedagogy and the importance of understanding women’s history. At the end of the day, though, I hope that my teaching and research helps people think more deeply, complexly, and compassionately about themselves, the world, and what it means to be a Christian here and now. My primary vehicle for doing this has been women’s history – specifically, the history of late medieval and early modern women’s centrality in religious reform. Now I get to expand that research into the broader field of Women’s and Gender Studies. I am so excited to see how learning with and from Hope students will reshape my research questions and help me better engage the challenges in our communities with deeper compassion and commitment to celebrating the Image of God in all people.

What ideas/theories are currently the most exciting to you?

Right now I am particularly excited about feminist epistemologies of emotions and the field of emotions history. Attention to emotions – positive and negative, “appropriate” and “inappropriate” – helps us see how gendered our categories of acceptable behavior and knowledge are. A lot of my research has focused on how women used emotion in religious contexts to create a religious and social authority, especially as emotions were (and are) considered a legitimate (though easily abused) pathway of accessing knowledge about God. Even today we see how emotions are a powerful force for personal and collective good (and harm). I think that feminist methodologies that treat women’s experiences AND emotions as legitimate sources of knowledge can help us reconsider how we see power operating in a number of different contexts – both present and past.

What is your favorite feminist book (fiction or nonfiction)?

My most recent favorite feminist fiction is Rachel Kadish’s Weight of Ink. It blends history, philosophy, theology, and academics together in a gorgeous, haunting way and provides great reflections on the challenges and triumphs of female thinkers in different historical contexts. Besides, I’m a sucker for good historical fiction with a strong female lead. For non-fiction, Judith Bennet’s History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism was my gateway into feminist scholarship. I didn’t encounter this until graduate school, and it was (and is) the perfect challenge to assumptions about the inevitability of progress in feminism and gender equality. It also gives a pragmatic approach to the “how’s” and “why’s” of feminism, which I love. We’ll read a chapter from it in WGS 130!

If you could wear or use one symbol of feminist activism (like the Bloomers outfits) what would it be?

I have a couple of the “Votes for Women” buttons that are really cool, but I’m still in the market for a yellow rose brooch. Suffragettes in Tennessee and elsewhere notably wore these as they marched for the vote, starting what some called America’s “war of the roses” (Check out Tennessee State Museum’s site on this!). Like Elisabeth Arden’s red lipstick, it became an everyday symbol of women’s rights that transformed “feminine energy” into a mark of activism.

Is there a feminist prayer or other resource your Christian tradition has for a future of peace?

I know there are many more official ones in the Book of Common Prayer and from other saints and sinners of the Christian tradition, but I’ll give you the first one that comes to mind. My favorite prayer is from a medieval woman named Margery Kempe. She was a pilgrim, mystic, and a very divisive figure (she cried ALL the time and believed it was because God was doing something special with her … can you see why question 2 above interests me??). She was brought before a number of different religious tribunals on accusations of heresy/disturbing the Christian peace, and before giving testimony she made one small prayer that boils down to this line: “I have come here for love of you.” I think and pray that prayer whenever I am in situations where I feel out of my depth, especially when there is serious disagreement theologically, ideologically, etc. Like Margery (I hope), I believe that we are called into various situations where truth, peace, or compassion are needed and so frequently rejected. Remembering that it is God who calls, leads, and equips us for whatever work or conversation we engage in helps me focus on the love of God that has led me to that moment, and the work of God in Christ to bring truth, reconciliation, and peace. Margery’s prayer helped her testify to the work of God in and through her. While I haven’t been miraculously delivered from being burned at the stake like she reportedly was, this prayer has helped me focus on being faithful in the hopes that the work I do inches us closer to experiencing the peace of God in the present and, hopefully, future.

What color is my voice?

Interview with WGS student An Ha.

An Ha recently published a co-authored essay, “What Color is My Voice? Academic Writing and the Myth of Standard English” through Writing Spaces. With her co-authors, Kristin DeMint Bailey and AJ Outlar, Ms. Ha’s work brings much-needed attention to the intertwining of language, identity, and power within the context of racism and “standard” English. Reflecting on their own writing for college courses, Ms. Ha and Mr. Outlar invite students to ask themselves,

“Whose voice do I hear in my writing, and why? What does this voice reveal about my identity as a writer, and how do I feel about what I uncover? What might I want to do more or differently?”

Kristin De Mint Bailey, An Ha, and AJ Outlar, “What Color is My Voice? Academic Writing and the Myth of Standard English,” Writing Spaces, 5, no. 1 (2023): 63.

The following is an interview with Ms. Ha regarding her research, writing, and feminist theory.

What is “voice,” and why is it important?

“Voice is essential to the human experience. It is an amalgamation of our lives and a means of storytelling and connection. We acquire voice as we grow; slowly, the internal voice translates to the external. Voice is culture as it is privilege. Some of us have voices that get lost in translation. Voices that fall on ears that are closed to stories that don’t center their own, that don’t center Whiteness. This. This is why voice is important. Black voices, brown voices, loud voices, soft voices, all voices — deserve to proclaim their existence. When we center only one voice, we lose so much richness, and we silence the marginalized in their declaration of space.”

What did you find meaningful about this research and publication?

“This topic has yet to hit the mainstream. There are still thousands of BIPOC in schools that believe they are ‘bad writers.’ This chapter, however profound, is still only a baby step in the change that needs to happen for students everywhere. I am immensely grateful that I had an English professor who used her Whiteness to amplify BIPOC voices. I am also grateful for the creative freedom I was given at 19. Reading the chapter back now, I can hear my 19-year-old voice, her excitement, her passion, her spunk, and that’s precisely what this chapter should do.”

What would you say to a Hope undergrad who is considering doing research with faculty?

“Partnering with a faculty member to dive deep into topics that make you think is an incredible opportunity. You work alongside someone who acts as a guide, a mentor, a peer, and an investor in your education. I had no idea where this Writing Spaces chapter would take me, but I’m so glad I took a chance to learn along the way.” 

How do you see feminist theory connecting with this research?

bell hooks reminds us that ‘Work by women of color and marginalized groups of white women (for example, lesbians, sex radicals), especially if written in a manner that renders it accessible to a broad reading public, even if that work enables and promotes the feminist practice, is often de-legitimized in academic settings.’ For this work to impact our audience (students in college-level English classes) we must understand that valid writing does not have to be ‘scholarly’  or ‘academic’ or any other thinly veiled pseudonyms for White. ‘What Color Is My Voice‘ allows for this space in writing, where making these concepts more accessible to the general public enables the faculty and students to enact social change.”  

WGS Students’ Research Featured at CURCA 2023

Undergraduate research is a distinctive element of the Hope College education and the Women’s & Gender Studies program focuses on student research in WGS 350: Feminist Visions of Justice.

WGS Research at CURCA 2023
Anna Whittle, Sutton Steensma, Nicole Galloway, Kaylee Stanton

This year, four students showcased their research at the annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity (CURCA). Moving beyond the classroom, these students applied feminist methodologies to answer pressing research questions pertaining to body positivity, leadership, health and advertising, and climate change. Their research abstracts are excerpted below!

Hope Students and Body Positivity ~ Sutton Steensma

Fatphobia is woven within the fabric of our society. This form of sexism is a tactic of control, manipulating women’s bodies and their perception of self. This control fuels our patriarchal society. The current study used mixed methods, studying the lived experiences of students at Hope College. I found that fatphobia shows itself to be a gendered issue among this demographic–where weight bias has taken form in many ways–specifically impacting and targeting women. Every participant had been impacted by fatphobia in some way, and expressed that the “Body Positivity Movement” is exclusive and requires revisions to make it representative and accessible to all bodies. Additionally, participants expressed a desire to relate to their bodies in holistically healthy ways, which they saw as the intended purpose behind the “Body Positivity Movement.”

Beyond the Binary: Leadership, Gender, and Femmephobia ~ Nicole Galloway

Discourse surrounding gender and leadership varies considerably. This study uses the Business-focused Inventory of Personality scale to assess measures on power and leadership motivation through a self-report survey. With data collected from the survey, this study showcases the perceptions individuals have of their own leadership qualities and how such perceptions may be related to gender. Though discussions on gender and leadership are often focused on difference or the lack thereof, this study argues through the lens of femmephobia that we must move beyond conversations about difference and into conversations about oppression when striving to create a feminist impact on leadership occupancy.

Profit and Empowerment: Period Products on Social Media ~ Kaylee Stanton

Instagram posts from mainstream and alternative menstrual product companies showcase varying styles of branded advertising including product placement, education, and artistic expression. Through an analysis of a collection of the most liked posts from Always, Tampax, U by Kotex, August, and The Divacup, I argue that the combination of environments between Instagram and femvertising results in contradictory and often ineffective messaging about periods where companies struggle between capitalizing on period stigma to sell products and facilitating authentic empowerment. These unique positions of the brands reveal a need to reshape empowerment and display the pitfalls of feminist advertising on neoliberal social media.

The Storytellers of Climate Change ~ Anna Whittle

The evidence of environmental and gender inequalities is clear. Not only are poorer countries affected the most by the pollution from wealthier countries, but climate change affects women in the Global South the most through overlapping layers of oppression. By exploring the intersection of gender and climate change through a diversity of disciplines, this project seeks to develop a sustainable, feminist approach to mitigating climate change. An intersectional lens, storytelling by women, and the inclusion of women in all levels of climate action are critical in the development of a non-hierarchical, polycentric approach to climate change.

Bold Resistance: Interview with WGS Alumna Chloe Long

As a senior at Hope College, WGS major Chloe Long (’21) conducted research with Dr. Sarah Kornfield.

Recently published in Sexualities, their research analyzes television portrayals of femininity and femme resistance on The Bold Type (2017-2021). Read below for an interview with Chloe Long.

Bold Resistance

What is femme?

“As Dr. Rhea Ashley Hoskin explains, femme is historically linked to feminine presenting lesbians; more broadly, femme is a presentation of feminine defiance. As ‘culturally unsanctioned femininity,’ femme is a direct act of revolution.”

What did you find meaningful about this research?

“This research was an absolute joy to explore. I believe the research to be not only meaningful, but impactful as gender and the study of gender evolves. This research highlights injustice in a way that demonstrates how normal and pervasive injustice can be: through television. Television and media as a whole are clear indicators of social values, so using it as a medium of analysis is incredibly important to understanding our culture and its injustices.”

What would you say to a Hope undergrad who is considering doing research with a WGS faculty member?

“DO IT! Working with Dr. Kornfield was an absolute delight to say the least. I was extremely pleased to work alongside her and learn from her along the way. It is an amazing opportunity to not only see the rhythm of research, but also to expand your own thinking, writing, and learning with the guidance of someone who is experienced in the field. I cannot recommend it enough!”

How are you using Hope WGS major in your career?

“My career currently isn’t overtly related to Women’s & Gender Studies, yet I find myself utilizing the skills I learned in the WGS program. I currently work at a technology and project management company in Kansas City, and it was definitely a learning curve to be working in a male-dominated field. I’m on the leadership team for my project, so it’s given me a big opportunity to be an advocate for other women in my company, as well as fight to change processes that currently work against women and people of color. I was also able to get connected to local organizations in Kansas City, like Black Lives Matter KC, as well as women’s groups that lead protests in the downtown area. I’m so grateful for all my studies at Hope, as it gave me a voice and agency in understanding and recognizing injustices in my community and even my workplace.”

When will it be Enough?

By Sutton Steensma

This work responds to “Trust Black Women: Reproductive Justice and Eugenics” by Loretta Ross.

When will it be enough for women to decide the fate of their bodies?

With dress, behavior, contraception, movement, parenthood, intimacy, or expression?

The facade of choice has always been monitored and encouraged towards a White supremacist, patriarchal agenda.

We are always made acutely aware of the organs that motivate assumptions and expectations.

I know I have a uterus, thank you.

I know what it is capable of, thank you.

I do not want you inside of me, thank you.

I do not wish to nourish this unwanted fetus, thank you.

I feel like I am speaking but nothing is being heard.

Imagine how our Black sisters must feel, producing rich evidence of pain and tailored abuse from a system crafted to control and manipulate.

Endless evidence of use of female body cavities to achieve power and maintain structures that are rooted in oppression.

The possession.

Who matters in all of this?

Is it the man who just wanted to know what sex would feel like without a condom?

Is it the woman who is imprisoned within her reproductive capacity?

Is it the child born into a family system that is unwanted even before conception?

Or is it the person in the big office chair, lubricating their black pen to sign the paper that determines the choice for bodies that they have never respected, while proceeding to kneel behind a pew and pray to a God that they believe condones their control over bodies.

Autonomy must be granted back to the bodies that experience the implications of narrow laws.

Leverage must be provided to Black feminists who have been engaging in this work for centuries.

Encouraging belonging to all options must be granted for reproductive and parental agencies.

But when?

Fully Searching

by Kaylee Stanton

Fingers tracing the corners of pages.

The fluorescent lights filter the dust on book covers.

I’m drawn in,

into the sea of women’s melodies, words, wisdom.

Their voices call out, needless of response, just breathing in time.

And yet she finds me

and I find her.

Her life, a canvas of smudges and struggle

wrapped in the beauty of lavender petals.

Her poignant and powerful words cut deep,

releasing my ear from the bonds of thy master to the wild, to the feminine.

It’s not a clean cut.

The cord tangles, gnashing at freedom,

but the voice pierces it with the force of the women before her. The women after her, refusing to be silenced.

We sit at the table alone, the ink and I.

We have no reason for numbers or scales,

our conversation is proof enough

without the scaffolding of 19th-century quills.

Honest and raw, I am enough.

We time travel together to times of pain and rejection

and times of unity and comfort.

I melt into her lyrics of “Angry Atthis”, oh how soft, oh heartfelt. My ear listens but my body feels a spark.

The twinge. My shame.

My ear has been comfortable in captivity for far too long.

I invite this emotion in,

to sit at the table with us, my heart and head on the wood.

The spark sets the table on fire but we bask in its warmth. No water quenches the flame.

Her verses reckon with me, responding:

I know of who I am

I know my being to be joyful.

They see my heart and call it vile,

I see my heart, a lily of the Nile.

I buckled under the weight of fear,

our hands pressed only in the dark of night.

Feeling the world veil our hearts,

they hide us in glass closets for

“God forbid we reveal who we are.”

But hear our anthem rise

Collective strength, our voice.

Proud of who we are

Shattered glass, breath full, rejoice.

I find peace with this ink.

We have met before by another name, sharing the lines on the same page.

In her song, I find the answers

And they find their home.

Vinyl record of “Angry Atthis” by Maxine Feldman

I wrote this poem in response to the research by Jo Reger on the politicization of women’s music through Maxine Feldman. It is both a representation of the researcher journeying through research as well as honoring the feminist methods of research and an ode to Maxine Feldman’s song “Angry Atthis”. I was taken aback by the way Reger utilized both intellect and emotion to support her research, which I have never seen in this both/and way in research. To have permission to use emotion grounds the work in a way that using high theory can not. Reger’s research explains the concept of the “masculine ear” and how we have been taught to listen with this frame, similar to the male gaze. I really enjoyed the way she utilized this throughout her paper to reveal how women’s music created a new ear to listen, which I kept in mind throughout the poem. To me, rhetorical analysis is both beautiful and terrifying because it allows the researcher to claim power and authority within themselves which I represented with the spark of emotion turning into a fire before the researcher. In the same light, feminist rhetorical analysis usually doesn’t rely on dead white theorists to legitimize their work. Reger continuously emphasized how she had a conversation with Feldman’s lyrics, interviews, articles, etc., so I wanted to reflect that with the response of Feldman, inspired by the song which Reger analyzed. Overall, there is a theme of connection between the researcher and their work reflected in the poem as I was moved by the way feminist researchers refrain from severely separating themselves from their research, viewing it as a possible strength rather than something that would discredit the research. At its heart, Fully Searching is an ode to feminist rhetorical analysis research.

The Production of Babies

By Elizabeth Bassett

This poem responds to “Conceptualizing Reproductive Justice Theory” in Radical Reproductive Justice by Loretta Ross.

What does freedom

Really mean when we can’t hear it

Over the manufacturing equipment

We call women’s bodies?

Factories supply.

They shouldn’t malfunction,

Miscarry or abort.

Because what are you doing in this business anyway?

Manufacturers should supply and

Demands

Belong to the markets.

White people, white movements, white feminism

Pro-life white, pro-choice white

Just do the right thing

The markets tell a twelve-year-old Black girl

What she ought to do for a baby

When no one feels they ought to do anything for her

Or her baby but

She is her mother’s baby

The baby of her grandmother’s baby.

So stop pretending

A twelve year old cornered into birthing

Isn’t child labor.

You made laws about that

*see the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

What does freedom really mean

When investors talk morals

But have stake in the manufacturing of

Only white babies?

A Black girl has metasystems tangled around her throat

The “it’s more wrong to abort than it is to

Assault a child” is just the beginning of the

Conspiracy of silence

Global capitalist

Legislative reluctance

Hyde Amendments

Classist resentments

Of legal dependents— “your children and wives”—

White supremacist descendants

Anti-CRT Superintendents

And Roe v. Wade precedents that come crashing down around Strategic ignorance disguised as Privacy

Independence is for the state.

And anyways, the demands for a Black baby are low.

It’s on you for supplying

And producing.

We were wrong

We are wrong

We are wrong

The child is no manufacturer of babies

She is a producer of knowledge

Feed her theory and she invents

And destroys the industry

Read to her some bedtime myths

Recite to her some human rights

To fuel her dreams and mobilize her friends

Into a universal gravitation towards Ubuntu

And humanity

And far, far away from the universal absolutes

That cage her in.

White people struggle to understand

What’s wrong?

Being a woman isn’t so bad!

I can do whatever I want

I can be a career woman if I want

And that movie about the Black women who worked for NASA? See, you can do anything

If you lean in and become empowered enough,

Have children only if you want to

I have the Paraguard till twenty thirty-two

But I’m pro-choice because

Accidents happen.

My feminism is painted with only pastels,

It’s the pretty-headstrong type of pretty and

Pretty water colors don’t produce purple

So I couldn’t personally understand Ross’ print

Not really.

Not fully.

My disconnect is child labor laws that protected my youth

That let me play before I produce

So while I stand behind my white woman fence

That stops me from relating

Black women are busy innovating, creating,

And building with no such

Barrier

Because Reproductive Justice

Pulls barriers up by the root.

Researcher as Artist

By Nicole Galloway

In “Criticism and Authority in the Artistic Mode,” Bonnie Dow (2001) make the point that textual or discursive research–especially rhetorical criticism–is more comparable to art than science. That is, knowledge is created rather than uncovered or discovered. This emphasizes the researcher’s (creator’s/artist’s) authority and responsibility.

Researcher as Artist by Nicole Galloway

Dow’s mention of “authority” over our own work reminded me a lot of feminist grounded theory. Instead of research being some far away, out of touch concept, it should be something that is personal. We are able to have a say and authority over our creations, and we are also able to have authority over how we use our own lives in grounded theory.

This artistic presentation channels the artistic value of creation that Dow talks about in the article. Thinking of rhetorical criticism in this way very much changes the perspective from something that is found (and thus, out of my control) to something that is created (and under my full authority). Part of my creative understanding, in this way, was the actual process of creating something through my own authority (partaking in the act that Dow describes), as well as the final created object. I understand my piece of art is more literally a piece of art than rhetorical criticism is, but I tried to highlight a similar idea.

WEO and Period Supplies

The Women’s Empowerment Organization, a student organization at Hope College, recently placed baskets of period products in the bathrooms across Hope’s academic buildings. This serves a felt need on Hope’s campus providing access so students can make it to their classes on time when the unexpected comes up.

Period Products available in Hope’s restrooms.

As a professor at Hope, I was surprised by the start of my menstrual cycle one day. I had no period products with me and had to drive home, canceling the rest of my meetings for that day.

In a society that shames menstruation, I felt inadequate and embarrassed. And I felt like a bad feminist for feeling inadequate and embarrassed!

These baskets are here for you and for me. They’re here to promote access to education, to decrease stigma, and to make our lives more livable.

WEO launched a donation drive (thank you to everyone who donated!!) and worked with Student Life and with Hope’s Physical Plant to ensure these baskets of emergency period products would not disrupt custodial work.

WEO is thrilled by the support for this project from across Hope’s students, admin, and staff.

What is Prop 3? Event

Women’s Empowerment Organization hosted an intellectual consideration of Michigan civics.

As Election Day nears and the intensity surrounding the midterm election grows, Proposal 3 seems to be on the forefront of many of the debates in Michigan. Proposal 3 asks voters if the state of Michigan should add an amendment to the state’s constitution protecting reproductive rights. A “Yes” vote adds an amendment to the state’s constitution protecting reproductive rights, while a “No” vote would prevent such an amendment at this time.

The “What is Prop 3?” event was hosted by the Women’s Empowerment Organization on October 27th in Cook Auditorium in the DePree Art Center, and the auditorium was at full capacity as candidates Larry Jackson and Kim Nagy, as well as Rivka served as guest speakers. All the candidates drew from their personal experiences to discuss the importance of this issue.

Rivka had a unique perspective, because having grown up in a strict, fundamentalist household, she formerly held traditionally “pro-life” views. She worked for organizations such as Right to Life and various pregnancy crisis hotlines. She was able to speak on how she has since learned the falsehoods of those past views, and she was able to expose the false narrative that anti-choice supporters push forward.

Nagy told a deeply personal story about a family friend who had to receive a late-term abortion due to a severe genetic abnormality. The family had already picked out a name and was super excited to welcome a new baby boy to their family, but after hearing about how much their son would have to suffer in pain with no chance of survival, they had to make the difficult medical decision that they felt would prevent the most suffering. Nagy spoke about how difficult their grief was, but how if they had been unable to make their own choice, it would have been even more difficult.

The trio also rebuffed anti-choice rhetoric that regards abortion as similar to slavery. The event was the first they had ever heard of this analogy, and all three were taken aback by the comparison, discussing how it was illogical and extreme. Nagy was also honest about how the rhetoric was a stunning example of white privilege.

All three also reflected on their personal experiences of parenthood, with Jackson having five children, Nagy two, and Rivka four. They reminded everyone that no one is “pro-abortion” and that everyone is “pro-life”; simultaneously, the government has no right to make medical decisions for individuals and their families.

The event also served as an important reminder to read through your ballots and do background research before voting. As Kim Nagy noted, other proposals on the ballot require voters to understand the existing precedent before voting on a possible change.

Overall, the event was a wonderful forum to address misconceptions about Prop 3 and the deep significance of the opportunity that voters have to make a difference this election season. It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet candidates in a more personal setting and have the opportunity to learn more about them as individuals and ask questions. Local elections and midterm elections truly matter, and it is up to voters to stay informed to make important decisions while exercising their right to vote. “What is Prop 3?” truly showcased how education, community, and politics can intersect in a productive way.