Take Back the Night, White-Girl Angst, and Reclaiming Space

Tonight is take back the night. It will be the first one I’ve ever attended, and I feel anxious about it.

That being said, I’m also excited about it. The past two weeks have been weird ones, and it is the weird-ness that has enabled me to realize the comfort and power implicit within my community of strong humans (some of who might identify as being part of my grrrl gang). Because of this community revival I acknowledge and am excited about gathering as a large group for a unified cause. I am excited about solidarity.

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According to Mackinnon, gender oppression is inescapable, except through consciousness raising. To some extent, take back the night is both a gathering of those who have raised consciousness, and an act of consciousness raising in itself. Yet, (in sync with the classic critique of the 2nd wave) an intersectional analysis is absent: this is the source of my anxiety. I’m a white woman who lives near and frequents the university campus--my experience of sexism is far different from the sexism and gender oppression that is experienced by the people who work and live in the Boyle-McCauley area. I know that intersectionality isn’t about oppression olympics; it’s not a matter of asking who is more or less oppressed and why. However, I believe that, especially as a white woman, intersectionality needs to involve checking one’s privilege. While take back the night is meant to foster solidarity amongst woman-identified people, I am anxious about my presence in a space that is not mine--perhaps its more voyeuristic than productive. Also, it seems as though the idea that privileged women, in a “shady” neighbourhood, reclaiming the night only confirms the rape myths we’ve been discussing. Is this my space to reclaim? How can I be an ally while also claiming my own space?

I might be over thinking all of this (and I’m sure I’ll have fun and feel empowered once I’m out there), but I think that these might be productive worries.