Audriannah's Feminist Writing Portfolio

Framing Essay

[Trigger Warnings; Sexual abuse, victim blaming, eating disorders] 

    My aim for this essay is to frame my blog to give more context and hopefully make the reading experience smoother. My audience for this essay as well as my blog posts is fellow feminists. These pieces were a letter to the feminist in me, and this is catered to the feminist in you. In this online space I’ve created I do not wish to waste my time explaining to those that wish to condemn me, but instead use it as a sort of appreciation letter to those I know truly support me and that I know would validate my experiences and feelings. 

    My first final draft is my poem, titled To the patriarchs in power. I wrote this poem while filled with anguish and grief. It was a way for me to get my emotions written down, I used it as an outlet for my anger at the supreme court and any other lawmaker that thinks they have the right to determine what people with uteri do with their body. This poem is feminist writing as it is a form of resistance from the perspective of a marginalized group.

My finalized monologue addresses a unique audience that in itself makes this writing feminist. It is my letter to survivors of sexual abuse that have time and time again been dismissed. Those that have been made to believe it was their fault, that they could’ve prevented their violation. This monologue was to all survivors that have been victim-blamed. I was writing it specifically to my older sister, but it is to all sister(s) and people who have been victim-blamed from every sphere of life. I finalized the monologue because it gave me the freedom to validate others that maybe haven’t gotten the chance to be validated as I have, giving a platform to a voice less heard is what makes it feminist. 

My last finalized draft is my favorite feminist things zine. I made this zine with the goal of joy in mind. I have been pretty down lately with everything going on. It felt good to compile some of my favorite feminist things. Even just compiling them all gave me joy. I will come back to this zine when I need empowerment or inspiration in life. Joy and survival are a form of resistance, that resistance being feminist. So I hope this zine can be considered a tool for change, even if for the only purpose of joy.

 For the rough drafts, I do aim to finalize them when I have time. The first one I want to address is the movement journalism draft. My pitch was written on the basis that we need to educate young people about what a healthy relationship is, because as I know personally without any guidance besides “don’t do it” we are setting our youth up for incredible failure. For my monologue or one-act play draft, I was addressing my feelings toward an old friend. I never got to say these things to him, and it felt good getting it out. He was a straight cis white man, and I forgave him for many things before the last straw. He brought up the rape of women out of nowhere and when I said I didn’t want to talk about it he got very upset with me. I never got to fully tell him how that hurt me so this was to him. For the activist writing draft, I wrote about planned parenthood specifically and then healthcare in the United States. I write of my appreciation of planned parenthood. For healthcare, I just vent about how horrible our healthcare system is here as I know personally. As an American in a middle-class family, even I struggle with getting healthcare. I hate to think about how bad it is for others not as privileged financially as I am. The children’s book art is of the indigenous tradition of drawing and I am proud of how it came out. For the fiction draft, I write about my experience with water. Then I write a story about a girl whose stepfather won’t stop commenting on her weight. She then internalized this message and it manifested into obsessive thoughts. When switching the genders in the story, it then became a boy whose stepfather told him he was too skinny, not man enough. He developed unhealthy workout habits, losing himself with each “gain.” For my memoir draft, I reflect on this same topic and my irrational thoughts about body image and eating. I have gotten a lot better at being kind to myself and recognizing what thoughts are unhealthy and have not originated from me but from society's messages about what a women's body should be. Which I’d like to point out is never attainable. My rough poetry draft is titled Anxious fingers. I used this poem to talk about my anxiety often fueled by ADHD. How I use my body as a means to deal with anxiety; biting, picking, peeling, knawing, and twisting. I use the poem as a message of hope that while anxiety does not magically disappear, it can get better as I know it has throughout my life.

I appreciate anyone reading and hope you enjoy it. All of this writing is feminist to me, as they all have feminist messages and acknowledge marginalized stories. From my love letter to survivors to my messages about body images I have been vulnerable in the creation of these finalized and rough drafts. Thank you again to those that I know to support me, and that I know would validate my experiences and feelings- I hope this may do the same for you.