Aboriginality
‘Black women are socially not as entitled to take up space as white women,’ writes Indigenous feminist and unionist Celeste Liddle. ‘Our experiences are special, are marginal and therefore, no matter how much we may have achieved, reside on the periphery.’
The perception that feminism is characterised by a sense of solidarity remains persistent, despite continued evidence pointing to the reality that the struggles of Aboriginal women can be varied and unique. Indigenous women continue to experience violence at a higher rate than non-Indigenous women, and are forced to deal with the confluence of multiple systems of racist and sexist discrimination. In some cases, while intersectionality provides a new feminist vocabulary for speaking about the difficulties faced by racially marginalised groups, mainstream feminist ideology can still appear inadequate or inappropriate for Indigenous women.
What does ‘Aboriginal feminism’ look like, and how might the feminist movement better accommodate difference while still presenting a united front in the fight for broader equality? What are the most pressing issues facing Indigenous women today? Join host Maxine Beneba Clarke to discuss the complex and critical interplay between feminism and Aboriginality with Celeste Liddle, Melissa Lucashenko and Kelly Briggs.
Featuring
Maxine Beneba Clarke is the ABIA and Indie award winning author of over nine books for adults and children, including the critically acclaimed short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the bestselling memoir The Hate Race, the Victorian Premier’s Award winning poetry collection Carrying the World... Read more
Celeste Liddle is an Arrernte woman (traditional owner in Central Australia) who was born in Canberra and has been living in Melbourne since she was a teenager. She is a trade unionist, an activist, a feminist, a social commentator and an opinion writer. In May 2021, she was announced as the presele... Read more
Melissa Lucashenko is a Goorie writer whose work celebrates Aboriginal people and others living around the margins of the First World. Her latest novel, Too Much Lip, won the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of State Significance. Her novel Mullumbi... Read more
Kelly Briggs writes about First Australian issues from an intersectional feminist viewpoint. Kelly is a supporter of First Peoples Self Determination and has been published in the Guardian, New Matilda, Croakey and the Hoopla. She was the winner of Social commentary blog of the year 2014 by the Aust... Read more
