Aboriginal Women’s Overrepresentation in the Sex Trade

This research paper was written for my Contemporary Aboriginal Issues course last semester and due to its length, it will be placed under a cut.

photo found here

Some Complaints: Women calling Women Names and the Appropriation of Cultures for "Fashion"

My brain is exhausted due to my classes becoming increasingly demanding and so this will not be a coherent or long-winded post. I plan to simply complain about a few things...so, feel free to click away or stay a while.

First order of business, what is up with women calling other women "bitches" ironically? Or posting online with titles like, "Bitch, please!" 

Did it become cool for women to act like misogynistic men and call their female friends and well, their enemies, bitches? Or is it to simply score brownie points with the dood-bros?  I'm so sick of this "let's reclaim words that degrade women" nonsense as something that is liberating, funny or carries a substantial level of hipster irony. This brings me to my next complaint - hipster irony!!!

As of late, the fashion industry (especially the one targeting hip suburbanites who strive to adorn themselves according to their subcultural rules) has established new and problematic trends. Many of these trends are appropriated patterns and styles of various First Nations groups (the Navajo, primarily) and various objects associated with First Nations people such as headdresses, feather jewelery and mass-produced moccasins. Just recently, however, Urban Outfitters (the largest supplier of mass-produced culturally appropriated stuff) is being sued by the Navajo Nation for their "Navajo Hipster Panties"

from here

Of course, in this advertisement, we have a thin and hairless white woman (or a part of a woman, I should say) wearing a pattern/style that belongs to the culture of the Navajo people.  Urban Outfitters even went so far to use the name of the culture to promote their product - but there's more!

As an amateur photographer, I view vast numbers of photographs and have continuously come across photos of so-called "hipsters" who pose with headdress. Unfortunately, not one of these photos features a First Nations women and almost 99.9% of them include a female model who is thin, white and attractive based on patriarchal standards of beauty. The photos can be even more offensive, however, such as pairing white women in headdress alongside gore and violence. However, these photographers, as I have learned when confronting their "art," do not see the problem with what they are doing. They do not see this growing trend of making other, non-white cultures "fashionably ironic" and simply "fashionable" as being problematic on any level. But it is! And it is a further reminder of the limitlessness of capitalism, patriarchy, globalization and a deeply embedded colonial mindset. So, the next time you hear your ironic female friend call women "bitches" because they want to be viewed as "quirky" and "edgy" or see some white kid posing in skinny jeans, headdress, and war-paint - give them a glare, or if you feel safe, call them out on their bullshit. 

 And now, here is a series of visual examples found at the Native Appropriations blog!

Indigenous Women Take a Stand Against Prostitution

Prostitution has been gaining more attention in the media these days, in fact, one such outlet has recently asserted that prostitution demand is on the rise. 


Despite the recent prostitution legislation talks occurring in Canada, Indigenous women are taking a stand against the racist, colonial and capitalist sex industry that they deem divisive within their communities and destructive to women and children.


I would like to share the Aboriginal Women's Action Network's declaration on prostitution - this declaration examines the roots that sustain prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation.


According to Easilyriled, this declaration was established in Ottawa, Canada in 2011 and can be signed when visiting the Aboriginal Women's Action Network's facebook page.


Here is the declaration which is cross-posted from Easilyriled's blog

Photo found on Aboriginal Women's Action Facebook page

Photo Credit: Sue Rutchinski

As Indigenous women living on occupied territories now known as Canada, who have survived over 500 years of attempted genocide, we declare:

1. We, Indigenous women, will not allow anyone or anything to break the ties that bind us. Despite the impacts of colonialism – the racism, sexism, poverty and violence that pervade our lives and communities, working to divide us both inside and out – we are profoundly aware of our connected ness to each other as women, to our ancestors, and to our lands. No man, men, or external force will ever ultimately sever these ties.

2. Our analysis of prostitution as a form of violence against women and as a system of colonialism is the result of over five centuries of resistance stories, stories told to us by our Grandmothers, who have retold the stories of their Grandmothers, who have retold the stories of their Grandmothers. This analysis is based on our own life experiences, on the life experiences of our mothers, our sisters, and all our relations. It is based on theory and knowledge constructed collectively by Indigenous women.

3. Purposeful legal tolerance of prostitution and pornography, as with the Indian Act and the residential school system, was and is an external colonial system imposed on Indigenous women and girls in continued attempts to harm and destroy us.

4. We, Indigenous women, reject the racist assumption that prostitution was ever part of our traditional practices. We denounce the idea that we are objects to be bought and sold.

5. We, Indigenous women, reject the capitalism that has resulted in the theft and destruction of our homelands and our environment. We reject the International capitalism and greed that also drives the “sex industry”, an industry that regards Indigenous women and girls as objects to be sold at the highest price, should we survive the transaction. We reject the colonial terminology of “sex work”, as it hides the racist, sexist, and classist realities of prostitution. “Sex work” masks the violence that our sisters struggle against on a daily basis and repackages that violence as a form of freely chosen labour.

6. We, Indigenous women, reject the imposition of patriarchy, which has had devastating and deadly effects for Indigenous women and girls. We face male violence within our own families and communities, and often we are pushed out of these very communities seeking safety. We are forced to migrate into cities where we continue to face physical, emotional, and sexual violence at the hands of men, including at the hands of johns, pimps, brothel owners, and traffickers. We demand a return to our traditional values that place women and girls in high esteem.

7. The Nordic model of state policy will give Indigenous women and girls the best chance of not only survival, but life. This model includes law reform that criminalizes the male demand for paid sex and decriminalizes prostituted women, offers comprehensive social programs to all women and girls, and educates the public about prostitution as a form of male violence against women and girls. We, Indigenous women, believe this model encourages true social change that works in our interest.

8. We, Indigenous women, reject the total decriminalization and/or legalization of prostitution as an acceptable solution to sexual violence. The total decriminalization and/or legalization of prostitution only encourages the racist and deadly male demand for access to the bodies of women and girls, with Indigenous women and girls being disproportionately targeted.

9. We, Indigenous women, reject the patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist male perception that our sole worth is as sexual objects. We recognize that prostitution and pornography, incest, physical and sexual assault, and murder exist on a continuum of male violence and hatred toward Indigenous women and girls. The tragic outcome of that hatred is the over 580 documented cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

10. We, Indigenous women and girls, have survived over 500 years of attacks on our cultures, our bodies, our lands, and our lives. We refuse to abandon our future generations to the colonial sexist violence that is prostitution and we demand an immediate end to the male demand for paid sex.

*All Indigenous Women – First Nations, Inuit, Metis – who are in agreement with this Declaration are invited to sign on as individual endorsers or organizations. You can contact us at awan.bc@gmail.com to do so.*

**Update: Due to demand we are compiling a solidarity list for non native women and orgs to sign in support of the declaration**