Breaking Down Patriarchy

Amy is joined by Levi Murray to discuss the tricky intersections between patriarchy and colonialism in Mexico, plus a deep dive into the female archetypes of La Malinche, La Llorona, and La Virgen de Guadalupe.Levi Murray is a half-white, half Mexican-American anti-patriarchist. A dentist by trade, he is currently pursuing a Masters of Theology with a focus on Feminist Theology. Levi has the fortunate of being married to his best friend, Barbara, and together raising four beautiful children.

Amy is joined by Dr. Maile Arvin to discuss her book, Possessing Polynesians: The Science of Settler Colonial Whiteness in Hawai'i and Oceania and the intersections between settler colonialism and patriarchy on the Hawai'ian islands.Dr. Maile Arvin is an associate professor of History and Gender Studies at the University of Utah. She is a Native Hawaiian feminist scholar who works on issues of race, gender, science and colonialism in Hawai‘i and the broader Pacific. At the University of Utah, she is part of the leadership of the Pacific Islands Studies Initiative, which was awarded a Mellon Foundation grant to support ongoing efforts to develop Pacific Islands Studies curriculum, programming and student recruitment and support.Arvin’s first book, Possessing Polynesians: The Science of Settler Colonial Whiteness in Hawaiʻi and Oceania, was published with Duke University Press in 2019. In that book, she analyzes the nineteenth and early twentieth century history of social scientists declaring Polynesians “almost white.” The book argues that such scientific studies contributed to a settler colonial logic of possession through whiteness. In this logic, Indigenous Polynesians (the people) and Polynesia (the place) became the natural possessions of white settlers, since they reasoned that Europeans and Polynesians shared an ancient ancestry. The book also examines how Polynesians have long challenged this logic in ways that regenerate Indigenous ways of relating to each other. Her work has also been published in the journals Meridians, American Quarterly, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, The Scholar & Feminist, and Feminist Formations, as well as on the nonprofit independent news site Truthout.From 2015-17, Arvin was an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside, in Ethnic Studies. She earned her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, San Diego. Her dissertation won the American Studies Association’s Ralph Henry Gabriel prize. She is also a former University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Charles Eastman Fellow in Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, and Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellow.

Amy and Dr. Gina Colvin discuss Māori history, culture, and why feminism may not be necessary in a Māori context.Gina Colvin is a New Zealander of Māori, English, Irish, Welsh, German and French descent. Until the July of 2016, she was in the permanent position of Lecturer at the University of Canterbury. Dr. Colvin served UC for 12 years across Political Science and Communication, School of Māori and Cultural Development, and more recently the School of Educational Studies and Leadership.Gina’s primary academic interest is in the history and future of ideas. Whether faith, belief, ideologies, symbols, representations or discourses, all communicate powerful ideas that at the same time express hope for, or hope in some kind of social action. Whether expressed in educational, religious, or political contexts my research interests are in understanding how and why particular ideas flower, change, get disrupted, are silenced, or become dogmas, and how these same ideas translate into social, political, and cultural realities.

Amy and Meleseini Lotoaniu conclude their discussion of gender constructs in Tonga, from European contact to the present day.Meleseini Lotoaniu is a third-year student at University of California, Davis with an interest in literature and writing.

Amy is joined by Meleseini Lotoaniu for Part 1 of their discussion about the history of gender constructs in Tonga.Meleseini Lotoaniu is a third-year student at University of California, Davis with an interest in literature and writing.

Amy is joined by translator Jaime Chang to discuss the novel Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo and explore the stories of contemporary Korean women.Jamie Chang is an award-winning translator and teaches at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea.

Amy is joined by Dr. Setsu Shigematsu to discuss xer book Scream from the Shadows and the history of women's liberation in Japan.Setsu Shigematsu is a mother of two children and an Associate Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at UC Riverside. Xer intellectual and scholarly concerns include the relationship of US and Japanese imperialism, gendered state violence, transnational liberation movements, comparative feminist theory and cultural studies. Xe is the author of Scream from the Shadows: the Women’s Liberation Movement in Japan, and the director of Re-Visions of Abolition (2011/2021), a documentary film about the prison industrial complex and the prison abolition movement. Xe is also co-editor of Militarized Currents: Toward a Decolonized Future in Asia and the Pacific.

Amy is joined by author Wang Ping to discuss her book Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China and explore the nuances of beauty practices in China and beyond.Wang Ping is a poet, writer, photographer, performance and multimedia artist. Her publications have been translated into multiple languages and include poetry, short stories, novels, cultural studies, and children's stories. Her multimedia exhibitions address global themes of industrialization, the environment, interdependency, and the people. She is the recipient of numerous awards, a professor of English, and founder of the Kinship of Rivers project.

Amy is joined by Annabelle Qian to conclude their discussion of patriarchy's history in Imperial China from the Qin Dynasty (221 BCE) to the Qing Dynasty (1912 CE).Annabelle Qian is an 18 year old scholar who just graduated from Waterford High School, and will be studying international affairs and economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this fall. Annabelle is biracial and trilingual. She lived in Guangzhou, China for 10 years where she cultivated her study of the intersection between global politics and personal identity. Annabelle is an award winning historical writer; she has presented papers in Washington D.C. for international competitions, as well as at the Utah State Capitol.

Amy is joined by Annabelle Qian to discuss the Women in Ancient China and Women in Early Imperial China by author Bret Hinsch, and explore patriarchy's history in China from the Neolithic Age to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (221 BCE).Annabelle Qian was born to a Chinese father and an American mother. One of three children, she has lived extensively in both China and the United States. Currently, Annabelle is attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studies International Relations and Public Policy with an emphasis on East Asia.