Hello from the Feminist Issues in Evaluation TIG again!
I’m Melissa Chapman, the Program Chair for the Feminist Issues in Evaluation TIG and Director of Evaluation at a public health evaluation consulting firm (PDA) based in Minneapolis, MN.
In thinking about how to move our TIG into the future, we took a look at the archives of feminism in the AEA365 blog. Over the past decade or so, how many posts have highlighted “feminism”? What have folks been discussing on this forum?
The first post is by Denice Cassaro, sponsored by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender TIG, titled ”Using Open-Ended Demographic Categories to Learn About Race, Ethnicity, Sex, and Gender“ on February 14, 2011. A highlight:
“I have found incorporating queer/feminist/critical race theories helpful by the challenges offered in:
- understanding concepts of identities (race/ethnicity, sex/gender, sexual orientation/preference) as socially constructed
- not minimizing the impact/meaning of intersecting identities (experiences of someone who identifies as an African-American gay man vs as a heterosexual Latina)
In evaluation, an area that most frequently engages directly with issues of identity is in the collection of “demographic data.” I would like to explore with you considerations when forming identity categories.”
We encourage you to dive into the full post here!
The second post is by Dr. Vidhya Shanker on May 15, 2011 on the topic of Scribing/Lessons Learned from Evaluation Leaders, and was one point from a discussion facilitated by Katheryn Tibbets and Stafford Hood:
“Intersectionality refers to the entanglement of multiple, overlapping, sometimes conflicting matrices along which we all experience power/ privilege/ entitlement as well as marginalization. Whether approached through race/ ethnicity, gender/ sexuality, and/ or another entry point, evaluation involves self-knowledge, critical thinking, and reflexivity.”
We have a lot to learn, or relearn, by reviewing and elevating past content. Over the past 12 years there are 81 posts that explicitly discuss feminism, sponsored by a variety of TIGs, groups, and individuals. There are too many valuable contributions to highlight them all here, but we encourage you to use the “search” function on AEA365 to dive into this valuable content.
Cool Trick
Consider the AEA365 posts and content that comes up when varying search terms, such as “feminist,” “womanist,” or “intersectional.”
Rad Resource
Amplify the women of color in your life blog post from Fakequity.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Feminist Issues in Evaluation (FIE) TIG Week with our colleagues in the FIE Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to aea365 come from our FIE TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org. aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.