6 TIPS FOR BEING A TRUE FREEBORN DAME WITH ALETHEA BEETSON

By Paula Araujo

‘Lysa and the Freeborn Dames’ is a play hosting important conversations, and it got me thinking; what the hell does it mean to be a feminist these days? And how can I be a good one?

The latest evolution of feminism is intersectional feminism, and who better to speak to it than one of the Brisbane art community’s most active members, and general creative powerhouse, Alethea Beetson.

Alethea Beetson is an educator, story-teller, history preserver, and artistic director of Digi Youth Arts. You might have seen her at La Boite’s ‘No Wave Femmes’ event back in March.

So, first things first:

What does intersectional feminism look like to you?
Alethea: Intersectional feminism for me serves all peoples. It serves me, other First Nations sisters, women of colour and transgender, gender non-conforming and diverse bodied peoples. And it understands that previously, feminism, all the waves of feminism, have sought to favour one group of women over another.

And what we need is that No Wave feminism which comes from an organization called RISE. [Which] calls us to decolonize feminism. And to actually make sure that this current conversation we’re having isn’t going to serve one group of women over another. And that means that we have to look at the systems that we operate in, and understand that those systems are privileging certain groups of people over another. And that, as a woman, we have to work in a society that doesn’t give us the equality that we need, but then as an Indigenous woman what does that mean? As a queer Indigenous woman, what would that mean? And then what does that mean in the transgender, gender fluid, and diverse body community as well.

Tip 1: Think systematically

To notice layers of privilege, to understand how racism operates in our society, and how we can dismantle it, we have to take a look at the hierarchies present. Alethea asks people to look and these structures and aware of how we are participating in them which further enables them. She explains;
I think we just have to be consciously aware that we are choosing to operate in systems that are serving others. And I do this as well, otherwise I probably wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything. Let’s look at some popular music festivals. At one, there is a whole section that appropriates Native American culture. I know that I’ve attended the festival and I have to acknowledge that I have then participated in a system that isn’t acknowledging or respectfully going about [these] processes.

She notes the need to scrutinize who is being given a platform. For people in positions of power providing that platform, examining the associated processes should be a priority.
If you don’t have women or First Nations people (as examples) represented in your line-up, play season, arts board or project, it isn’t because of who is available, be aware that there are other societal limitations that could have stopped them from applying. Knowing about the opportunities? Coming to festivals or arts venues? We operate in colonial structures that have been designed to oppress others.

Tip 2: Visibility is key

Being aware: check. But how? What power do we have to exercise in our everyday lives? Why, the internet of course! And social media is a great place to start because it creates visibility.
Visibility is important when we think about the times maybe 30 years ago when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, other people of colour, transgender, gender non-conforming, diverse body people didn’t have visibility. However, so much more space needs to be given to all facets of society.

Alethea acknowledges we are still a long way off, but when people and their stories are visible, we can become more aware of how far reaching an issue is, and find ways to dismantle the structures that perpetuate them.
I think that [social media] is a really great place to start. … I remember Michelle Law was asked this question when we did No Wave Femmes at La Boite. And her response was, now she only reads books that are by people of colour. And what would that do if for a period of your life you just went ‘you know what? I’m going to read this.’ Or if you actively sought out different information. …The material is out there; engage with the content that is there.

Tip 3: No more mindless scrolling, time to pay attention.
There has been a call, particularly through Instagram, to ‘decolonize your feed.’ This means you increase the visibility of diverse voices on your feed (and therefore your day-to-day life) BUT you are also increasing the power of their platform by giving them your attention. Take note of where the focus is within different types of accounts, and the experiences it speaks to. Alethea points out it is particularly vital for artists.

There are people making work about this. So if you are a performance maker, then you need to be engaging with the work that’s out there because your work can only be enriched by connecting in firstly with First Nations people and therefore this land, and then also having those wider perspectives can make you realize perhaps when you need to bring that perspective [into your work], because you aren’t the person that can share that part of the story. Anything you can watch, listen to, or read that’s from another person’s perspective is going to be of benefit.

Tip 4: Listen! (!!!)
This is a no brainer, but something I myself am constantly messing up. I asked Alethea how people can have conversations about intersectional feminism without centering themselves, or speaking on behalf of people with different experiences and layers of privilege, particularly that of First Nations people.
I think the first thing if there are First Nations people in the room and then that’s ultimately who gets to be speaking, and everyone else needs to do the listening and perhaps asking for clarification. That’s the best to kind of approach that. …Just ask a question, ’cause questions are a great way for us to understand one another.

And once we listen and understand, we need to get over our discomfort so we can have these important conversations.

Tip 5: Checking and spending your privilege
Privilege is sometimes tricky because it is invisible. It is something you’ve never really had to consider, but is a major issue for people of a different gender/race/ability/sex, etc.
I know that I can walk down the street and not experience the same kinds of discrimination as my other First Nation sisters, women of color, transgender, gender non-conforming, and diverse bodied people. And I’m also a heterosexual female, so I understand that already I have a whole bunch of privileges that impact how the performing arts industry interacts with me. So I already kinda acknowledge my privilege in that regard, and what that allows me to do is understand that it is my role to create pathways for First Nations people because that’s who I can create pathways for, really using that privilege and for knowing when it’s my turn, and my time to kind of sit down and listen as well, because we all have times when we can do that.

Something that ‘Lysa’ touches on is that being an ally is a verb; it’s active. Spending your privilege is when you use the power that was randomly assigned to you at birth, to tangibly help someone else. Alethea uses hers to create pathways in the arts so that it is easier for others, and she actively grows and nurtures her community. She explains that this is what really excites her about the process of acknowledging one’s privilege.
… when you check your own privilege and understand that your one version of experiences and there are other people have different versions of experience you cannot speak to it allows you to actually create a proper agency fueled platform for them.

Tip 6: Reflect, adjust, keep going
Feminism, and basic progress in society, requires us to constantly reflect on where we are, where the power sits, and refine our activism and ways of thinking. It took until 1965 for ALL women in Australia to be able to vote in all elections. This is a war you and I are not going to live to see the end of. We have to fight it for the people who come after. “Small changes,” as the Freeborn Dames say.
I think that it is a life-long process. I know for me, as a First Nations woman, for me to learn about my culture. It’s going to take a life time, ’cause that’s just how Indigenous knowledge operates. It’s embodied, it’s revealed to me when it needs to be revealed to me when I actively search for it. So if it’s going to take ME a life time to learn about MY culture, then it is going to take a non-Indigenous person a life-time to learn about my culture and to have that sense of patience and understand that the fixed time that we associate [with] all Western constructs of knowledge and understanding, that does not exist in my community in many ways. We have a different timeline. Time’s not linear. So I think having an understanding that your journey to being… [It] is going to take time, and constant reflection, and renewal of processes.

You can follow Alethea on Instagram here

And her kickass community at Digi Youth Arts here

Here are some links to the resources mentioned in the interview, and some extras

RISE Facebook page
RISE Instagram
Jacob Boehme’s APAM address

UN Magazine

Information on voting history:

Podcasts:
Pretty for an Aboriginal
The Guilty Feminist

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