Emi Koyama (b. 1975) is a
Japanese-American
are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...
activist, artist, and independent scholar. Koyama's work discusses issues of
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
intersex human rights
Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as chromosomes, gonads, or genitals, that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies."
Intersex peop ...
,
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
, and
sex work
Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...
among many others. Koyama is best known for her 2000 essay "The Transfeminist Manifesto", which has been republished in many anthologies and journals for
transgender studies
Transgender studies, also called trans studies or trans* studies, is an interdisciplinary field of academic research dedicated to the study of gender identity, gender expression, and gender embodiment, as well as to the study of various issues of ...
. She is a founder of the advocacy group Intersex Initiative.
Activism
In 2001, Koyama served as a student intern and program assistant for the
Intersex Society of North America
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) was a non-profit advocacy group founded in 1993 by Cheryl Chase to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries.Matthews, Karen (Oct 22, 2000). Debate Grows Over Using Surgery on Infants with Amb ...
, before leaving to found her own advocacy group, Intersex Initiative Portland (ipdx). The organization features classes, workshops, and speakers to discuss social, cultural, and medical issues faced by intersex people. Koyama and fellow intersex activist
Betsy Driver
Betsy Driver (born 1964) is the mayor of Flemington, New Jersey, and an advocate for intersex human rights and awareness. She is the first openly intersex person to be elected to office in the United States.
Early life
Driver was born in Buffalo, ...
also helped found
Intersex Awareness Day
Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed awareness day each October 26, designed to highlight human rights issues faced by intersex people.
History
The event marks the first public demonstration by intersex people in North America ...
in 2003, commemorating the first official demonstration by intersex activists in North America.
Koyama is an advocate for
third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is an iteration of the feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second wave, Gen X and early Gen Y generations third-wav ...
and
transfeminism
Transfeminism, also written trans feminism, has been defined by scholar and activist Emi Koyama as "a movement by and for trans women who view their liberation to be intrinsically linked to the liberation of all women and beyond." Koyama not ...
, with her 2000 publication "The Transfeminist Manifesto" being one of the earliest usages of the term. As defined by her, transfeminism is "a movement by and for
trans women
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
who view their liberation to be intrinsically linked to the liberation of all women and beyond." Alongside fellow Survivor Project member Diana Courvant, Koyama founded the website Transfeminism.org. The now defunct website was created originally to promote the Transfeminism Anthology Project, which aimed to create the first anthology centered around intersex and trans feminist perspectives; the website also served as a general resource surrounding discussion of transfeminism in academia and activism.
Koyama is an advocate for the
decriminalization of sex work
The decriminalization of sex work is the removal of criminal penalties for sex work (specifically, prostitution). Sex work, the consensual provision of sexual services for money or goods, is criminalized in most countries. Decriminalization is d ...
, and is currently a member of the Coalition for Rights and Safety for People in the Sex Trade located in Seattle. Koyama was previously also a board member of the Survival Project, a now-defunct organization serving intersex and transgender survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
In 2001, Koyama helped form the Third Wave Feminisms Interest Group at the
National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA); the group aimed to "push forward the discussion about third wave feminisms by moving the focus away from generational politics or identity group and onto epistemological and ontological shifts made possible through adopting the label, 'third wave. While Koyama has been a regular participant and speaker in NWSA conferences, she has also been notably critical of the organization. In 2008, she published a blog post titled "This is Not a Tribute to Audre Lorde", criticizing the conference's treatment of her and other women of color.
In 2013, Koyama also spoke out against the Forging Justice conference, sponsored by the
National Organization for Men against Sexism (NOMAS) and the Michigan domestic violence organization HAVEN. Conference presenters allegedly refused to live stream her panel on
intersectional feminism
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...
, and had threatened to interrupt it entirely. Koyama's writings on sex trafficking were also reportedly criticized by NOMAS co-founder Robert Brannon; she described Brannon as "violating her boundaries" during later interactions at the conference. Koyama, along with other female presenters at the conference, created a list of demands to NOMAS advocating for reform of the organization’s internal policies to prevent the silencing and mistreatment of female activists.
Since 2000, Koyama has spoken out against the infamous "
womyn-born womyn" policy at the
Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Her article "Whose Feminism is It Anyways? The Unspoken Racism of the Trans Inclusion Debate" criticized the festival's organizers for a policy that "essentializes, polarizes, and dichotomizes genders." Koyama also participated in a 2002 roundtable published in
Bitch magazine
''Bitch'' was an independent, quarterly alternative magazine published in Portland, Oregon. Its tagline described it as a "feminist response to pop culture", and it was described in 2008 by ''Columbia Journalism Review'' as "a respected journal o ...
focused on the festival, writing "women-only spaces are not as safe or free… but are rife with the same old racism, classism, ableism, and even internalized sexism acted on by women against other women." Koyama advocated instead for an ambiguous "women-only" policy that does not institute or enforce a specific definition of women. Koyama's blog Eminism features an archive that summarizes the debate and compiles historical documents related to the festival.
Personal life
Koyama resides in Portland, Oregon, with her two dogs. She continues to write about social justice issues on her blog and personal website, Eminism. She also runs an online store, where she sells buttons, zines, and apparel designed by herself and other activists.
In a 2014 interview with Source Weekly, Koyama describes herself as being a "runaway teen" and having engaged in sex work as an adult.
Koyama uses the pronouns she and her, but does not identify with any particular gender, stating on her blog that "she thinks that having an identity—especially gender identity—is kind of weird: how she views herself depends on the human relationships and interactions that surround her, rather than arising from some intrinsic core sense of self."
Koyama is bilingual, and publishes articles in both English and Japanese.
Selected bibliography
* "Whose feminism is it anyway? The unspoken racism of the trans inclusion debate," in ''The Transgender Studies Reader,'' ed. Susan Stryker. New York:
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
, 2006.
* "Disloyal to feminism: Abuse of survivors within the domestic violence shelter system." In ''The Color of Violence: INCITE! Anthology,'' ed. Smith A, Richie B. E. , Sudbury J. Cambridge, Mass: South End Press, 2006. .
* "A new fat-positive feminism: Why the old fat-positive feminism (often) sucks and how to re-invent it." in ''The Women's Movement Today: An Encyclopedia of Third-Wave Feminism,'' ed. Heywood L. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005. .
* "Douseikon wo meguru beikoku LGBT komyunitii no poritikusu." ("The politics over same-sex marriages within LGBT communities.") in ''Dousei paatonaa: Douseikon DP-hou wo shiru tameni. (Same-sex partnerships: Understanding same-sex marriage and domestic partnership registry.'') Eds. Akasugi Y, Tsuchiya Y, Tsutsui M, 2004.
n Japanese
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
* "The transfeminist manifesto." In ''Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century.'' Eds. Dicker R, Piepmeier A. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2003. .
* "From social construction to social justice: Transforming how we teach about intersexuality." Co-authored with Lisa Weasel, i
''Women's Studies Quarterly'' Vol. 30, No. 3/4, Fall/Winter 2002.
References
Japanese-American civil rights activists
1975 births
Living people
Intersex women
Intersex rights activists
{{Improve categories, date=July 2021
Feminist writers
Transfeminists
American feminists
Sex worker activists