Feminism is everywhere, from the large protests that captivate social media to the smaller, quieter acts like choosing to shop at local, feminist owned businesses instead of large corporations. While the major protests are wonderful, I set out to find acts of feminism and like-minded folks in my day-to-day life. For me, that came in the form of one of my mentors and School of Communication Studies professors, Dr. Reslie Cortés, better known to the JMU community as “Dr. Rez.”
Throughout our interview, we discussed how growing up with intersecting identities shaped their feminist views, what drew her to a career at JMU, and their current research. Dr. Rez was born in Puerto Rico, but was raised in Camden, New Jersey in a working class family. Early in life, her family lived in a largely Black and Latinx community, allowing them to develop early feminist takes about how the culmination of various marginalized identities often leads to oppression and disadvantages.
Dr. Rez’s views of feminism that stem from equality for all became even more developed when their family was able to move out of the poverty of the inner-city and into a more well-to-do suburb. She stated that one of her earliest memories is becoming conscious of classism and her identity as a woman of color when they and their siblings became the only Latinx children in the entire school system. Despite not having for the words for it at the time, they became very aware of the differences that arose between their family and the families of their white classmates.
These experiences shaped the person that Dr. Rez is today. After completing their undergraduate degree at Rowan University in New Jersey, she attended the University of New Mexico and Arizona State University for her graduate degrees before being offered to come to JMU and stay as tenure. What drove them to accept the job? The immense amount of people with intersecting identities that call Harrisonburg home, from the LGBTQIA+ community to the large refugee community.
Dr. Rez calls herself a feminist, no questions asked. In their opinion, “a feminist is someone who believes that regardless of gender, sexual orientation, etc., dehumanization should not be occurring.” Her work mainly focuses on how dignity and autonomy, not dehumanization, can be brought to marginalized communities. Her current work at JMU falls under the category of food as communication; the main focus is a theory piece and ethnographic research on how society erases Latina women’s work as “unskilled labor,” rather than cultural productions that make a home meaningful.
The goal of this research aligns not only with feminist takes, but with the work that I, as well as my fellow bloggers, are working for. Dr. Rez’s research aims to reclaim women’s work, especially the work of women of color, as something valuable. Just because women don’t always get paid for the domestic work that they do doesn’t mean that they aren’t providing for their families and their cultures at large.
To end our conversation, I asked Dr. Rez what their biggest piece of advice for young feminists is. Their answer? Call out all forms of dehumanization and make it a practice you embody. By practicing sticking up and speaking out for those with less privilege than you, it becomes less jarring to use your voice. Many people have both minority and privilege, and it’s important to be aware of when you can advocate for others who may not be as fortunate as you due to intersectionality or other circumstances. Through collective liberation, we can all make a difference.
You can find Dr. Rez on LinkedIn and the JMU School of Communication Studies website!
This interview is great! I love how you covered how Dr. Rez’s feminism has expanded and evolved over time. I also love how you connected their research to our blog.
Amazing! I was so excited to read this because I think it’s our first interview this semester! I think you chose an amazing subject, and I really enjoyed learning about Dr. Rez and their different views on femisism through time.
I love that you asked Dr. Rez for advice to give to other feminists. It really resonate with me because the practice of calling people out only gets more comfortable the more you do it.