Becoming Feminist

This chapter explores how the histories that lead us to feminism are the histories that leave us fragile. It offers an account of how feminism begins with a sense of things—as being wrong—and how we acquire knowledge through making sense of what does not at first make sense. It discusses how in giving problems their names we also make these wrongs appear even more tangible. The chapter introduces the figure of the killjoy as the one who poses a problem because she exposes a problem. Throughout there is a concern with the role of sensation and emotion in building a feminist knowledge.