Dear classmates in Literature and Civilizations II,
This post is not about our reading, but I think it's important. This post is inspired by a question posed by Professor Williams in class today. He asked for a show of hands from those who consider themselves feminists. I was almost afraid to look around the room, so I only saw about half. As far as I saw, I was the only one to raise a hand. And I did so without doubt, or qualifying statements or questions, or hesitation. There is a problem with this.
I want to start with the dictionary definition of feminism: "support of social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men". This definition was taken from the dictionary.com application on my phone, so it is not perfect nor is it the sole definition. However, it is a good one. Please, for at least a few minutes, focus on the definition and throw out all negative connotations that you may have ever attached to feminism.
Feminism is not about: bra-burning, not shaving, not wearing makeup, refusing to be a mother, thinking women are superior to men, insulting or demeaning men, being a lesbian, or any other silly thing that someone told you feminism was. It's true that some of these characteristics pertain to some feminists. Every movement will have its radicals. Radicals can be found in politics and religion, and certainly in feminism. However, radicals are not the sole definition of a movement or group. As with any movement, there have been different waves of feminism and the goals of each wave differ. Still, the core goal of each wave and feminism as a whole is to obtain equality.
Feminism is for any person who has ever thought that women deserved to be treated equally to men by the law and society. It is for any woman who has ever wanted to be paid as much as a man for the same job. It is for people who believe in what is right and just. It is for women who want to be more than just bodies, but be real people. It is about embracing femininity and masculinity in every person- regardless of their sex. It is about being whatever type of woman one would like to be. It is about freedom. It is about allowing women to have equal opportunities. Feminism allows an entire world of possibilities to be open to women and men.
Being a feminist is not shameful. It should be natural to any woman who just wants the chance to succeed in life. I encourage people to take a Women's Studies class or read a feminist book. If you don't want to read a dense text on feminism, try something from Jessica Valenti. She's young and easy to understand. Her writing style is casual, but informative. Even if you don't want to read or study anything about feminism, please give the idea a chance and don't condemn feminists.
Sincerely,
Your forever-a-feminist classmate,
Libby
Libby,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you felt afraid to look around the class. You're right, "feminist" has a negative connotation that's all thanks to the radicals. I have encountered so many people who have asked my best friend (who is from Germany) if she's a Nazi. That makes me unbearably sad, but unfortunately, Nazis and Beer are what come to most people's mind when thinking about Germany just like bra-burning and not shaving come to mind when people think about feminism. And it sucks. Again, I'm sorry you felt that way during class!
Hi Libby, Thanks for your wonderful post. I really appreciate your taking the time to express your thoughts--and expressing them so well. I fully agree, and I wish I had taken more time in class to discuss the term. Maybe we still can. I think most young women don't realize that they already hold feminist views (equal rights and equal pay). They are just afraid of the word. Thanks for this. dw
ReplyDeleteLibby,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I do NOT think of feminism the way that you present it, but I agree with almost everything you said. It’s interesting how the connotations of the word mask its real meaning. Feminism makes me think of all the radical ideas you presented, and even now, knowing the truth about what the word means, I have a hard time saying I’m a feminist. I really think that a new word should be created so that all the radical connotations that come along with feminism could be left behind. To me, feminism is tied to those who say herstory, and believe woMAN and huMAN are not acceptable terms. Feminism is women feeling entitled to something solely based their gender. Feminism may be some of these things to a small extent, but now I understand that feminism is a lot of things I believe in as well. Women should be paid the same amount for the same work a man does, and women deserve the same treatment by the law as men.
I have been trying to come up with a word that basically means equality, but it is pretty difficult to find a word without connotations already. I made up my own word. EOFWAM. It can be pronounced off wam. It’s an acronym that stands for equal opportunities for women and men. (SO creative.. I know) My attempts are just to reiterate my desire to dodge deeply engrained connotations. One might say that it just takes education to re-teach everyone (I might guess the majority.. everyone is a little extreme) what feminism really means, but I don’t think that is possible. The word feminism has been judged and labeled by society, and only a new word could unite the non radical opinions on equality.
Thank you for taking the time to clarify this mysterious word for us! See you Tuesday!
Kim