thoughts on feminism ....
Coming into this course, I wasn’t well-versed in feminism nor held the right assumptions about feminism. Like many others without proper knowledge of the subject, I perceived feminists and their whole movement as angry, ‘anti-men-hating” women. Although I don’t disregard or disagree with their movement, I didn’t connect with the topic. Feminism was never something that I considered as being on the forefront of important issues to tackle. And as hostile or blunt it may sound for me to say, feminism is another thing that I feel the white majority can complain about and distract people from focusing on the most important issue at hand: racism. Being discriminated because you’re a woman is never by no means appropriate in today’s society. However, people do not kill or treat you as an inferior because your protest about gender inequality.
You are not dragged behind a truck because you are a woman.
You are not called offensive, derogatory, and demeaning words like “ch*nks” or “n*gger” that associate with your skin color because you are a woman.
You are not encouraged to forget your native roots and conform to a society that seeks to institutionalize racism against you because you are a woman.
What it really boils down to is that when color of skin comes into play, it doesn’t matter what gender you are. People of color are treated this way, men and women. For being a person of color and a woman, it’s already two strikes for me. And perhaps for that simple reason alone, I found feminism to be exclusive for white women only, not for people like me.
But after reading the text and having an appropriate and more formal introduction of the ideas and definitions about feminism, my view on feminism has altered somewhat. Although I still very much believe that feminism shouldn’t be on the forefront of discussion, I have come to appreciate feminism and its valid arguments for equality. After all, that’s what the majority of us are fighting for, right?
“Biased feminist scholarship attempts to show that white girls are somehow more vulnerable to sexist conditioning than girls of color simply perpetuates the white supremacist assumption that white females require and deserve more attention to their concerns and ills than other groups” (Hooks, 59). After reading that particular passage in the text, my view of feminists is slowly becoming less hostile. If feminists are actually able to admit to controversial and uncomfortable topics like that, my respect and willingness to be more open-minded has definitely increased. It opened up an opportunity to connect feminism with something I passionately fight against.
I think I have been able to re-define feminism into something I can relate to and now define as protecting the value of a woman. If feminism is able to affect and strike me at a deeper level throughout this course, perhaps it will develop into something more.
Comments
DISCLAIMER:
I wanted to say more and feel that I may not have articulated everything as well as I intended to and may accidnetally be perceived as offensive. I am not here to offend anyone and I certainly do not mean to in my post. So I sincerely apologize in advance if I do. Thank You.
Posted by: Lauren Alms | January 29, 2007 03:23 AM
Of course racism is a huge problem, one that should be getting much more attention than it is getting. It is amazing that you are so passionate about what you believe in, and it sounds like you are on the right track for educating people on that. I was interested to hear this negative viewpoint of feminism which I agree left race out of the picture when it came to the right to vote. That was unforgivable. I also understand that you may be slightly warming up to feminism when finding out that it is largely against anybody oppressing anybody. It is anti-dominance/oppression of any kind. I also think that the focus on gender in particular is quite valid and EXTREMELY important. You were straight out wrong about many aspects of your write up. I know for a fact that women have been dragged behind cars for being a woman. They are beaten on a regular basis. Are society is incredibly rape-prone, which to some is considered worse than a beating. Women are called all kind of derogatory words. The language was not created to even encompass women such as the books examples of "fireman", "Chairman", etc. Also, the entire point of feminism is to change society because gender roles are all about conforming to society! make-up, muscle mass, the ability to express your emotions or not, I could go on and on. I ask you to keep opening your mind.
Posted by: Lauren Mulvey | January 29, 2007 12:02 PM
Lauren, I hear what you are saying. Sometimes I think about all the different 'sims (racism, sexism, ableism, etc,...) and I think - which battle am I fighting today? Which is most important? It's so hard to rate oppression and I wonder as well if feminism has turned into a battle in which the privilege women (read white women) can choose to partake in. I do think that sexism is such a dominant problem in our society and that a lot of problems stem from gender roles as being thought of as binary. I am wondering, are you thinking about only America when you say women aren't being called offensive words? Because in other countries I think are varying levels of sexism expressed. While I definitely understand some your anger and your frustration, I also recognize that you and I are at different stages in our lives right now and I am still trying to figure everything out as well.
Posted by: Bethany Khan | January 29, 2007 12:12 PM