What is Feminism?
Coming into this class I was another one of those people who didn't really have a good idea of what Feminism really is. I knew better than to think that it was just a group of man-hating lesbians, but I still thought the idea of Feminism was for women to be equal with men and equality in the workforce. After doing some of the reading in this class I have realized that equality in the workforce is only one small part of Feminism, and that Feminism is about abolishing sexism and patriarchy.
bell hooks states in "Feminism is for Everybody", "Practically, it is a definition which implies that all sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult." It has become very clear to me that Feminism is not anti-male and that people who think that are only hurting feminism. Feminists want to change the entire system that we live in, and remove any sexism that exists in society. This is why equal opportunities in the workforce is only a small part of what feminists want. This is because they are still living in a patriarchy, and that unless society as a whole is changed, people will still be participating in the sexist society.
I am interested to learn more about Feminism and Women's Studies this semester, and it has been more interesting than i expected. It is important that people know what feminism actually is, which is not just equal opportunities in jobs. As long as feminism is known as only that, it will not succeed.
Comments
I completely agree with you. I think there are so many people like you coming into this class who have been misinformed and therefore misunderstand that feminism is about gender equality not just women being equal to men. There are so many societal pressures placed on men as well that are rarely focused on at all. I was slightly discouraged by bell hooks book, however. The title is "Feminism is for Everybody" yet there is rarely mention of the negative societal pressures placed on men. I think we need more male feminists and we need to steer the focus away from narrow "females should be equal to males" dialogue. It is one important aspect, but there are so many more.
Posted by: Lauren Mulvey | January 29, 2007 11:49 AM