feminism

Geekgirl tagged me...

What five things can I thank feminism for?
I like this question, I keep rolling it around in my head. Only 5 things?

Maybe it's because I'm a child of the 70's that I can't think of Feminism without invoking Gloria Steinem. Maybe it's because I saw her speak, and I so loved what she said.

First and foremost, I completely buy into Gloria Steinem's revolutionary idea that to be a feminist is to simply be "for women," and nothing more complicated than that. To paraphrase her words, feminism is the radical notion that women are people.

I get irked by women, in particular, who undermine this idea by saying things like "Oh I'm not a feminist." Really? You don't like yourself?

Some people are still firmly planted in the Reagan era with the terminology thing. I think it's sad that there's still a generation out there who thinks that being feminist means you have to wear hair pants and be a lesbian and burn your bra.

Or be a bitch.

Times have changed. Ladies, thanks to the feminist movement, you can now be a bitch without being called a feminist! If it weren't for the sassy ladies like Gloria, like Naomi, like Betty, there would a whole lotta stuff we wouldn't be talking about now. A whole lotta stuff my girls would never have access to.

As Timothy Leary said, "Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition."


1. Visibility - if there were no feminist movement, and no feminism, nobody would give a rat's ass about any of the other 4 things I list below. Nobody would ask me the question. Nobody would care about how much money I make vs. my male counterparts. Because of feminism, we now have anyone and everyone, no matter how backward, having semi-literate conversations with their TV set in their wifebeater shirt talking about how stupid that "wimmin's movement" is. Yay! Personally, I'd rather have someone say it's stupid than say nothing at all - because if they're thinking about it, their brain is at least engaged, no matter how feeble the argument. Feminism has made us visible - it's raised our voices and our profile. It planted the seeds that, oh my God, Women are people too!!

2. Choices - as in, I have a lot more than the generation before me did. As in, I don't have to accept being sucked into any particular social role just because I'm supposed to. As in, I can choose to participate in triathlon. I can choose to sit on the sofa. I can choose to have children. I can choose not to. I can choose to have a job. In fact, I can choose to work at pretty much any job I want. I can choose to stay at home at raise my children. And you know what? Any of these choices is acceptable, thanks to feminism.

3. Partnership - Thanks to Feminism, I didn't have to marry a guy because somebody else decided he was right for me or because I was "supposed" to. All women can now ask for what they want in a mate - and get it. We can ask for a partner, not a master, not a keeper. We don't have to accept somebody else's idea of an ideal mate - We can ask for a grown up, and get one. A smart, intelligent, good daddy type grown up. And not that guy in the wifebeater bitching at his TV set.

4. Marketing - This is one of those semi-ironic thanks. I'm not actually thankful for inappropriate consumption, don't get me wrong. My point is this: if not for feminism, we would still be a target audience for dishwashers and appliances - not cars, not telephones, not women's specific bicycles, not gym memberships. I suppose that goes back to my point about visibility, and I'm thankful for marketing because it gives me choices.

...OK, that was kinda thin. I'll try and come up with a better one...

5. Smarter Men - I really think that feminism has raised the bar for men as well as women. As in, it makes men think with the rest of their brains. Men have choices too, and now they get to decide if they want a partner, or if they want a role-filler. They get to choose what kind of partnership they want. I hope this is making men love their women more deeply - instead of just playing out a social role. For a man to be a good partner they have to consider now what they need to do for themselves to make them appealing to us. As in, "OK Mr. Man, convince me why I should shack up with you and have ten million of your babies when I have a choice? Give me 10 good reasons - starting now!" Feminist women are raising their sons with more sensitivity these days. With this bar raising, we get - I hope - a new generation of men who give a rat's ass what we think. They're smart, they're sensitive, and they are willing to listen to us whine. They understand - and even if they don't, they tolerate us better than the last generation.

I tag Angry Young Man, and Mishele, and Mama. And Greyhound. It's not just women who have feminism to thank for stuff in their lives today.