Feminism and the Ignorant Woman
Would Someone Please Explain?
Feminism: 1. Belief in the social, political, and economical equality of the sexes; 2. The movement organized around this belief (http://www.dictionary.com)
Don't get me wrong. I'm a woman through and through, and the idea of equality in society, goverment, and the world in general is appealing to me. I don't particulary want to spend my life working for a man, having my ass grabbed and being ordered to take dictation, make his coffee, and answer his phones. Luckily, this is the new millenium and not the 1950s, so I guess I don't have anything to worry about, right? Well....depends on how you look at it.
The other day I read a short blog about a self proclaimed feminist who was angry about the fact that her employer had offered to explain the maternity leave policies to her upon her hire. From the short rant, I did not gather that she was of a size that pregnancy was an issue, nor did I take it that she was being sexually harassed in any form. The girl made it quite clear that she wasn't pregnant. Apparently, the man's mistake had been in assuming that she'd ever want children in the first place, and that it was highly sexist of him to assume that just because she was female that she was automatically required to understand how the company could help her were she to decide to ever carry a child. My own sarcastic nature, a bit outraged, decided that it would be great if she took that to court. Not only would it make her feel justified, but then all the poor women in the workforce who actually did want children at some point could be left completely in the dark when it came to their own employer's pregnancy leave polices. Feminism at its ignorant best.
Sometime ago, my boyfriend decided to wear a highly offensive sweatshirt in public. While walking out of the student union at his campus, he was cornered by a self proclaimed feminist who lit into him about not respecting woman and blaming his sense of humor for the problems with today's society. Apparently, freedom of speech is only allowed if you're a woman. He laughed, which served to piss her off even more and lead into another tirade about equality and women's rights. (For the record, I was not offended by the shirt one bit and I would have had the most reason to be).
The definition of feminism seems so varied anymore, much of it built up by political correctness and a few women who've "paved the way for others with their activism." Sure, I'm grateful I can have a job, vote, and run for public office if I wanted to. I don't take those liberties lightly. But I'm also grateful for the fact that I can have a baby if I want to, or be a stay at home mom, or make my boyfriend, someday husband, a great meal. I'm completely fine with paying for my own movie, bringing home a paycheck, and paying my own bills. I'm also fine with the man taking me out, contributing to the house fund, and buying me a nice piece of jewelry every once in awhile.
From what I've seen, feminism has begun to turn into nothing more than tyrannical womanhood. Why give up that part of us which made us a woman in the first place? Why not enjoy a man's attention, his touch, or his offer to be a man? I'm a feminist in my own mind. I hold a job, work to make myself better, and wouldn't want less pay than a man for the same job. But being a feminist doesn't mean I have to stop being feminine. Men should feel free to pamper me, hold the car door open for me, and ask me if they can buy me dinner. It's that little bit of manliness thrown my way that reminds me of the true and natural power I have as a figure born with breasts.
And please....bring on the maternity policies.
Published by Amanda Sposato
My full time job with administrative support keeps me busy during the day. My random selection of hobbies keeps me busy at night. Everything gives me inspiration to write when I'm feeling inspired in the fir... View profile
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16 Comments
Post a CommentI could not agree more. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels this way.
It's women like YOU that are the ignorant beasts.
There are plenty of feminists out there who agree with your viewpoint, myself being one of them. But please fight the need to present negative examples of the stereotype and shed a positive light on feminism. I don't think feminism is dominated by "man-haters," I just think perhaps that that type of feminist is the most vocal and happens to possess the masculine characteristic of being loud and aggressive, thereby drawing attention to herself. I'd say we're all some combination of the feminine and the masculine, and feminism is equality of choice -- to choose to be yourself to the fullest extent.
Freedom of speech. I may not like what someone says (such as your boyfriends shirt) but if we restrict what others say, we have to be willing to have what we say restricted as well. People say rude, crude and ugly things; get used to it.
chrysd: Pro-choice means pro-choice plain and simple. When the anti-abortion movement got going they changed the name to pro-life, but it still means: anti-abortion. A women's pregnancy and choosing to terminate is a private issue between her and god as she knows s/he. I do not condone abortion, I condone prevention, and I also believe that other people have a right to "liberty (choice) and pursuit of happiness". I am not about to tell a girl who was raped by her father to bear his child. I would, however, argue for castration of all rapists, but men would never allow such a law to be passed. Or men have free choice and females do not. That is what the women's movement is all about. We are not second class citizens or property.
Maybe she had the rag on that day (as they used to say). I have never had a boss offer to explain the companies maternity policy to me. Of course that is a new employee benefit; used to be: baby born out of job end of story. Pregnant females were often fired or not hired because they would quit to raise kids so not worth a companies investment. Just because I want to wear pants does not make me less female in my eyes. There was a time girls in the USA were not allowed to wear "slacks" to school. Yeah, some feminists go over board, but bless them 'cause now I can wear slacks whenever I want to.
Thank you! Feminism shouldn't be about raging insanity and becoming masculine. We're feminine, and that's beautiful.
roval. This is exactly what makes me so greatful to feminism.
"(...) encompass that opinion to cover how all women should think" - but isn't that precisely what *you* did? You say you wrote it in the "heat of the moment", but don't you think that applies to those women? The feminist on the blog is bombarded daily with how shes expected to be a mother or how her brain works better for raising kids. It is very irritating to see banal frat-boy types trying to impress people with shirts that use language and images that apply offensively to women yet there are no cooresponding ones for a man - no wonder that woman was upset! And no, she didn't censor your boyfriend. To your comment about the power of breasts, you go to certain parts of the world and nobody will give a damn it is so mundane. Not so "powerful" after all, is it? Sorry, but no, I'm a woman in a 7 month relationship with a man I'm not going to define "what makes me a woman" and my femininity by popping off a kid (what, are infertile women not feminine?), chivalry, or male app
s me is that the instances I spoke of (and ones in the past that didn't seem to fit in the article) were presented as "This is how it should be" rather than "This is my opinion on the matter."