Sunday, September 2, 2012

The F Word--Feminism in Jeopardy


While I was reading "The F Word" there were a couple quotes that made me stop and think more about what I was reading.  For instance the beginning of the article Rowe-Finkbeiner writes:
"It’s easy to take the past for granted as we go busily through our days working, going to school, spending time in the car and on the bus, attending meetings, taking care of kids, doing homework, wrestling cell phones, building careers, and creating lives.”
As I was reading this part I couldn’t help but stop when reading this quote—in my mind I just kind of stopped sat back and said to myself wow, how true is that.  In the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives we never really stop and say “oh I get to have an education because so and so fought for it” or “I get to vote because so and so stood up for it.”  As years passed and women were given the right and had the ability to do more things, the significance slowly faded away.  It no longer seemed like a big deal that a woman could get an education or a job because women had now been doing that for years and years.  Somewhere through the years women forgot how special opportunities like an education or a job were.  Women were not always allowed to do the things men could do and while it may seem that now men and women are on an equal playing field in some aspects they are not.  For instance, men and women holding the same career position do not always make the same amount of money; men tend to make more.  In order for our society to move forward and to keep making changes the past cannot be forgotten.

When reading about The First Wave of the movement I saw this quote by Susan B. Anthony that really made me think about the Declaration of Independence; one of the most important and idolized documents in American history.
 “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who forms the Union….Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.   ---Susan B. Anthony”
This quote in the article by Susan B. Anthony could not be anymore correct.  When the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 it was never specified that the Declaration was only implied for men; the declaration was a document that covered the rights of the people…people meaning both men and women.  Somehow, though, the Declaration was automatically assumed to be just for men but nowhere in the Declaration does it state that women were not included.  The Declaration of Independence was intended to protect the rights of all people—men and women alike.

What I found amusing in this article was that there was actually a text on how to be a good wife--- “The Good Wife’s Guide.”  It’s funny to me that there was actually a guide to follow which determined whether or not you were a good wife---to me that is a bunch of bull****.  I find it hard to believe that a single guide could be the determining factor as to whether or not your husband or partner deemed you fit enough to b considered a ‘good wife.’  A woman cannot and should not be considered a good wife based on a book; they should be considered good because of their character. 

The quote from the guide “Prepare yourself.  Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives.  Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking.  He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.” made me laugh and as much as I tried looking at it through historical eyes I couldn’t.  The idea of getting ready for your husband to come home from work is comical in the sense that it’s basically saying you need to look good for your husband in order for him to want to come home to you.  I couldn’t help but think about this in terms of my own relationship; if my boyfriend didn’t want to see me because my hair or make-up wasn’t done or I didn’t look “fresh” and looked too tired, I would laugh in his face.  But I guess that is a luxury of today’s society they did not have—being able to stand up for what you believe and not having to change your view to make your partner happy.


In the article "Fear of Feminism" I found the quote "young women may believe that a feminist identity puts them out of the pool for many men, limits the options of who they mights become with a partner, how they might decide to live." really stick out in my mind as I read the rest of the article.  I think this quote has a alot of truth to it.  A lot of women fear the topic of feminism and fear being associated with feminism because of the challenges it can create when trying to find a potential partner, especially a male partner.  A lot of men disagree with feminism because they do not fullt understand it---they still believe a feminist is an angry woman demanding equality when in actuality it is much more than that.  Most women want to find a partner, marry and raise a family but identifying as a feminist makes them feel like a lot of doors are being closed and that certain men will not accept them.
 
 
After reading this article I found a video on YouTube that I found interesting.  It had me laughing at a lot of the answers people gave to the questions being asked. Especially the guy who said "They got their amendment passed in 1920 why are they still bitching..." or the man who said that the bible views the man as being head of the household, right in front of his wife who agreed with him!
 

3 comments:

  1. Hey, Celine! I just watched the video you posted. The reactions are so ridiculous! I suppose we can't expect young men to understand the significance of feminism when young women don't understand it either. It's tough because people generally believe that we have reached equality now, and no one is ever taught just how much of a struggle it was for women to get where they are today. Just like you mentioned at the beginning of the article, even as someone who identifies as a feminist, our rights are not something I think of all that often. And I have to agree with you on that "freshen up for your husband" bit. I would never live solely to satisfy my partner, though sadly I think many women still do.

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  2. I really liked how you wrote about "forgetting about having our rights because we didn't have to fight for them." I agree because for most of us, we don't think twice about what we do on a regular basis, we take it for granted. I personally took a lot of stuff for granted until it was taken away after my last surgery (i.e. my license, my health, my independence, my hair). It's stuff we think we are entitled to but we don't think about the fact that hundreds of people before us had to fight to hard to get us to where we are today.

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  3. yea i think i really understand and like the 1st quote the most

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