katal

DEUTSCH: There is the new creation that the feminist woman has not figured out in 40 years of the feminist ideal that men can take in a woman in power and women can celebrate a woman in power. Hillary Clinton didn’t figure it out. She didn’t put a skirt on!

[...]

She [Palin] talked about energy. Didn’t matter! Today everybody’s running in circles — we want to have her over for dinner. I trust her. I want her watching my kids. I want her laying next to me in bed. That’s the way people vote. ...

Guys, this is a seminal moment.

icedesperado

I'm taking a break (read: procrastinating) from writing my women's studies papers to write a short explanation. (Yes, I realize the irony here.) I've spent my summer waist-deep in feminist literature on various fronts, and so the impulse to list every single problem women and other minorities face today is overwhelming. However, the goal here is to provide a simple, succinct definition to a word that is anything but simple or succinct.

Feminism.

The image that is drawn on any time the term 'feminism' comes into a conversation is the fanatic men-hating, bra-burning, lesbian cat-lady. I'd like to take this moment to note that this image and its variations represent only a small portion of feminists not even large enough to be called a minority. If it seems like it represents the majority, well, the media enjoys its sensationalism even more than it does its coffee.

Further, the most oft-described definition I've heard tends to be a short-hand slogan of its true form. "Feminism is the movement for women's equality with men." Good for a drive-by explanation, but so easily countered by those who don't fully understand its intentions.

Feminism is the movement to end the institutional and systematic sexism embedded at the roots of a culture's society, which is also known as patriarchy.

This is but one definition. I choose to use it because it seems to be the simplest way to connect feminism with the average human being. It emphasizes that sexism and patriarchy--essentially discrimination based on sex--are socially constructed. In other words, we create and perpetuate them.

Common questions:

WHAT IS SEXISM?
-The discrimination against a person or group of people due to their sex/gender, resulting in one sex/gender receiving an advantage at the expense of the other.

WHAT IS PATRIARCHY?
-In this instance, the social system created by and for men to their advantage at the expense of women. It is, essentially, the foundation for institutional sexism.

WHY ISN'T FEMINISM JUST CALLED 'HUMANISM' or 'HUMANITARIANISM'?
-Because 'the betterment of conditions for humans' does not address the fact that sexism is ingrained in most societies and has been one of the longest-running, historically, sources of discrimination for centuries.

CAN MEN BE FEMINISTS?
-Yes. Anyone can be a supporter of equal rights for women. However, feminism does require that men acknowledge and give up their unearned advantage based on their sex/gender. This does not mean the goal of feminism is to belittle men or spark a matriarchy; the idea is to create an even playing field for both women and men in all aspects of their lives: economically, socially, psychologically.


I chose to try to create and spread this definition because I've found that while a large amount of people take the Psych of Sex/Gender class at Western, are in the women's studies program, or participate in social activist groups across the country, they represent only a small portion of the population. Uninformed, others tote around that far too simplistic definition from earlier: "Feminism is the movement for women's equality with men." And yet, feminism is so easily dismissed in modern times because, hey, as long as we've got the right to vote, we're equal, right?

It's more than that. There exist certain people praising Bristol Palin's "choice" to keep her baby up and down the countryside while at the same time lambasting anyone who makes the "choice" to have an abortion, suddenly converting the concept of "choice" into a double-standard. There exist mothers with one or more children who are denied welfare check on the grounds of apparent laziness or incapability after barely escaping an abusive relationship. There exist women acoss the nation who fear to leave the house once the sun sets because they might get attacked, who have to watch their drinks at a party because they might get drugged, who can't wear too short of skirts because they might get raped and then get blamed for it.

Does a 1-in-4 rape statistic for women speak of equality? 

Is equality limited only to those who are priviledged enough to afford it? 

As as long as the leaders of this nation are overly White, Christian, heterosexual, and male; as long as religion continues to overstep its bounds into democracy; as long as the stereotypes of masculinity and feminity continue to dictate the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of groups as well as individuals; as long as the system is programmed against us, we are not equal.