Many of you will know already that I am a feminist. You'll know that I believe in choice, agency, bodily sovereignty, working outside the home, working inside the home, having children and not having them, being yourself despite and sometimes because of societal gender role expectations. You'll know that I believe women are underpaid, undereducated, underappreciated, overtaxed, and subjected to unnecessary violence every day, around the world.
You'll know that I am a gender non-conformist in a number of ways that are not immediately obvious to others. You'll know that my husband, The Rock of Ages in my life, is a gender non-conformist in ways that are not immediately obvious to others.
You'll know that I believe that American women get thrown under the Congressional bus everyday, even though women as a constituency outnumber men in this country by SEVEN MILLION persons as of the 2000 US Census.
But maybe you won't know why.
Because I believe that women and men deserve equality. As Stephanie states, equality is not sameness. It means equal. Equal is not always the same.
What do you believe?
3 comments:
She stresses equal (not same), and yet the whole post she takes a disappointing tone that pretty much publicly (but at least anonymously) shames (albeit gently) her younger counterpart for not adopting the label "feminist."
Shouldn't the Harlot treat this woman's opinion as equal instead of using her as an example of why she's right and this girl is wrong?
I agree with a lot of what the Harlot is saying, but when you step back and look at the WAY she's delivering her message it really puts me off.
Maybe I'm narrow-minded/have blinders on/have tunnel vision, but I'm having a really hard time shedding the way she's saying it to respect what she's saying.
In the end, the Harlot is entitled to her opinion and so is Anonymous Young Woman. If Anonymous Young Woman doesn't want to adopt the label "feminist" (even if it does fit) because of a few bad apples, well then so be it.
The Harlot says equality is not "sameness" yet she wants Anonymous Young Woman to have the same opinion as her on the issue of labeling oneself a "feminist."
Hm.
At least that's how I interpret or believe her to be saying.
I guess I did not read it that way, but understand what you are saying.
I too find it troubling when I meet a young woman benefiting from feminism in their lives (pay, education, choice, job opportunities) while at the same time refusing to understand that there is so much more work to be done....I think that is hurting us in the long run, because there's definitely a back-sliding that's happening.
It's like the conversations about choice with women that say that they are fine with others aborting, but would not do it themselves. I always want to say, Honey, that's what we call choice.
You can hardly have this conversation in the climate of today, where the smokey back rooms are the retreats, exclusively of upper class males with all the real power and most of the real money. THEY have decided that we will have the type of State we have now. This is always going to be to the detriment of women and children EVEn when they are related to these Egocentric short sighted fools.
Lella
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