Feminism is Simply Equality
Maggie Downing
Issue date: 4/12/05 Section: Opinions
I don't hate men. I don't burn my bras. I don't spell it "womyn." I am a feminist, and I am sick and tired of the funny looks I get when I say that. Feminism carries a broad range of implications in our society, and even more so, I think, on this campus.
The basic idea at the root of feminism is that women are equal to men. Or as Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler so succinctly put it, it is "the radical notion that women are people." How is it that in the 21st century in a society that considers itself so far-advanced we are still struggling with this seemingly simple idea?
I grew up with three brothers and since I was the only girl, my mother's mantra to me as a child was "girls can do anything boys can do." I made the boys play house with me and I played with G.I. Joes with them, it was an even trade. And despite the arguments they have with me just to make me mad I know that those three young men also believe that mantra. I want to thank my mother for instilling that confidence in me; it is what gives me the courage to continue to fight for women's rights today.
As a member of the privileged class it is easy to say, "look how far we've come" and think of the feminist movement as something in the past, a battle that has been fought and won. But upon closer inspection, or any inspection really, it is clear that true equality is still an unattained and far-off goal.
The feminist movement has undergone many changes from women's suffrage starting in 1848 to a part of the Civil Rights movement in the sixties and seventies to its modern inception with a focus on individual empowerment.
There are two ways to think about the concept of gender equality. On one hand, the basic differences that divide our species into male and female will always create an undeniable opposition. This is a fact, but it is not necessarily a bad thing; after all, it is what allows the species to fulfill our natural desire to reproduce. Equality under the law and equal treatment are another issue altogether.
The basic idea at the root of feminism is that women are equal to men. Or as Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler so succinctly put it, it is "the radical notion that women are people." How is it that in the 21st century in a society that considers itself so far-advanced we are still struggling with this seemingly simple idea?
I grew up with three brothers and since I was the only girl, my mother's mantra to me as a child was "girls can do anything boys can do." I made the boys play house with me and I played with G.I. Joes with them, it was an even trade. And despite the arguments they have with me just to make me mad I know that those three young men also believe that mantra. I want to thank my mother for instilling that confidence in me; it is what gives me the courage to continue to fight for women's rights today.
As a member of the privileged class it is easy to say, "look how far we've come" and think of the feminist movement as something in the past, a battle that has been fought and won. But upon closer inspection, or any inspection really, it is clear that true equality is still an unattained and far-off goal.
The feminist movement has undergone many changes from women's suffrage starting in 1848 to a part of the Civil Rights movement in the sixties and seventies to its modern inception with a focus on individual empowerment.
There are two ways to think about the concept of gender equality. On one hand, the basic differences that divide our species into male and female will always create an undeniable opposition. This is a fact, but it is not necessarily a bad thing; after all, it is what allows the species to fulfill our natural desire to reproduce. Equality under the law and equal treatment are another issue altogether.