The barometer activity on Thursday highlighted the fact that my definition of feminism is under-developed. Every day in class, as I’m listening to others voice their viewpoints of gender and sexuality from such standpoints of age, ethnicity, time period, and society, I feel my perception of this broad, limited topic expanding. When I was standing on the outside of the barometer especially, I found myself agreeing with both sides for different reasons. To feel liberated wholly internally, some feminists need to express their personal experiences and theories in autobiographies. Others need to feel the repercussion of their words make a movement in a society. Feminism is about personal empowerment, and it’s about social movement. I think that’s what I’m getting from our readings and discussions. Through either medium, the voices that usually go unheard or have been in the past are getting the chance to express themselves. Isn’t that what connects the two extremes of opinion? It doesn’t matter how the voices get out to the public, which needs to listen (and,therefore, act) the most, it’s when and to what degree. That is what matters, and that’s why recognizing the both sides of the barometer is important.  

(I’m sorry if this doesn’t really relate to the topic we've been discussing, I’m just trying to get my thoughts all sorted out. I think this rant-y kind of post is helping me making sense of how my thought process has been changing throughout the class.) 

images:

http://communityarts.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

fadingad.com

racialjustice.org

smscs.com

friendsofyersonwoods.wordpress.com

brooklynstreetart.com

blog.vandalog.com

untappedcities.com

Google did not give me any information for a few of the pictures.

"a brief history of the future":

She wasn’t paying attention to which streets they were passing.

And her feet hurt.

And she wondered when Mexican groceries moved into the Italian Market. 

“Has it been an hour yet?”

“Nah, 50 minutes.”

“We’re supposed to be here for an hour, but I think we’ve seen almost everything.”

“There’s too much here to see everything.”

Far

too

much

Defining feminism is complex. So complex in fact, that I don't think I've ever heard anybody describe it in the exact same way. Its meaning differs from person to person. I don't think that this is bad per se, but I do think that this range in definintion has allowed for today's media to warp feminism as something negative and detrimental for the rights of women. In many of the TV shows I watched growing up, especially the ones featuring strong and role model-like female characters, a "straw feminist" character would be introduced to show viewers what could happen if we took everything too seriously. These straw feminists were so ridiculous, crazy, and over the top, that they managed to spread the message that gender inequality/opression was overblown and feminism was trying to create a problem where there wasn't one. Basically, the goals of these episodes were to show that feminism wasn't necessary. This message was reinforced in the form of the female lead on the show who wasn't anything like her straw feminist counterpoint. This meant that there was no way she could ever be a feminist. This sneaky and strategic form of  anti-feminism has resulted in children growing up to believe that feminism is more or less evil. This is why so many young peolpe are hesitant to desribe themselves as feminists today. Along with the lack of concrete definition, the adverse portrayl of feminists in the media has made people believe that they are doing more harm than good. This idea is further explained on a YouTube channel called Feminist Frequency.

When I started this class, I thought I had a basic idea of what feminism means and I considered myself a strong feminist. However, I don't think I ever really tried to define femism. I came at it one situation at a time and just dealt with that specific situation the way I thought best (which, thinking back on it, might not have been the best way). For example, many women like when men hold doors open for them. I also believe that holding doors open for other people is a very courteous thing to do. If I get to the door first, I usually hold it open for the person behind me. However, I do not like the idea that men hold doors open for me just because I am a woman. If I arrive at the door first they try and hold the door open for me, or they backtrack and let me go through the door first just because I am a woman. At one point I was holding the door open for some people and a man came up behind me and told me to go first. I told him no, at first, but he insisted, so I just gave in and walked through the door. I don't understand why he thought that was being polite because I certainly did not find it polite. Many times in high school people have told me I am too much of a feminist. I did not know what to make of this because I felt like I was a feminist, but not one who questioned every small thing a man does for sexist content. I would insist that people call Bryn Mawr a women's college and not a girl's school and would willingly explain why, but most people would just shrug this off and the next time, make the same mistake and call it a girl's school.

I stumbled upon this XKCD comic that commented on the series of books titled "Porn For Women" that feature chisled men ironing, vacuuming, and performing various cleaning chores (see photos below). At first, I must admit, I thought it was so clever and witty! Then I was quite horrified and offended because there were many offensive and restrictive implications found in this book. For one thing, it implies that women don't utilize "regular" porn. For another, it suggests that all women want is a nice, muscly, and masculine "stud". And then comes in the topic of housework- how women must be "turned on" when men do the housework. It implies that men don't do housework; that all women are sick and tired of housework; and that the female population has fallen into the stereotypical roles of homemakers and are unsatisfied with their lives. It's all quite appalling. 

One thing that I have been finding in this class, and especially after our discussion last Thursday, is that it's almost becoming harder for me to define feminism itself and what makes something feminist. On one hand, this is a little frustrating since for the longest time I've always known exactly what I believed as a feminist, but on the other hand, the fact that I am hearing all these new sides to feminism and other people's relationship with the feminist movement has been expanding my views and is probably a good thing. For example, I've known that the feminist movement is dominated by the voices of white women, but I never put too much thought to it simply because I, being a privileged white woman, never felt the negative effects of that. However, some of the discussions we've had in this class have come back to that fact, and it has opened my eyes to some of the race issues within the feminist movement and has caused me to really struggle with defining something (e.g. a text like Persepolis) as feminist or not. In thinking about all this and wrestling with a working definition of feminism for myself, I've found myself coming back to thinking about accessibility. I am a very passionate feminist and I enjoy being challenged by all of these different views and definitions of feminism, but as wonderful as that is, not being unified in a basic definition probably makes it very hard for many people who are unfamiliar with these issues to relate to feminism.