So last week I read this article from the University of South Florida. Basically, the author, Gina Davis, was saying how she was fed up with the feminist movement because she believes in strong women and equally strong men. I am writing in response to her article.
Davis makes some really good points, and there are many I agree with. But what she is categorizing as “feminism” is not what the movement, I think, is all about.
She believes the feminist movement is being shoved down our throats and people, namely women, are crying that the world isn’t fair and are putting men down and blaming them for their troubles. She also argues that women “have never been more respected” and “have more rights in the United States than anywhere else in the world.”
On these issues, I disagree. In my mind, this is not what feminism is about—stuffing this idea down the throats of others that women are better than men. That is not what the movement is. Feminism is searching for equality, not superiority. Most of us do not blame men more than they need to be blamed, and in some cases, that is necessary. There are grown men out there who do not understand how a women’s body works, the physical pain she many go through when she has her period, or who do not agree that women should be paid as much as a man or should stay home with the children. Those men should be blamed for their ignorance of how women feel and want out of their lives.
I would also disagree with Davis’ claim that women have never been more respected. There were times throughout history when women were highly respected. She was her husband’s business partner until the Industrial Revolution, when he traveled to the city or the factory to work and she was left at home to raise their children. Women were taken at their word when they went to the doctors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to get rid of a “blockage” when they did not get their period. If they said they were not pregnant, even if they had felt the fetus move in the early stages of their pregnancy, the doctor would take them at their word and give them the proper medication to go through with an abortion.
Lastly, I would argue that the United States falls behind Europe when it comes to women’s rights. I am not saying the United States is a terrible place for women in to live in. It’s pretty fantastic. We have a hell of a lot more rights here than we would if we were half a world away. But women in Europe get up to two years of paid leave when they have a child. Women in America get 12 weeks before they are expected to be back at work. That is roughly three months to recover from may have been a difficult pregnancy, an intrusive surgery to actually deliver the baby, and to bond with this new human being she is expected to take care of for the rest of her life. How in the world is three months enough time to do all that?
Now, like I said, there are some points Davis makes that I fully agree with. She mentions the physical differences between men and women creates a “distinct divide” between the sexes. She’s right. Why should there be different requirements to be in the military or in the police or firefighting force? Everyone has to carry the same amount of equipment. If you can’t carry that, regardless of your gender, then you shouldn’t be allowed in, because you will be risking someone’s life, be it yours or someone else’s.
Davis is also right in saying there is no reason to get offended when your boo offers to pay for dinner (Seriously, why would you complain about that? You just got free food). I am sure he is not saying you cannot pay for it; he may just want to pay for your dinner because he loves you. And I’ll bet if you said that you insisted on paying because you want to take him out for dinner for a change, he would be totally fine with it. He’s getting free food. Who wouldn’t be down for that?
Davis argues that women have made bounding leaps forward for equality. I agree. But I do not think that means we should “relax” because we’re “okay”. Yes, we have more rights in this country than ever before, and are respected more than we have been in the last century, but that does not mean the battle is over. Women are still paid less than men. We are still blamed when we are raped and abused. We are sexualized from a young age, and many still believe we belong in the home to take care of children. We are talked over in conversation. Our education is not taken as seriously as a boy’s. We are blamed and ridiculed and shamed for having our periods every month. People still think we are subservient to men.
You know what? I want to get paid as much as a man does for the same job. No one should not be blamed for being raped for what they were wearing. I should not be sexualized just because I have boobs, and maybe I don’t even want children. It’s rude to talk over someone, man or woman. My sister’s education should matter just as much as a boys’ and it shouldn’t matter that someone saw a bra strap for a whole thirty seconds (guess what, girls wear bras). I should not be made to feel ashamed for a bodily function that is out of my control and causes me pain. I am not subservient, I am your equal.
This is what feminism is fighting for, and until these problems, and others, are fixed, feminism will continue to be around. We have won great battles over these centuries, but the war is not over just yet.
I want to be equal, respected. Do you?
