Monday, February 8, 2010
What’s next…third feminist wave?
Oppression and gender inequality are things that we commonly see in United States and in foreign countries. Many of us, women and men, are very aware of this kind of oppression, however, to do something about it, becomes much more complicated. We know the literature and the stories that women have gone through to achieve equality towards women. However, many of us still engage in activities that will not make Levy very happy. Many girls in Halloween used their smallest and sexiest outfits they can find to turn guy’s heads around and make them feel “empowered.” We know this is not the right thing to do and will not help get rid of women objectification but we still do it. I doubt that next year or next next year girls will stop using the secretary-slutty outfits for Halloween. I feel like this may have become already a mindset of a society as a whole. We start believing “it’s the way it is.” We make our own minds accept and think of it as “normal” or the “common” thing to do. Johnson is right when he says that we always blame the society or as he says, “the system.” We use it as a scapegoat to run away from guilt. As Johnson says, “ The system serves as a vague ..a dumping ground for social problems… that can never be held to account..can’t talk back or actually do anything.” We are, you and me, the ones, if we are to hope for a more equal society, to challenge the status quo that has distorted our minds making us think the women oppression and male privilege is “normal” and is the way is supposed to be. In my experience when some of my guy friends make a sexiest joke against women I don’t laugh but I feel offended while many of my women friend just laugh along. When I tell them why do they have to be offensive against women they just respond, with a negative and almost bored attitude, “ahh, ur just a feminist, get over it is just a joke.” While it maybe just a joke it is equally offensive. We have been taught, as my other girl friends did, to laugh along and be silenced because it is “normal” and if you say something about it you are categorized as a crazy woman who thinks everyone is against her. Once again the victim is blamed and sentenced. How do we address this issue and bring words and readings into action? It seems like almost impossible to do as I am sure many people from our age would totally disagree because Raunch culture has really become now a tradition. It has almost become part of us. To stop listening to rap songs that objectify women seems almost insane and something impossible to do because they are VERY catchy. The real question is how much are we willing to sacrifice for equality ?
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I agree with Rose, and of course Johnson, in that it is one thing to be aware of oppression and gender inequality, yet a completely different thing to actually do something about it. Johnson quotes Harry Brod as saying:
ReplyDelete"Privilege is not something I take and which I therefore have the option of not taking. It is something that society gives me, and unelss I change the institutions which give it to me, they will continue to give it, and I will continue to have it, however noble and egalitarian my intentions."
I initially thought of this as the fundamental issue behind our male dominated society. Men dominate the political arena, and thus, the way our country is run is going to favor men because of this understandable reluctance to relinquish the privileges they have been granted. However, I then started to think about myself and how I might be more apt to "do something" if I felt more oppressed. I have the opportunity to attend one of the nation's best liberal arts colleges, play college athletics, and pursue a career in whatever field I desire. I honestly don't feel that the men in my life have greater opportunities than I do. Perhaps this puts me in the category similar to the "women who manage to rise to the top of their occupations." However, I don't feel that I "risk losing power, rewards, and recognition" if I then challenge the system. I just haven't yet felt compelled to change the system because I personally have never felt my sex as oppressive.
Frye's article seemed rather extremist to me and one section in particular stood out to me. After discussing the controversial act of men opening the door for women, Frye says:
"What women experience is a world in which gallant princes charming commonly make a fuss about being helpful and providing small services when help and services are of little or no use, but in which there are rarely ingenious and adroit princes at hand when substantial assistance is really wanted either in mundane affairs or in situations of threat, assault, or terror."
In my opinion, this is a rather harsh judgment of men. Perhaps I have particularly impressive men in my life, but I have to disagree with her statement. My dad, boyfriend, guy friends, cousins, uncles, etc., even mere acquaintances, have for the most part never failed to be there when "substantial assistance is really wanted." I think she is reading far too much into a simple act of politeness here and making unfair assumptions about the male population.
I see Missy's point that that particular quoted part of Frye's piece is rather harsh and unfair to many men in the world who don't actually act like "gallant princes commonly making a fuss about being helpful". However, there were other instances in her article which really rang true for me. Frye gives an example of the bind facing young women in the United States,
ReplyDelete"where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. If she is heterosexually active, a woman is open to censure and punishment for being loose, unprincipled or a whore... On the other hand, if she refrains from heterosexual activity, she is harrassed by men who try to persuade her into it and pressure her to "relax" and "let her hair down"." Frye definitely has a point, (though again, as Missy said, it the full piece she takes it to unnecessary extremes). This slut/ prude dichotomy is definitely visible in life at Colgate. Young women must walk a very fine line in their sexual behavior in order to avoid being categorized as either a slut or prude. Unfair and negative stereotypes are places on certain women who are unabashedly sexually active, while the male equivalent usually sees his sexual activity met with praise.
Frye continued in this same paragraph to discuss the issue of rape for both women who are both heterosexually active and nonactive. Frye suggests a victim may be subject to the presumption that "she liked it" (since her activity is presumed to show that she likes sex). As vulgar and unbelievable as Frye's statemenmt sounds, I've actually been witness to that exact situation. A friend (who, like many single women in college, regularly engaged in sexual activity) was sexually assaulted. Because of her history and reputation, many were critical of her claim that she was raped. It was absurd and heartbreaking to watch her try to defend her situation as an attack. As Frye says "heterosexual activity.. us likeluy to be taken as proof that you wanted to be raped, and hence, of course, you weren't' really raped at all. You can't win."
These pressure facing young women are all just an effect of the oppressive society in which we live. Frye may use extreme or unlikely examples to back up her claims, but they certainly hold some clout in the real world, especially in the context of a college with so many young women receiving criticism for sexual activity, non activity and everything in between.
You've all raised some interesting points about both the problems and possibilities of Frye and Johnson's articles. You're right, I think, in your assertion that Frye's article can read as a bit extreme; as your posts, taken together, point out though, there are useful points in here. Rose's final question is a good one: what might equality look like, and how do we get there?
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