It is sad to realize that smart women such Ragel and Hakim- Dice have to find themselves in dehumanizing experiences. Many times those women who are the most vulnerable for economic reason tend to be the ones that are neglect and oppressed by our society. If we see young women stripping in the clubs or performing in a clubs as a go go girl we immediately think of them as sluts or that they do not have self respect. However, very few times we think about what could have made them end up there. We do not ask questions like, what part of society has failed to do its job, to see young girl stripping for money? We tend to blame the victims rather than those who are truly responsible and should be accountable because they have the money.
I believe that Ragel is right when she says that knowledge is power and that all low-income women should be able to get an education in college She argues that it is in this way that they will discover the power they have and become more independent. However, what are the chances of all low income women to go to college. Higher education can be very expensive and the quantity of low income is very high. Ragel comments in her story that she was humiliated bt these people because they made her feel guilty of her poverty. It is disheartening to see that those who are poor have to beg and still be looked down on because they are looking for help, a way out of their misery. We tend to blame those who are most fragile and powerless instead of challenging those who are in power. Hakim-Dice lack of money for her education made her think of herself as a Go Go girl. This type of easy earning jobs can even go as far as prostitution. We ask ourselves why are women going out in the streets and selling their bodies. But we think about these problems with our eyes of the upper middle white women. We blame the victim again and we call them names such as whores, sluts to make clear the difference between “them “ and us. These women many times opt for these jobs because they want a piece of bread. Their position is different to ours because they have no education and their chances of getting a high earning job are very limited. I think this is all to start to build a sisterhood. We should empathize with these women and look at those who are powerful and have the power to make change in our society such as providing free education for low income women and creating jobs for them as well.
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Great thoughts, Rose! You've identified the root of some of these problems, some of the double-standards that women face, and suggest some good solutions, as well.
ReplyDeleteI am responding to the article “The Mommy Tax”. I thought the author addressed an extremely relevant point in her discussion of the term mommy tax and this is an issue that should definitely resonate with any young women who wants to be a mother someday. Some of the statistics Critenden gives are quite sobering. She states about men and women graduation from University of Michigan Law School, “15 years after graduation, the women’s average earnings were almost 40% lower than the men’s.” As a young woman who hopes to attend law school after college, I was both shocked and discouraged by this statistic. It is evidence of the real and profound discrimination against women. For assuming the inevitable role of child bearing, women are negatively impacted with no opportunity for reprieve in American society. It’s strange that in a nation as advanced, and dare I say as socialist as America still neglects the needs of this large group of women who try to balance both motherhood and careers. It is gender discrimination in its most blantant form, based purely upon the biological differences between men and women. I have first had experience with caring for infants and young children (for a part-time working mother) and have seen just how difficult it is to be a young mother and still have a blossoming career. I cannot imagine it even being possible for a woman like Cindy DiBiasi to juggle her unfair job demands while also being the mother of two babies. The demands placed on her by her boss seem like an obvious form of discrimination and her story of motherhood killing her career is both sad and scary for any young woman who hopes to have kids. From what the article says, as grim as the outlook for potential working mothers is in the United States, there at least are some West European states that are getting things right. Although a socialist agenda like those in France or Sweden would be extremely difficult to push through to legistlation in America, that should definitely be an end goal for feminists, mothers and just any working woman in general. Increasing paid leaves for both mothers and fathers and allowing full benefits and government stipends for families with children has allowed women in these countries to work professionally without suffering from the mommy tax that has so disadvantaged women here in the US.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was a single mother, who sent all 5 children to boarding school and college on her own. Did the "system" really make her situation less overwhelming both socially and economically for her? Absolutely not. Lucky for my mom, she had a great support system of friends and family to help her raise all 5 of us crazy kids. It seems that the society we live in is almost bitter at women for trying to be treated as equals. Here is what I mean. For example there are so many times when women who are pregannt get fired, or are never gired again after their cybatical. It's as if the men who we are working for are trying to teach us a lesson about how women cannot truly be relied on because their priorities far extend beyond the companies. Things such as, oh heavens forbid, family. It's really frustrating for me to accept that we still have so far to go as far as equal pay for women. Especially those women who have to struggle because of the ineptness and lack of responsibility of some male partners. Its always convenient to leave the children with the mother isnt it? But what does that mean for women? Are we becoming an even more powerful generation by toughing i out through these hard times. Are we learning the value of equality at its hardest?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post by Rose. She contemplates some fundamental problems faced by the women's movement and perhaps her most poignant point is that of the discrepancies in class within the movement as they inhibit women's liberation.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy for middle or upper class women to say that the key to a woman's economic and metaphoric liberation is education, but there is an incredible price to the kind of education that has the ability to help women who have very few options otherwise.
Increased empathy is a wonderful starting point to unifying the women's movement, I just wonder if it is too optimistic to imagine that people can be encouraged to empathize with others whom they do not even know...
Rose deals with one very serious and sad aspect of the stripping world; yet, I think there is another side to consider. While I don't quite know if I agree with what I'm about to say, is there a way we can classify this work as respectable and even liberating? I pose this question because I think if we could simply change the stigma surrounding this industry, it would make the experience of the women working in it much more dignified. Now, the question as to whether or not these acts are demeaning and degrading is perhaps a matter of one's perception of feminism. Until we decide on that question, however, women should at least support their fellow females who choose (or are forced into) this line of work.
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