It was surprising to me to learn that the majority of my students today claim “feminism is dead” and finish this statement with a tone of “as it should be.” They seem to have a very different notion about the term than I do. I was raised with a single mom in the 60's. This meant many kids were not allowed to spend time in our home, even though my dad had left her and my mother had impeccable boundaries, was an intelligent, responsible woman who never even so much as kissed another man in front of us during her twelve years of singledom. As a working woman, my mother had to kick and claw her way to the top of a man's corporate ladder in heels and a skirt no less. She was beautiful, which was not necessarily to her benefit. My mom had little to no help from her parents in raising us, since she granted my father a divorce and that was against the rules. This gets me a tiny bit bristly.
I recall being told that I was the only planned child my father ever had. I was the 11th of 14 children he sired throughout his three marriages. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that my mom had twin girls and they were shooting for a boy. I ended up Kim instead of Scott. My dad left my mom and had two boys with his new wife. This formed the conclusion in my young head that boys were preferred and I got the short end of the stick. I wished I was a boy, so I could be the best. I was competitive by nature. But I was not a boy. So began my defiant journey for equality, righteousness and indignation at a world of Good Ol' Boys, future male bosses who would tell me I can't be a leader among my coworkers because I am also a single mom, and the years of boys who would give me the 'once over' every single time I stepped out from behind the podium.
If you google the term 'feminism' today, you will get a complex definition with layers of history that spans many, many centuries. As you pass the women's European and American sufferage at the turn of the century and into the 1960's and 70's more sexual revolution, you find yourself smack dab in the “Third Wave Feminists” which surfaced in the 90's for a shift in our use of language and media portrayals of women. From there, it all gets rather complicated and muddled with lesbianism and gender androgyny. I can see why my students are confused over why one girl might have burned her bra and another might hide her breasts altogether.
You see, first of all, I do not believe men and women are no longer unequal. Also, I find my students' views clouded in a rosy hue of ignorance. Plus, they weren't at the social gathering I attended last weekend.
Feminism is not dead. It has simply changed due to the ever evolving human race and the fact that men and women are not the same – thank God! But women, like other minorities, can be their own worst enemies.
Sexting, “Awkward”, Mtv, Victoria's Angels, liking Big Butts and 50 shades of literature are a lot of mediums with which to navigate while securing the sanctity of our daughters' strength, sacred bodies and respected minds.
I sat in a circle of friends discussing the bruises and paints splats they had endured in a game of paintball. The 21 year old woman took her fair share of hits and didn't seem to take issue with it. The young man had received a shot straight to his private and oh-so-sensitive testicles. The older gentleman next to him chastised the young man for his willingness to splat the young woman repeatedly. He literally stated, “You don't hit a woman like that! You give her a chance to win!”
Really? She showed up in full gear, ready to kick his butt and he's supposed to let her win? My eyes are rolling, my breath is heavily sighing and my students think this was all resolved in the last generation. I couldn't be more baffled.
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