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Colleen Watson
I am feminist but not
one of 'those' feminists
By: Colleen Watson
Posted: 2/28/08
As a freshman I was going to the cafeteria with two new friends, Brent and Jen, when the subject of women's rights came up. Brent looked at us and said, "You guys aren't feminists or anything are you?"
Jen was quick to answer back, "No, those chicks are crazy."
"I am," I said, and I felt the need to defend my position. Both of them looked at me and rolled their eyes.
Ten years later and I still feel that whenever I say that I'm a feminist, I feel like I have to explain why, to give a reason for my pro-women stance, or at least let people know that I don't get any joy from kicking puppies.
Whenever I hear a woman say she is a feminist, it is always with an added caveat. She can't just be a feminist. She has to quickly explain that she is not a "feminazi" and that she doesn't hate men.
When did this happen? When did proudly burning uncomfortable undergarments turn into lengthy explanations about how you are not one of "those" feminists, the kind who hide in bushes and randomly knee male passersby in the balls.
Or has feminism always had negative connotations in our society?
When did "feminist" become a bad word?
Feminists are still needed. When a presidential candidate is referred to by her first name while the others are mentioned by their last names, it shows there is still a gap. I don't even know Huckabee's first name.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews even called her an "uppity woman."
When that same candidate gets judged by her looks, her makeup and what she is wearing, it shows that feminism is still needed.
With the Internet comes even more misogyny. I read a news aggregate site called Fark, on which users submit news stories from around the country with better, funnier headlines. Whenever a woman is mentioned, the first thing that the forum users talk about is if she is "hittable."
After determining a woman's hittability, then the woman-bashing really starts in. Comfortable in the knowledge that their victims will never know their real name, users are quick to tell women to go back to the kitchen or that they are all psycho bitches. I admit some of the comments can be funny. It's the quantity that is depressing.
Are these people trying to be funny, or do they really mean what they say? Or is it a little bit of both?
Sexism, along with racism, runs rampant on the Internet. The Internet tough guys and trolls are always present. If you can't say something to someone's face, then shut up.
I still don't think that women are treated the same as men in some areas. When I worked at a temporary agency, the women were given receptionist jobs, while men with the same background were sent into accounting at a higher pay.
According to a CNN Money poll, 13 women were CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2007. I can't name one female CEO, but off the top of my head, I can name Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch and Charles Schwab. Oh, but a big shout out to Linda Lange, CEO of Jack in the Box. OK, only a Fortune 1000; thanks for making us fat.
A study by Catalyst, which studies women in business, found that in the workplace women leaders who portrayed typical female stereotypes such as focusing on work relationships or expressing concern for other people's perspectives were seen as less competent leaders. Women who behaved more assertively were viewed as good leaders but unfeminine and were not well liked - a lose-lose situation.
Women are also less likely to be found in engineering or science jobs, but is that discrimination or choice? The National Science Institute found that in the fourth grade, as many girls as boys were interested in math and science. By the eighth grade, twice as many boys than girls were interested in math and science. The study showed that stereotypical images of scientists as men - or as severe, unhappy women - can turn girls off to the sciences. The same research found that teachers tended to teach boys and girls differently, explaining experiments to boys but doing the experiments for the girls.
At SJSU, there are more women than men on campus, but if you head over to the engineering department, do you see that?
In the past couple of decades women have made extraordinary leaps in equality. There are more women in all facets of business, education and politics than there have ever been. But there is still more room for improvement.
There are many different feminists. They aren't raving madwomen or men haters, and they aren't always women. I don't think that everyone knows what a feminist is. A feminist is anyone who believes in equality of the sexes.
I don't cook. My favorite color is pink. I love Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" and George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." I don't own a little black dress. I wear makeup and holey jeans.
I am a feminist.
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