But particularly to that guy from last week who thought feminism wasn’t necessary anymore since there were lots of girls at his summer internship.
Yes, it’s true––there are more women being hired today than in the past. And it’s also true that we are in the midst of an economic slump and a hiring crisis that is making it tough for many qualified candidates––regardless of gender––to find jobs suited to their degrees. However, the fact remains that women are still being paid less on the dollar than men, and must work doubly and triply harder than their male colleagues to make it to the same spot.
But set all of that aside; imagine for a moment that the wage gap issue is solved, that company’s offer paid maternity leave for women, that female CEOs are more common than double rainbows. Even if all of that were the case, I would still be a feminist, and we would still need feminism. Because to pretend that the career/salary arena is the only one where feminism has a role to play is to be ridiculously obtuse. Feminism exists for a myriad number of reasons, and for many women, affects much of their lives.
Unfortunately, the term has become so bogged down with misconceptions that many people -- even many women -- are reluctant to identify themselves with the term. I am always proud to declare myself a feminist, but I am tired of spending time and energy and emotion debunking ridiculous myths about feminism and feminists. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if being a feminist meant I hated men, the wage gap wouldn’t affect me. No, for the record: I do not hate men. I also don’t think it’s accurate -- or fair -- to accuse feminists of claiming that men have never experienced any pain or adverse situations in their lives. Obviously, that’s not true. Suffering is, unfortunately, a part of the human condition, and it comes to all of us in some measure and form. But feminism isn’t a pity party, and it’s not a suffering contest. It’s not about finding out who had it worst. It’s about recognizing the difference between hardships that occur for no understandable reason, that we’ll all struggle through as humans, and the things that people inflict upon one another, the discriminations that are woven into our society.
There are those who simply state there are and will always be cruel and evil people in this world. That is certainly true, but the fact remains that the world is not populated by an overwhelming majority of inherently bad apples with no compunctions. What is true is that many encourage -- or by their disinterest, implicitly give permission for -- a lack of respect for women.
The fact that one in five––one in five!––Women will be sexually assaulted while in college speaks to the woeful security women can expect. Instead of emphasizing better consent education, women are told to take self-defense classes, to walk with keys between their fingers as a makeshift weapon, to carry mace or a rape whistle. We can never expect all assaults to vanish just because of proper education, but to not even have a discussion, or to have only perfunctory ones, seems simply negligent. And when we have the levels of assault on campus that we do today, that is not a few evil people––it is an epidemic, probably made up of many men who would claim they respect women. However, any claims they might make are surely undermined by the total and utter lack, not only of class, but of basic respect and decency.
And this is only a microcosm of the harassment and devaluing women must deal with on a daily basis as they endeavor to gain some respect from people who don’t seem to understand the very concept. When describing the discomfort of being catcalled on the street to a male recently––again, in a near desperate bid to explain why feminism was not a band of hysterical women creating issues out of thin air––I tried to explain to him why it was so uncomfortable to have often inappropriately explicit or graphic things hollered down the street at you by utter strangers. “So?” he asked, unfazed. “I would love to have someone compliment me on how I look.”
My point is that men must realize that positive changes are wonderful and should be applauded, but do not, by any account, mean that sexism has slunk, tail between its legs, back to the dark hole from whence it came. Until that day comes, I will continue to be a feminist and do all I can to secure not only equal rights, but respect for my boundaries and my decisions, as well as a feeling of true security. And to anyone, female or male, out there who is interested in creating a better world, you should join us––nothing but good can come from it.
