Welcome back! If you are just now tuning in, we have been discussing the topic of feminism. As a brief recap, according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, feminism can be defined as "the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes." To be a feminist means to stand by these ideas and work toward achieving these goals. For more on my thoughts on the word “feminist," check out “So You’re Like A Femanazi, Right? Part 1."
At this point, you may be wondering, “Okay, so I understand that feminism is not about man hating or being argumentative, but I still don't get why it's necessary?” This question is something that I have thought about a lot. There were a few moments in my life where I wondered whether there was still a need for feminism. Heck, it has been a great time for girls, specifically in the United States! We can own property and vote, and are working toward equal pay. Public figures and celebrities have said that violence against women is horrific and women are becoming more involved in many former masculine fields such as the sciences, the military and politics. If you take an bullet point look at where we were 100 years ago, and where we are today, then, yes, we have made progress.
If you have ever been a leader or in any type of management, you know that progress does not mean that the work is fully finished. Changing patterns and habits, while introducing new ideas, takes time. I view feminism in this regard, as a still growing idea. Interestingly enough, feminism is also a relatively new idea, beginning in the late 1800s.
Back during the time of its creation in the 1800s, women had very few legal rights. This was changed as women going into the 1900s earned the right to own property, to vote and to have the opportunity to fight for custody of their children after a divorce. These items were the sole focus of what is often known as the first wave of feminism.
Women were not content to simply have the right to vote and own land, especially after World War II where women filled a variety of positions within the working force. After the war ended, the expectation was that women were to return to the home, yet once the female population was freed from expectations and were given the opportunity to have careers, they were not all content to simply be raised to marry and create families. This lead into the 1960s where the second wave of feminism emerged. This wave expanded to include challenging the roles and expectations of women within the home, shedding a light on domestic violence and discussing birth control and women’s sexuality. During this time, feminism prominently became about challenging the boxes that many felt resigned to and seeing women as more than secondary citizens.
Lastly, feminism has settled into a third wave. This wave has carried on many of the same ideas as the second wave such as ending violence, fighting rape, pushing for better and more accessible healthcare for women and erasing the glass ceiling, among other things. Feminism has become quite inter-sectional in its nature. Inter-sectional feminism can be defined as the view that inequality is a result of a variety of issues such as racism and sexism, and that these inequalities all could contribute to an individual being at a disadvantage or being discriminated against.
Overall, progress has been made, some things have been solved, restructured or morphed as a result of those that have fought for change. Unfortunately, there is still much to be done to achieve true equality. I will focus on issues specifically facing women today, particularly in regards to harassment, equal pay, under-representation, victim blaming and violence.
The first thing I would like to address is the issue of sexual violence, including rape, in the United States. According to a report released in 2015 by the Department of Justice, every two minutes, someone is sexually assaulted and one in every six women have been raped. These statistics do not even touch upon the aftermath, the psychological trauma that these individuals are forced to work through as a result of being harmed. This is not to dissuade or minimize the experiences and trauma of the males that have been sexually assaulted. Rather it is important to note that disproportionately much of the time, women are the ones that are harmed. These women are not only someone’s sister, daughter, friend, or mother, rather they are a living, breathing person that did not deserve sexual violence committed against them.
The second issue that I see facing many women today is the issue of equal pay. According to the research conducted, published in 2014 by the White House, women make an average of 79 cents to every dollar that a man earns in that same position. This is not okay. According to the research, a woman can work hard, produce results and be equal to a man in their position and job, yet not be given the same compensation. We could argue the reasons for this, such as perhaps women not asking for higher pay or subtle discrimination -- regardless, it is an issue that must be noted and addressed.
Harassment is the next issue that I see as something prominent. I challenge you to ask your mothers and sisters, friends and significant others if they have ever felt harassed. I guarantee that there has been at least one time in their life that they have been catcalled or spoken to inappropriately. Personally, I have been gifted with a variety of unwanted touches and verbal advances, not to mention many of my team members that have come up and told me of the unwanted advances that they received from others, mainly the customers that form our clientele. Working with the public means that I interact with a variety of people on a daily basis, often times this ranges from immensely kind, almost grandfather-like firefighters and incredibly kind fellow "Star Wars" nerds, to that former engineer twice my age who called me "baby girl" or the boy who grabbed my rear end while I walked past him. People often think that those things do not occur or do not occur often, but unfortunately, women face harassment more often than they might even realize. Women have been conditioned to take these things in strides, and have been belittled when they stand up and say that they feel harassed.
Not only are women often dissuade from speaking up about the harassment they receive, but they are often blamed for this harassment. Unfortunately, this blaming also includes not only harassment, but also sexual violence and rape. The most recent example of this would be the highly publicized sentencing of Brock Turner, a college student who raped an unconscious girl. He received six months, expecting to be cut down to three months. The unnamed victim was subjected to critique over what she wore and how she should have been more careful to not get drunk. Never was there mention of the emotional and physical trauma her body and mind went through, never was there mention of his high likelihood of repeat offending. Time and time again, rapists are given minor sentences and allowed the opportunity to re-offend.
Lastly, this most recent third wave has also worked toward causing there to be better representation of women in the media. Women have come a long way toward being adequately represented and shown, moving from being one-dimensional sidekicks to women with stories and flaws. Take for instance, the network television channel ABC and their Thursday night lineup, which writer Shonda Rhimes has had a hand directly or indirectly influencing three major television shows. These shows, "Grey’s Anatomy," "Scandal" and "How To Get Away With Murder," feature a diverse cast, varying in age, race, sexual orientation and gender. Characters on these shows, specifically the female characters, are complex and layered. Though there are still some genres within entertainment that are still catching up to containing diversity, much has changed and is working to be changed in this avenue.
This is only scratching the surface of the work that feminism still has to do -- this is not even including political representation, women’s health, trafficking and the overt sexualization of women in the media. The United States has made much progress toward an equal society, yet there is still much work to be done.
At this point, you might be starting to see how I have come to the conclusion that feminism is still needed, yet these reasons are not even my full reason for still believing that feminism is still necessary. Instead, I still fully believe that feminism is still necessary because women are still at a disadvantage in countries even outside of the United States. These inequalities show up more horrifically, such as in places where arranged marriages are still prominent. In other countries, punishment still can be rape, even for the crimes of others. Outside of the United States, women are not all treated equally.
Because of the inequality that women experience and feel around the world, I will still use the title “feminist." Until all women are given equal opportunity and treatment, feminism will be a word that I will continue to use and attribute my beliefs to. It is a bold word and a bold concept to stand by, yet sometimes change requires a blunt idea to shake up complacency. As Audre Lorde said it once so lovely,
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
(If you want to learn more about why feminism is actually good for men and practical ways to help aid in the creation of equal society, tune in next week for my third and final part of “So You’re Like A Feminazi, Right?”)
(https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-vi...)
(https://www.dol.gov/featured/equalpay)
