I receive 2-3 emails a week from Odyssey, which include, aside from announcement's from my team's editors, an overview of featured articles on the site.
If I'm being honest, those particular emails typically go unnoticed. This week was different. The headline in the subject line caught my attention- so much so that I had to abscond to the restroom at work and read it immediately.
Ellie Winters' article called "I'm the Girl Who'd Rather Raise a Family Than a Feminist Protest Sign" provoked my curiosity for a number of reasons.
My initial hope was that the title was intended to be some sort of clever click-bait and that the controversial segue was to establish a commentary on something like domestic feminism. I felt this had to be the case, because even the name of the article is a fallacy, suggesting that women have two options in life; becoming a mother/homemaker or actively supporting- what seems to be the insane concept- that women are equal to men.
In the article, Ms. Winters establishes herself as a proponent for "girl power," as well as "aware" of the "strides made by many women before [her]," but her argument is riddled with misogyny.
Perhaps the most disturbing idea she presents is that there is no longer any reason to protest based on the claim that she "[knows] more female managers in the workforce than male", "[knows] more women in business than men," and "[knows] more female students in STEM programs than male students."
Beyond concluding that my fellow Odyssey contributor does not have a promising career in the research field, I was outraged.
Ms. Winters, I'm sorry that feminist protests offend you and your ambition to raise a family, but it offends me that you would dare refer to the entire female population as a sisterhood. I could never consider someone my sister, who believes that the rest of us should stop fighting for equality for the sake of her picket fence dream.
Ms. Winters, "me, too" is not just a hashtag, it's a battle cry. Maybe in your own life, you have had the privilege of never feeling marginalized, but women have not reached the top. We are scratching and clawing to escape the bottom; fighting for the rights to our own bodies, fighting to be believed, fighting to be respected. Ms. Winters, you are not my sister.
You are not an advocate for womankind.
Your article is a testament to the ignorance of our society.
You can love your husband, you can love your family, you can "embrace" your maternal instincts, and at the same time, YOU CAN EVEN BELIEVE THAT WOMEN DESERVE TO BE REGARDED AS EQUAL TO MEN.
Here is to the single mothers, the women working 9-5, the women working night shifts, the women who suffer abuse, the women in other countries who are not allowed to work, who are not allowed to drive a car. Progress is still necessary, and we must march so that we are not marched upon.
I'm happy that you found purpose in life, Ms. Winters, but many women are still fighting for the ability to have a purpose at all. Ms. Winters, you are not my sister.
