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I have been alternately angered and dismayed in recent years, when women who obviously espouse the ideals of feminism
(equal pay for equal work, reproductive freedom, justice when assaulted...) have been loathe to identify themselves as feminists, or insist that they are not feminists.
It does not, however, surprise me.Since the mid-eighties, when the attack began, feminists have been portrayed as man-hating lesbians, anti-family screaming shrews, communists, and "FemiNazis."
It's significant that Rush Limbaugh should choose that term, and that his imbecilic sycophants should latch on to it with zealous glee- since the expression itself is oxymoronic. Nazis were fascist, (designated as right-wing, anti-socialist) whereas the women's movement as a whole, and certainly those of its members singled out by TheBigFatIdiot, lean to the left.
Recently, detractors have claimed feminist organizations (NOW in particular) are elitist, middle-class and anglocentric.
This has not been my experience, and it seems to me that elitist and middle-class are contradictory.
Yet, for the sake of argument, let's assume that NOW membership, contibutors to other feminist organizations, and activists are mostly educated, middle-class, and white.
DOES IT MATTER?
If this were the case, it would be for the simple reason that these are the individuals who have the time and the resources.
They are fighting for the rights of all.
The issues of child-care, equality in the workplace, reproductive choice, services for battered women, and the right to go outside without fear, are (or should be) the concerns of all women.
In recent years women have been assaulted by messages telling them to be good little girls, get out of the workforce and back to the kitchen.
- "The New Morality"- An early reaction to the AIDS crisis, and a message aimed exclusively at women.
- "The Man Shortage"- false statistics which nonetheless filled magazines and television with bulletins of doom for a year.
- "The Infertility Epidemic"- which told women in their twenties to have children first before attempting a career, because career stress was keeping women in their thirties from conceiving. (no research was done on what low sperm counts might have to do with it.)
- "The Biological Clock"- The moral of the story? Women are slaves to their anatomy. Give in and go home.
- "The Day-Care Scare"- Day care was detrimental to "bonding," led to low achievment in school, and the centers were filled with child molesters. (abuses were few, and mostly in "Christian -HomeCare." Children in daycare were as successful as their peers, and better at socialization.)
- "The War On Welfare"- Where has the money gone? Between 1980 and 1995, the income of the top 1% grew by 98%.(Their combined weath now equals that of the bottom 95%) Between 1980 and 1995, the AFDC payments to mothers and children were cut by 57%.
Welfare is actually a tiny slice of the pie-chart. Infinitesimal when compared to the monies paid (annually and for life) to everyone who has ever passed through Congress- including the "disguished gentleman" Packwood.
- "Female Burnout"- Evil feminism told women they could "have it all," yet it turns out that the girls were so much happier staying at home! (Nothing was said of The Glass Ceiling, the reluctance of men to share household duties, or harassment in the workplace- that was considered mere "whining" or "bitching.")
It gives me some solace to know that society has taken an anti-feminist turn before, and the women's movement has always recovered. Whenever women have made progress toward equality, male dominated society has felt threatened.
"Women have become so powerful that our independence has been lost in our own homes and is now being trampled and stamped under foot in public."
Pat Robertson? A line from The Promise Keepers manual?
No. Cato in 195 B.C.E. after Roman women sought the right to ride in chariots and wear multicolored dresses.
In the mid-1800s, after suffrage leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony led the movement for the right to vote, and such "liberties" as education, jobs, marital and property rights, and voluntary motherhood- religious leaders, political leaders, and a plethora of "scholars" responded with vehemence:
- The education of women was said to create nothing but "spinster gentlewomen."
- Cerebral activity of any kind was said to produce "a brain-womb conflict" producing infertility.
- Women who worked were alleged likely to suffer from "exhaustion of the nervous system."
- Ambition was said to cause a loss of femininity to "hermaphroditism."
"Two steps forward, one step back" is hardly the most effective method of progress.
As fifty-two percent of the population, American women do not have to proceed in this manner.
Many women turn a blind eye to the women's movement, rather than admit that we have not achieved equality.
It's more comforting to assure oneself that we are equal, and hard work will be rewarded, regardless of gender.
If this were the case, however, women would not represent two-thirds of all poor adults, earn 78 cents to the male dollar, the United States would not have the worst gender-based pay gap of all developed nations, and still be the only industrialized country to ignore the issue of child care.
(Bob Dole, during his "pro-family" campaign for the presidency:)
"I do hope we can move on to matters of importance and stop playing games with this parental leave and child care."
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