Okay, this is my first time posting a blog, but here it goes:
As I grow older, I find myself trapped by some of the ideals put forth by feminist movements. For example, the role of housewife is seen to be unworthy of a woman's time. Instead of being trapped in that role, with little hope of doing anything else, women are pushed to be working mothers (inflation can be blamed too). Shouldnt, along with the new opportunities for women provided by feminism, a appreciation of traditional female roles also be created?
Another thing I've noticed is the view of menustration and the sick role. Women are often not allowed to feel bad during their periods. Even during days more unpleasant than colds or flus (which are excusable illnesses) women are forced to continue their normal routine. The practice of allowing women to skip classes during menustration or given some leeway in normal activities was termed "sexist." Well, yes, men don't have to deal with having to menustrate. There are actual differences between are genders, and while we should be treated equally, I am not sure if we should be treated the same. I'm not saying every month every woman is completely incapable of functioning for a week just that society has decided to define that week as something a little Mydol and avoidance can cure.
I certainly am not anti-feminist, It's just interesting to take a look at how sometimes overzealousness can backfire.
Does that make sense? Does anyone have any more examples of where they have found feminism has had a negative effect on the lives of women?
As food for thought I would refer you to my own blog about feminism -- where I ponder what feminism should and shouldn't be.
Beyond that, there's little I can offer here that I didn't post in that blog...
/jkh
Thanks,
very interesting
Firstly, congrats on a great first blog, and welcome.
I agree with (somewhat) and sympathize with your dissent with the femminist movement. However, like most movements that introduce change, they often go a bit "radical" at first, in order to bring society into the middle ground. Like civil rights movements, change often begins with a polarization of opinions (you have the white supremecists vs. Malcolm X, for example.)
I am confident that femminism will lead to equality in the end, as the movement settles (as movements tend to do)and society will find that middle ground. Let's not forget that there IS a lot of discrimination out there towards women.
Of course traditions can be great things. Women should never be discouraged from being the mothers, the cooks, the home-makers. They also shouldn't be discouraged from being the career woman, the CEO, the leader.
I have personally faced femminist and traditional discrinimnation of both types. My household is pretty femminist; there aren't very prevalent gender roles in my family, at least. Whether my family likes it or not, however, I do personally adore my own femminine traditions; I love children, cooking, carrying on family lore, crafts, etcetera.
But I've also faced tradition-ist discrimination. I am an economics major. There aren't many women in this field, and I have been in very large classes before, in which I am one of only a couple of women. And no matter how many times I tell my grandfather that I am an economics major, he insists that I am a HOME economics major. (I have to just roll my eyes at that! :)
Anyway, a few examples from my own life. Great post, and I do think that women (and men) should feel free to fill whatever gender roles they choose--whether liberal or conservative. I think that society will eventually find it's way there.
Somewhere between the Martha Stewarts and the Margaret Chos, modern women will find their identities.
Thanks,
Allison
"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~Mahatma Gandhi
would get very horrible menstrual symptoms--she was basically bedridden one week out of every month. Whenever anyone asked if she had seen a doctor, she would just say "it's only a womens problem". At that time, womens health concerns were not nealy as important as mens. One of hte reasons why its less and less common for women to be 'excused" during menstruation, is that with new medical technologies, most women can go about their daily lives with little discomfort.