First of all, a shameless plug: feminist students at Old Dominion University now have a Feminism is for Everyone page (UVA also has one) - with frequent contributors. Our intent is to make it a community blog, where feminists from the area and our school can blog with us.
If you could, share the link with everyone, as we need more visitors.
Also, from now on, I will be posting both on here and on the page. Check it out and do whatever you can to help us promote this, please. Below is the link and my first post. There will be more features and developments to come!
Recently, with the nomination of Sarah Palin as the GOP's vice-presidential candidate and the historic run by Hillary Clinton, I've been confronted by many people who beg the question: why do we need feminism anymore, now that women have achieved equal rights and can do all that men can do?
Those who asked these questions, it seems, are members of the privileged class - those who never in their lives have had to worry about whether they can pay the rent, put food on the table, or continue their education without the worries of not being able to be tuition. Further, because they are privileged, those who assume we no longer need feminism also have not experienced the challenges of women (and men) who are less fortunate than they are, and thus are unable to see the need for feminism. If the personal is political - and it is - then one's political leanings and ideologies are reflections of one's personal lives.
I am one of those people - I grew up in a well-to-do family. Although I left at 18 in pursuit of a political career through the military, my experiences have been positive, compared to others. Being a member of a privileged class, however, does not mean that one cannot see and feel the challenges and pains of the less privileged. I may not ever know first hand what it means to be a woman or to live in poverty, but I know the challenges still exist, and it is the moral imperative of all of us to ease at times of discomfort, soothe at times of pain, and help at times of need.
One of resources we have at our disposal is feminism - which aims at not just bettering ourselves, giving us more choices, but also to better others' lives and give them more choices.
They say we no longer need feminism, but when Lily Ledbetter has to sue the Goodyear Company, we still need feminism.
When every first Tuesday of November, various states attempt to pass laws in regard to a woman's right to choose, we still need feminism.
When a female politician runs for office - and let's be fair, whether she be Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin - and is judged based on her looks instead of her policies, and questions of whether she'll be able to meet the demands of being a mother and politician, we still need feminism.
When women who walk down the streets are still subjected to "cat calls," making it uncomfortable and, in some cases, even threatening, for them to exist in the public spheres, we still need feminism.
When my classmates, friends and fellow activists still face the threats of date rape - and in some instances when they had been raped, were made to pay for their own test kits, we still need feminism.
When women's genitals are mutilated as a way to control their own sexuality, and passed off as "traditions," we still need feminism.
When societies believe it's better to hide the facts about human sexuality from teenagers, and as a result, millions of young women each year have to face unintended pregnancies, we still need feminism.
The list goes on - and I bet each of you reading this can add your own reason as to why feminism is still needed in America and around the world in 2008 (and please do add them), and until we have trouble coming up with reasons why we still need feminism, there is still a need for feminism.
So, what's our biggest challenge as feminists? For me, it is to debunk the notion that we no longer need feminism. For me, it's to raise the consciouness of a society - but also our own - about internalized and sometimes, overt sexism.
It isn't easy to challenge the sexisms of a society, but it's even harder to recognize and challenge our own internalized sexisms, especially as feminists - but I do hope this blog will provide such a place, where we are all given the space to teach and learn, confess the deepest of our fears and secrets about our feminist walks, and most of all, become better people, as to make a better world.
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"Feminism is for Everyone" is also the name of a completely ass-kicking Anti-Flag song. Much love to the male feminist punk rockers of that band (I think I may have swooned a little at the phrase "male feminist punk rockers").
And pretty much a big "right on" to everything else you said. (incidentally, "right on" is another Anti-Flag song...lol)
I really like the "When... We still need Feminism."
What an Awesome idea to have a Feminist page at your university!!!!
As a child, and even teen for that matter, I never thought about feminism or even there being different standards among women and men. I'm not sure when it happened, but there was a point in my life where I became aware of "real" adult concerns and how those apply to my life. One of those concerns was the realization that women are treated differently. I was a feminist before I had ever been introduced to the term. I went to college and learned more, now I'm still in college and still learning more! I love it. (I have a point-hang on.) I am an intense and passionate person, and when there is a cause or concern that I care about I get deeply involved with learning and discussing, etc. When I became aware and involved with Women's concerns and Feminism I found that nearly no one gets it. People that I have talked to-friends and family included-act like "I" am overreacting and that there is no problem. I can break it down pretty good about why feminism is still valid by trying to tailor my responses specifically to the person that I am talking to, sometimes that doesn't even work. I feel so upset because of this brain-washed idea that women are doing just fine nowdays. Point being that I am on my owm mission as well to show the validity of feminism to people today-to my peers who aren't married but call themselves "housewife" as an occupation on MySpace or who wouldn't dare put their child in daycare because her husband has said that isn't right and she of course agrees with him So Much, or for the moms who insist on buying their daughters and only their daughters dolls complete with strollers, diapers, a baby sling, & play pak. for example. Awareness is the biggest need as far as I'm concerned.
On another note, if you want to read up on more reasons feminism is still needed today, I suggest reading The Price of Motherhood by Ann Crittenden-this is Not Danielle. This book breaks down just how our country in particular "appreciates" mothers. Motherhood is something that most women will contend with at some in our lives and this illustrates how motherhood could be the most costly occupation. Oh, and another book The Mommy Myth shows how the media has led us into this new or refreshed baby-wanting child-craving swoon in recent times and how it has made motherhood seem like the end all be all fantasy that all women should aspire to. These are examples of why feminism is valid today and they are things that every woman will or has come face to face with.
For your university page, it might be helpful if the members had a bookclub or reading list type thing so that everyone can become more aware of the different concerns that women and feminism faces.