Not long ago, I sat in a coffee shop minding my own business when a gaggle of young college students sat down within earshot. Any of you that have been in a coffee shop recently understand that suddenly an unwitting hostage to the groups discussion. Turns out, I had stumbled onto the local feminist organization at one of our states prestigious universities.
At first I was just curious, the group was about six or seven people strong, including a couple of young men, mostly freshman and sophomores. So as I casually attempted to read my New Yorker I became more and more drawn into the conversation going on beside me. Nothing outright negative or appalling was discussed since most of the young people were already of the same mind and so the meeting focused primarily on activism.
I have to admit I was also a little disappointed in their action plan, and it is here I should probably admit that I am do not consider myself a feminist. Even though I do appreciate the world that has been opened to me because of the work of early feminist’s such as my right to vote, own property and earn equal pay and responsibility with my male peers. However, thanks to my encounter with these aspiring feminists I had a major revelation as to why I have such a hard time embracing the role and ideals of the current movement.
As I listened to these young men and women strategize, I realized just how dumb it sounded to raise awareness on a college campus, filled with a generation of men and women that had grown up without much masculine oppression what so ever. It seemed to me that this nation and especially this age-group didn’t have much to complain about, let alone fight for.
In fact, it seems like feminism is one movement that may have served its purpose. Personally, I feel down-right selfish “fighting” against men, who never have mistreated me or stepped on my rights, especially when there are SO many other causes that need attention. I feel silly and selfish “fighting” for my rights, in the face of world-poverty, human trafficking, female genital mutilation, and AIDS only to name a few.
I’ll also admit that if I had accidentally stumbled into this meeting of the minds and they were planning to send money to programs that rescue women from forced prostitution or slavery, I probably would have signed up on the spot. I would gladly give my time to an organization that is assisting women gain education and economic opportunities or educating women on AIDS or infant care.
But much to my chagrin this little band of brave men and women were planning a flyer campaign to change people’s perception of the color pink. Sigh, am I the only one who thinks this is a pitiful waste of time?
2 comments:
Not the only one. But it occurs to me that we actually haven't come all that far. Well, we have in the U.S. -- but across the rest of the world we have women living in poverty, women being treated as property, women being trafficked and women being brutalized. The feminist movement has made small changes that impact you and me, but must now broaden its scope to impact the rest of the world.
If these college students were in the Mid-East or in Africa their fight would not seem so futile. I still think we have a long way to go here in the US (we are still blaming the rape victim, for example, which I believe goes hand in hand with our culture's views towards women), but the more we are able to champion the rights of women around the world, the more likely it is that women's rights at home will be championed, too.
Well but all of wht Rebekah says you already said in this post, SK. Your critique was of this specific group and the specific thing they are fighting and I am in full agreement and add mostly an "AMEN to that!" I am SO SICK of the petty battles feminists are fighting that seems to aim at doing away with gender altogether! What happened to rejoicing in our differences? I, for one, don't want to be a man. I love our differences. I love that only together, male and female, do we fully represent the image of God.
But I did see a pink tee in the men's section in target that said "real men wear pink"- maybe if you run into these girls in the coffee shop again you can give them a heads up on them for their campaigning purposes. :)
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