Why I Need Feminism
I decided to do one of those "Why I Need Feminism" stories, since the phenomena is still going strong in spite of administrators' efforts to dampen it.
So:
I need feminism because…
...as a young, single woman whose friends are busy tonight, I had to stay in of be called a bitch. Because a woman going out to a bar or party or club alone is obviously looking for a man, and if I deny one who asks me, or propositions me, I am being a stuck-up c***. And, because if I did go out, and something happened, it would be my fault. Don't believe me?
...defense lawyers in major criminal cases are allowed to make a humiliating, very public spectacle of a rape victim's personal wardrobe choices and this is considered a valid line of questioning. Her personal choices and past actions make it okay for her to violated.
...judges are so threatened by female sexuality that they feel a 14 year old was equally culpable and responsible in her relationship with her 49-year old rapist teacher. She killed herself because of the shame of what she went through, but she was "in control" of the relationship and "older than her chronological age." Because, again, what happened to her was her fault for being too alluring. At age 14.
...a wife will be eviscerated in the public sphere for standing by her deeply flawed, sinning husband like Huma Abedin and for calling him on his horrible actions and trying to leave, like Skyler White. Nothing we do is right, apparently.
…of stories like this one I heard at work: A coworker's daughter was getting picked on, and physically struck and kicked, by a male classmates. Neither the aide, nor the teacher, nor the guidance counselor, nor the bus driver thought this warranted intervention, but when she gave the same physical violence back to him all the above called her mother in for a serious talk about the importance of using her words. Because a boy hurting a girl is just natural behavior; it means he likes her, but she is crossing some sacred line and emasculating him as well as not acting "feminine."
…people like my mom's boyfriend exist, and are in long-term relationships with women. He complains about having to go to a sexual harassment class because they all know how to treat women, then goes on a rant for fifteen minutes about how women shouldn't be in his field at all because they can't do it and get hurt, or else fake an injury to go and be "lazy whores" on workman's comp money.
…my brother can express great surprise and shock that a female columnist is able to display "logic and rationality," and his mother doesn't bother to correct him.
…people deliberately misunderstand, or just don't care enough to actually research, what feminism actually is and does.
Because I am not allowed to say any of this out loud, because I will get too angry and cry and therefore anything I am saying will be invalidating, and because of the date on the calendar means no one will take me seriously.
Because we need a "Why I Need Feminism" campaign in the first place.
So:
I need feminism because…
...as a young, single woman whose friends are busy tonight, I had to stay in of be called a bitch. Because a woman going out to a bar or party or club alone is obviously looking for a man, and if I deny one who asks me, or propositions me, I am being a stuck-up c***. And, because if I did go out, and something happened, it would be my fault. Don't believe me?
...defense lawyers in major criminal cases are allowed to make a humiliating, very public spectacle of a rape victim's personal wardrobe choices and this is considered a valid line of questioning. Her personal choices and past actions make it okay for her to violated.
...judges are so threatened by female sexuality that they feel a 14 year old was equally culpable and responsible in her relationship with her 49-year old rapist teacher. She killed herself because of the shame of what she went through, but she was "in control" of the relationship and "older than her chronological age." Because, again, what happened to her was her fault for being too alluring. At age 14.
...a wife will be eviscerated in the public sphere for standing by her deeply flawed, sinning husband like Huma Abedin and for calling him on his horrible actions and trying to leave, like Skyler White. Nothing we do is right, apparently.
…of stories like this one I heard at work: A coworker's daughter was getting picked on, and physically struck and kicked, by a male classmates. Neither the aide, nor the teacher, nor the guidance counselor, nor the bus driver thought this warranted intervention, but when she gave the same physical violence back to him all the above called her mother in for a serious talk about the importance of using her words. Because a boy hurting a girl is just natural behavior; it means he likes her, but she is crossing some sacred line and emasculating him as well as not acting "feminine."
…people like my mom's boyfriend exist, and are in long-term relationships with women. He complains about having to go to a sexual harassment class because they all know how to treat women, then goes on a rant for fifteen minutes about how women shouldn't be in his field at all because they can't do it and get hurt, or else fake an injury to go and be "lazy whores" on workman's comp money.
…my brother can express great surprise and shock that a female columnist is able to display "logic and rationality," and his mother doesn't bother to correct him.
…people deliberately misunderstand, or just don't care enough to actually research, what feminism actually is and does.
Because I am not allowed to say any of this out loud, because I will get too angry and cry and therefore anything I am saying will be invalidating, and because of the date on the calendar means no one will take me seriously.
Because we need a "Why I Need Feminism" campaign in the first place.