Feminism: A Personal Perspective - Essay Example

of the Concerned Women's Studies 11 August 2008 Feminism: A Personal Perspective Any attempt to define feminism is a futile exercise and smacks of gross ignorance and a pathetic lack of awareness pertaining to the contemporary trends and issues. Infact any effort to define feminism undermines the very purpose of engaging in women's studies. The very beauty of feminism lies in the fact that it defies all definitions and constraints. It vehemently denies all preconceived notions pertaining to the expectations, prerogatives and the rights associated with women. It revolts against any attempt to delineate what women can do and what they cannot do. In simple words, feminism means to relieve our daughters, sisters and girlfriends of the bothersome burden of being taken for granted, so far so their choices and preferences in life are concerned. To draw a parallel in a male perspective, just ever try to lecture a well informed and self respecting male about what manhood means or what it should mean. There is a 9 in 10 chance that the nave and audacious perpetrator will receive looks of outright indignation and aversion, if not a straightforward rebuttal or gag. There in lies the secret of male dominance. Right from the prehistoric times, men have defied all attempts to define or delineate manhood. Despite the amorous attempts made by romantic novelettes and popular magazines to deify the male ideal of 'tall, dark and handsome (TDH)', it is a fact that a majority of men do not fulfill such credentials. Still they manage to wear their pants with pride and often with arrogance. Sometimes men may temporarily conform to these notions as a gesture of resorting to some sort of mating dance, but it is a fact that there exists no universal definition of manhood. Even if it exists, men are allowed to compensate for not complying with it by making achievements in terms of career and wealth augmentation. Contrary to this, there does exist a universal idea if not definition about womanhood that permeates all the cultures and societies and is engraved deep in the human consciousness. Women often cannot and many a time are not allowed to transcend this idea that brings in its wake a burden of expectations and constraints. There exist definite and stereotypical ideas about what womanhood means and feminism is the field of study that intends to shatter such obnoxious and repressive ideas. Though women's study intends to place women at the centre of all intellectual enquiries, the thing to be kept in mind is that the fact that feminism defies all stereotypical notions transcends all gender specifications. The fact that feminism intends to liberate women from the shackles of all preconceived notions also assumes the relevance of same rights and prerogatives for men. Feminism intends to revolt against all forms of repression of women and the rights it intends to seek are or should be universal, transcending all gender specifications. Feminists should remember that this ideal is not a philosophical pie in the sky but is infact imperative for the relevance and sustenance of all forms of feminist struggles. "The true form of revolutionary change is never merely the repressive situations that we seek to escape , but the piece of oppressor that is planted deep within each of us (May 196)." It is imperative for the adherents of feminism to not to fall into the male trap of hating men. The very fact of doing so not only justifies and establishes the stereotypical notions about masculinity in our society but at the same time authenticates the stereotypical notions about women. The very act of hating or stereotyping men gives them the opportunity to define what feminism is or should be. Feminism is not about hating the sinner but the sin. It is not about hating men but the repressive norms and institutions engineered by the male dominated society. The very act of hating or degrading men in a stereotypical sense deprives the feminist struggle of all its verve and relevance. Mass media and popular publications catering to women are often replete with works and messages that intend to stereotype men. How many times do we come across comedy serials in which the lady of the house being ill leads to a state of anarchy being let loose in the house owing to the poor housekeeping skills of the man of the house This imbecile and buffoon like representation of men as being incapable of simple household tasks like cooking, ironing, taking care of children, gives a sense of power and satisfaction to women and in doing so reinforces the stereotypical notions about women as being natural house keepers and home makers. Feminists should be careful about not to go for such traps. Infact the media programs and print publications that are publicized as being women specific or catering to women are the one that primarily uphold and reinforce stereotypical notions about women. Hence the feminist struggle is against all types of female stereotypes in particular and against any form of gender stereotypes in general. Feminist struggle against the past and existing repression cannot be used as an excuse for practicing hypocrisy, at least not within the domain of women's studies. Nature created sexuality that is created biological differences between men and women, but it is society that nurtured and propagated gender. The way women conceptualize how they should act and behave or about what they can do and what they cannot do is a notion of social construction. Women's status in the Western world has improved enormously, but the revolution that will make women and men truly equal has not yet occurred. I argue that the reason is that gender divisions still deeply bifurcate the structure of modern society. Feminists want women and men to be equal, but few talk about doing away with gender divisions altogether (Lorber, "Using gender" 85) Many a times, ardent feminists, carried away by their zeal, interpret gender neutrality as being akin to depriving the women of their natural traits and abilities, which constitute an integral part of their psychosomatic framework. Any student of fundamental anatomy and physiology knows that men and women have distinct differences is their body structure and each of them has a unique endocrine system and hormones. This give a unique physical and psychological framework to men and women (even if we negate the psychological influences impinged on the male and female consciousness by the society), which are often eulogized or degraded in the male language as being 'strong' or 'delicate'. Gender implications in such tendencies originate from the fact that female attributes have been traditionally degraded and devalued in the society, a phenomenon that has multifarious ramifications at a practical level. This very act of referring to female attributes as being 'frail' or 'delicate' not only denigrates the traits common to women in general, but leave only two options open to women, either to use them to their advantage to solicit male attention and favour by quietly condescending to stereotypical feminine roles or to strive to succeed in the male dominated society by desexing themselves and assuming male attributes. The second option is often replete with unpleasant consequences. Also the women who try to compete by the dint of their female attributes and strengths have to face stiff resistance. This degradation of the feminine attributes is markedly evident in the advertising industry (Chineze). In a majority of advertisements, woman body is used to sell cars, liquor, cereals, perfumes and what not. In doing so the advertising industry not only insults the attributes that are generally considered to be feminine, even if they are determined by the society, but it also reduces the female body to the level of a purchasable product. The main objective behind such advertisements is to exploit female sexuality and the male attraction for it. This establishes that gender biased notions of human body have a social and cultural context and the female body is specifically typified in such contexts (Lorber, "Gendered Bodies") The feminists of the yore are often heard complaining that the days of feminism are over and the new generation though relishing the fruits of feminist struggle, is least interested in it. Actually this is far from the truth and the new generation is as much committed to the feminist mores as their celebrated predecessors. Feminism has not died, but the new age feminists are responding to the urgency of the times by doing a balancing act between the career requirements and feminist politics with the intersection of established conventions and novel developments (Findlen, "Listen Up"). In the contemporary times, globalization is the biggest phenomenon that is going to have far reaching consequences for women all over the world. Most of the instruments of globalization like international financial institutions, male dominated governments, and male oriented international capitalist interests have a major stake in the world economy and are in a position to influence the drafting of international statutory documents and treaties that could prove to be detrimental to the feminist interests in the times to come. Any lackluster attitude on the part of the feminists will leave them unable to undo the implications of the treaties and trade agreements once drafted and ratified by the respective countries. Hence it has become imperative for the feminist forces all over the world to reorganize themselves and to concentrate on the economic and career interests of women. Till now, not only has the capitalism devalued women's contribution to the national economies by undervaluing their skills but has added insult to injury with the help of nefarious instruments like unequal pay and professional segregation. Ample statistical and documentary evidence is available to prove that capitalism has deprived women not only of their basic rights as human beings but has meticulously cheated them of their hard earned labor since decades. Research shows that women in the UK earn just 82 percent of what their male counterparts earn from the same work. The situation in Scotland is equally dire with full time female workers earning 80 percent of what male workers earn. In Ireland more than 40 percent of women earn less then GBP 100 a week as compared to nearly 20 percent of men. In the USA full time female workers earn merely 77 percent of the earnings of the male workers. Things are more or less the same in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the Europe. All this has been happening since decades despite the fact that equal pay legislations have been enacted by all these nations and the employment equity for women is considered to be a fundamental right by the International Labor Organization and the UN. The ramifications of pay inequity and professional segregation get worse when seen in the context of racial implications. Thus the fight for non-exploitative employment and pay equity by women is not merely a financial or social issue but has much deeper running sincerities and goals. Infact it is a way of expressing the pent up anger and indignation against a system that was built around exploitation and harassment (Goodman 1). Hence the new age feminists are the direct inheritors of all the remarkable women of the 20th century (Findlen, "Remarkable Women" 77). Feminist studies have two fundamental approaches i.e. theoretical and issue based. The contemporary times involve fast changing scenarios like war, market fluctuations, trade treaties, etc. that call for a prompt and accurate response. Hence it is imperative for the contemporary feminists to fight for the ideals and rights cherished by the warriors of the yore and at the same time maintain a pragmatic and common sensical approach to the emerging issues and challenges. Total Words: 1950 Works Cited Chineze, J Onyejekwe. "Advertising and the Exploitation of Female Sexuality". Quiet Mountain Essays. (2005). 11 August 2008 Findlen, Barbara. Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation. New York: Avalon Publishing Group: 2001 Findlen, Barbara. Remarkable Women of the 20th Century Desk Diary 2000, New York: Sterling Pub Inc: 2003 Goodman, Ellen. "For woman equal pay means that and more". The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1997). HighBeam Research. 12 August 2008 May, Vivian. "Discliping Feminist Futures". Women's Studies for the Future. Ed. EL Kennedy, Agatha Beins. London: Rutgers University Press, 2005.196 Lorber, Judith. Gendered Bodies. London: Oxford University Press: 2007 Lorber, Judith. "Using gender to undo gender: A feminist degendering movement ". Feminist Theory, Vol. 1 (2000): 79-95 Read More