Feminism

“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself” -Simone de Beauvoir

I saw this quote this morning and it made me want to write regarding feminism. Ooh, that dreaded word. "So you're a feminist, eh? Why should women be above men? Men should have rights too." Well, that which you're describing would not be feminism. Feminism promotes the idea that women and men should be treated....equally. It's pushing for women's rights in order for women to be on an equal playing field to men. I know this is hard to understand for many people because it SEEMS like there is gender equality. Just like there is racial equality, but there isn't, socially or legally (and now I am sure I will rile people up by saying there isn't legal equality, but there isn't because laws may be interpreted and enacted differently based on the situation. So laws can be just as subjective as social expressions of power.

In the US, there are still considerable stereotypes that women and men both share about the nature and role of women in society. The US isn't even in the top ten countries on the UN's list of the most gender-egalitarian countries in the world.

I do occasionally beef with feminists over political correctness, which is also an issue that I end up having with some American liberals as well, because I think the PC movement goes too far and limits self-expression. We end up on a slippery slope of regulating words without any real explanation of why there might be a need for someone to change their perspective. Education over regulation would be my suggestion.

Imagine that you're a woman (if you're not already) and some dude standing in front of the store you're walking by calls out to you, "Nice stems, Doll-face." Sure, you can go back and tell him that what he said was "politically incorrect" to  objectify a particular aspect of your body, but you'd also be assuming 1. that he'd give a shit about being PC, and 2. that he'd even understand why you wouldn't want his "compliment." I'd like to, for shock value, which is probably something he'd "get," respond with, "Small package, Shitbrains." However, since there is no demeaning, yet positive (?) comeback that would have the same effect on making a man feel like he's being viewed through a glass window at all times,  any positive response might end up in a flurry of more unwanted attention by him. This hypothetical illustrates to me that there isn't really a way to avoid being objectified and having to "take" it beyond a complete re-education and upheaval of our current societal  "norms." If you have not seen this short film yet, I ask you to watch it. The director does a great job of portraying what women experience on a daily basis. In the US and many "westernized" countries, it's not like women are being treated horrifically, but it's a slow, continual pulse of "other" that still seethes up to remind you that it's there.

Yesterday, I went to buy plants from a local gardening shop. The shopkeep was a middle aged man, walking around without a shirt while watering his plants. His body, to OBJECTIFY HIM, was not spectacular, but he seemed to be pretty proud of it being on display, as he made it his mission to find me at three different locations in the giant greenhouse to tell me that he'd be able to help with anything I needed. Thanks, dude, I heard you the first time.

Let's come to a place where men and women can share social and political spheres without their interactions always tainted by sex. If I can "keep in in my pants" to get through a conversation without getting a vibe that you're checking me out, then so can you. It's not even self-control. It's having an iota of respect for other bodies around you. They are not there to fulfill your whims at will.