Sunday, March 06, 2011

Feminism - part IV

If you had asked me a few days ago if I think very much about feminism or women’s issues, I probably would have replied with a shrug. Like most people, I tend to get caught up in day-to-day activities and issues which I pressed in front of me.

But now that I’ve decided to write about women’s issues for a few days, I am reminded of so many aspects of this topic which tend to get pushed to the less frequently visited recesses of my mind – that is until something comes up to bring them to the forefront like the recent case in Manitoba I tried to blog about yesterday in my flu-y state (and have since edited).

Or I’ll sit down to watch a movie and find that women are portrayed as immature incompetents desperately in need of an alpha-male to take charge of their lives.

Or I’ll read a best-selling book such as Pillars of the Earth and be shocked at the blatant misogyny.

Or I’ll have a conversation with my women friends and realize that once again we are talking about the struggle of juggling jobs, child-raising, and housework.

Or I’ll open a newspaper and read about how women around the world are struggling for the right to education, to property, to family planning, to basic freedoms.

V made a good point when we were talking about this the other night. He asked if these are women’s rights or human rights. Hard to separate, really. Right to education, can easily say that’s a human right. But some of the other things that get my blood boiling, like misogyny in film and literature, is that a question of human rights or is that something in our culture, some pervasive disrespect of women?

To be honest, I have not found my life particularly hard ‘as a woman’. There are times I reap the benefits of being the ‘fairer sex’ – like when I breeze through international border crossings or have heavy things carried for me. But still, there are enough reminders out there that I should not become complacent or forget about the millions of women who struggle for basic human rights and human dignity.

3 comments:

  1. > Or I’ll sit down to watch a movie and find that
    > women are portrayed as immature incompetents
    > desperately in need of an alpha-male to take
    > charge of their lives.

    Watch network TV instead, you'll generally find the opposite to be true.

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  2. My main concern with mass media is the various ways that it condones violence, including sexual violence against women. I thought this column put it pretty well: http://clembastow.tumblr.com/post/3590311295/some-days-i-love-my-job-more-than-others

    Thanks for reminding me of International Women's Day. (Apparently this year is its centenary!)

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  3. Thanks Kate, good point - and great link!

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