A Younger Feminist’s Reflection on The Feminine Mystique

[ismnotwasm]

Sexism is as foundational to society as it was during the Mad Men era that drove Betty Draper and Betty Friedan mad, if you ask me. The major difference is that people don’t smoke inside, and like colors and hemlines and shag carpets, oh the styles of expression are different.
For-men-only employment ads have jumped over to the lifestyle section of the newspaper, where you see presumed for-women-only feature articles about that ever-elusive “work/life balance.”
(Put no paid parenting leave; no childcare support; and no legal guarantee that you won’t get fired for asking what your coworkers are getting paid on a see-saw: Somehow it always seems to be the women dragged to the ground while men sit on top of Fortune 500 companies, law partnerships, and corporate boards almost totally by themselves. Most “work/life balance” experts say a super pink, super non-structural self-help approach will solve it, no government required! What a sexist joke.)
Only yesterday The New York Times published a column about “pro-life feminism,” in which a man sympathetic to the anti-human rights movement bringing you comparisons of pregnant women to farm animals, bills suggesting that women raped who have abortions be prosecuted for “tampering with evidence” and men-only congressional panels comparing the availability of birth control to choosing a place to go for lunch – a man sympathetic to all of that suggested that feminism be reformed. I beg your pardon.

http://erintothemax.com/2013/01/28/a-younger-feminists-reflection-on-the-feminine-mystique/

[redqueen]

1. I like the overall message, but...

I think all the pomo, super inclusive, 'feminism can be whatever you want it to be!' message toward the end is not helping. That is why we see not just anti-feminist women but men adding their two cents about pro life crap, not to mention all the misguided, so-called "sex-positive" nonsense which has hurt so many young women.

I'm not saying that is the message she meant to send. In fact I think it definitely isn't. But there needs to be some kind of guideline. 'I'm a woman and I chose it so its feminist' is flat out wrong.

[seabeyond]

2. a man sympathetic to all of that suggested that feminism be reformed.

Only yesterday The New York Times published a column about “pro-life feminism,” in which a man sympathetic to the anti-human rights movement bringing you comparisons of pregnant women to farm animals, bills suggesting that women raped who have abortions be prosecuted for “tampering with evidence” and men-only congressional panels comparing the availability of birth control to choosing a place to go for lunch – a man sympathetic to all of that suggested that feminism be reformed. I beg your pardon.

i got to this and think, k... sounds good. but as i read the rest of the article, seems like it was doing just this.

[ismnotwasm]

3. These is a worse article that's actually referenced in this one

I wanted to post about Betty Friedman, but that choice feminism is 'a thing' in blogs these days. I agree, It's placating, and doesn't help. There was a good article on that very thing, I'll see if I can find it.

Ah, here it is

I read an interesting article recently on The Peach, an Australian website for young feminists. In it, author Shanrah Wakefield looked at the compulsion for some feminists to argue amongst each other about who did and didn't have the right to call themselves a feminist based on their actions, based on a recent move by Katy Perry to distance herself from the term. It was a thought provoking read, but I didn't agree with one of its arguments: that "every woman’s success is a contribution, in some form or another", and that "each time a woman achieves success on her own terms, she’s re-enforcing capability of the gender and she should be met with a round of applause."

I think it's a little more complicated than that. In the age of You Go Girl feminism, it’s become increasingly difficult for feminists to criticise the actions of other women without being accused of betraying the sisterhood. Our choices, we are told, should be honoured and respected because we are All In This Together and we must support each other in our various kaleidoscopic destinies. But the demonstration of feminism shouldn't be to sit in a Kumbaya circle and acknowledge the bravery involved in diverse decision making. Choice and the ability to freely make it is central to feminist ideology; but it doesn’t follow that all choices should be accepted as feminist acts and therefore given a free pass. Katy Perry may have achieved great success in the pop music world - but her 'contribution' to women's suffrage is entirely open to debate when she publicly chooses to discount feminism's influence while accepting a music award, apropos of nothing other than the apparent desire to ingratiate herself to those who think women are getting a little bit too grabby.

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/the-myth-of-empowerment-20130128-2dghy.html