The Changing Face of Feminism

[SoDesuKa]

Early feminism made some pretty extravagant promises. Increase women's participation in the workplace and corporations will become less selfish, more family-friendly, more nurturing. Increase women's participation in government, and we'll have an equitable society without homelessness, hunger or war. Sisterhood was a powerful force for good in the world.

Over time, however, feminists came down to earth. There was less talk of benefits to the entire society and a greater focus on helping individuals navigate past career roadblocks. There were significant victories too, as career-minded women broke through glass ceilings. There are still any number of "big picture" goals for a just society and a peaceful world, but they are less frequencly identified as feminist goals.



Sisterhood still powerful, but today's women dress for success.

[Riftaxe]

1. Wow! with that intro women

might think they just another human....*

*---your comment here :)**

**Flame fest

It is interesting that you posted thin women as a background, and ones heavily in makeup.

This is just me, but i like the gals who are a bit thicker, so you lost me on the OP.

But the true aphrodiasm are the ones who can out think me. (not everything about sex).

[Hell Hath No Fury]

18. What the hell is it with men who use "thick" about women ?

"Thick", yeah, that's just what a woman likes to think of herself as. :eyes:

Dude, get a clue: "curvaceous", "voluptuous", "rubenesque" -- not "thick".

[MADem]

2. Why do so many young girls want to emulate Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, then?

I don't understand some of the "role models" these days.

Not all of 'em have to look like Bella Abzug (bless her heart), but there is an overwhelming tendency on the part of youngsters to glorify women who look/act/dress like what used to be called a "streetwalker" in semi-polite society.

There aren't enough women in politics and public life--the Senate needs at least two dozen more to even start getting to a reasonable state.

[redqueen]

5. If you had watched Miss Representation

You would understand.

[MADem]

10. What is that?

Film? Play? Documentary?

[redqueen]

11. It's a documentary.

I had been trying for days to promote it here and get as many people as possible to watch it. I failed miserably, obviously.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkIiV6konY

Website: http://missrepresentation.org/the-film/

[backtoblue]

13. Thanks for the link!

I missed it last week and was wanting to watch it

[redqueen]

14. My pleasure! It's definitely a must-see documentary. (nt)

[SoDesuKa]

15. Is Erin Burnett Powerful?

CNN's Erin Burnett launched her debut at her new network in a big way with her now-infamous "Seriously?" piece on Occupy Wall Street. She's very pretty, has lots of money, but her apparent opposition to "big picture" feminism makes you wonder whose side she's on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--pvo3yV8Y8&feature=related



Erin Burnett - Role model for little girls

[Fawke Em]

16. I wouldn't let her be a role model for my little girl.

My girl, at 4 years old, already knows how to be polite, inquisitive and inclusive - things I have not seen out of Erin Burnett.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. The woman on the right

Looks like she's looking for a date - not a promotion. Sorry, but I see it all the time at the HQ door the major corporation I work for. Income inequality STILL exists regardless of the size of our asses and that's not a personal goal or objective - it's a societal one. I want Obama to win, I want the Senate held and the House won back . . . Then I want to hold their feet to the fire on the Paycheck Fairness Act that failed and get it passed so that we can all get paid the equivalent of our male counterparts in the workplace.

Ahem - another comment on the image on the right? She's young - she can't afford that suit. It should be less pricey and more along the lines of The Limited ot Chadwicks of Boston. That's where most of us had to shop for suits in the mid 90s and it is still true today. I was fortunate enough to have had a father who assisted me in negotiating my salary offers over the years so I can afford it - but the male employee I had working for me in 2008 that made a little over 12k more than me could afford a much nicer one for his stay at home wife.

Now I need a law that protects me should I and the other women I work with decide to get sone restitution for the insect to our education, experience and skills. If that makes me and the others the almighty F word then so be it. The big dogs can go hang. I still have the hard copy of the org chart and our salary/employee profiles.

[SoDesuKa]

4. Different Definition of "Power"

I wanted to research how early feminist definitions of power mutated into the notions of power embedded in the term "power suit" but it's a bigger topic than I expected. I Googled "power suits for women" and came up with the two images I selected. I didn't select the picture below because the accompanying article isn't quite on point. The article uses a feminist-sounding rhetoric that's quite different from what early feminists had in mind.

Capital G Girls: Smart, Stylish AND Financially Savvy

You see them all over town, these “power women.” Proud and confident, making strong strides in great suits. Style Bermuda and Capital G spotlights women who are stylish, smart and making strides towards financial success. Cute-footed strides that is!

This year, approximately 11 women were called to the Bar in Bermuda. A profession usually dominated by men, being taken by storm by women. They are our sisters, our friends, our women, OUR role models.

http://www.stylebermuda.com/article.php?aid=1563



Chiara Nannini, British barrister

[redqueen]

6. *sigh*

Speechless.

[get the red out]

7. Great

Some women to sell out the 99% as well as men. I guess as long as they do it in high heels so the guys will get turned on.........

[LWolf]

8. I still think sisterhood can be a powerful force for good in the world.

I'd love to see a more authentic representation of women, to start with.

That's probably why our media, and our culture, are so obsessed with sexual objectification of women; it ignores the 99% of the female population and their contributions and potential.

[seabeyond]

9. when it stops being about what a woman looks like and focuses on what she does....

we are getting closer.

[Rabblevox]

12. This man is only interested in one type of feminism. That's the type that views it as a given...

that anything less than 100% equality for women in all areas (legal, economic, social) is completely unacceptable in our society.

Women, this fight should have been over decades ago. I promise to continue fighting with you and for you until we get there. I promise to continue educating my brothers. I promise to continue speaking out and calling out sexism wherever I see it. I promise not to make assumptions about you based on your looks or clothing.

And I promise that one day sexism will be seen as just as evil and wrong as slavery.

[seabeyond]

22. +1

i am not remembering what it says, but you had a post lst couple days that told me you get it. well, here is another. thank you.

[Darth_Kitten]

23. Right on, brother!

:evilgrin:

You SAID it!

[RainDog]

17. this is a white, middle class representation of feminism

second-stage feminism isn't "early feminism" either - first stage feminism began in the 1700s with a few voices and eventually resulted in the right to vote... two centuries later.

a century after black males had gained emancipation and the right to vote.

and, ironically, today females will qualify things they say by noting, "I'm not a feminist, but..." The reality is that any female who thinks she should have to right to apply for a job and be paid the same salary for doing the same work as someone with a penis is a feminist. "Feminist" has been labeled as something else entirely because of assholes like Rush Limbaugh and the idiots who listen to him.

[JustAnotherGen]

21. Amen

[EFerrari]

19. Um, feminists were never in orbit.

And that other movements have similar goals don't make them less feminist goals.

[SoDesuKa]

20. Feminist Goals

The overall hypothesis is that feminist goals have shifted from improving humanity to getting what you want. It's a wide generalization, of course. I tracked the 305.4's in Brooklyn Public Library's holdings, listing them in Dewey decimal sequence, comparing the titles on the left side with the publication date on the right side. The hypothesis holds. People are continuing to write feminist books but the focus has changed.

I used to like Phyllis Chesler, but she lost me with Mothers on Trial, a terrible book. She hasn't found her way back since, but I admit I haven't looked at Letters to a Young Feminist. Gloria Steinem never had much to start with, IMO.



Chesler is now disagreeable.

[chrisa]

24. Unfortunately, women are no less ruthless than men.

Our society as a whole has problems that cause the issues in the first paragraph.

A more feminine and equitable society? Yes! Will it solve these problems? Absolutely not - not even close. We still have a lot of work to do.

[seabeyond]

25. agreed. resently, i saw an author of a book. use your sexuality for advancement at work.

that is not the title, but that is what it was about. a young woman advocating using all you got, and absolutely use your sexuality at work. that is a career staller, not to mention what it does in the environment for all women, and how it sets up men in so many ways. looking at that, it is nothing but fail. yet it is promoted and given to our young girls before they are experienced enough to call bullshit.

and i have never bought into all the peace and perfection, if only a woman was running the show. human character. i dont think the genders are far apart.