I Was Not a Feminist
I am not a feminist.I do not go to feminist rallies, burn my bra (although I donít always wear one), feel hatred towards men, nor do I spend countless hours with my sisters figuring out ways to tear gas abortion protestors or concocting tortuous plots to abolish the radical right.I am a libertarian who exercises her right to vote and always does her taxes.I read Adrienne Rich and Allen Ginsberg and Ayn Rand and James Joyce with equal fervor.I listen to Tori Amos and Dar Williams and Rush and Metallica.I do not listen to Ani DiFranco; I find her music ìtoo feminist.îI believe John Milton, a dead white male, changed the way western literature relates to philosophy and religion.Stupid male humor amuses me, and I am happy to cook and clean for my boyfriend because I know if I donít, he will eat Wendyís and his house will smell bad.I am a baseball fanatic, and love hockey and college basketball.Softball bores me, and womenís basketball is not nearly as exciting as menís.I enjoyed being the only woman at fraternity Super Bowl parties.I could never not eat red meat because I love the taste of a well-cooked cow.All of these things, I have been taught, do not qualify me as a feminist.
So why do I feel now that these categorizations should not matter?Is it because now I sense all things I am, not the categorizations, are feminist methods of thinking and acting?Before I realized it, I was not only a feminist, but also exercising a feminist pedagogy when teaching writing.Teaching writing is a chance to help students recognize that they, too, can write intellectually about a topic they are interested in and be excited about it.As a social-expressivist tutor, I try to work in a non-directive way, engaging my students in open-ended conversations that lead them to answering their own questions and clarifying their own ideas.When I teach writing, Iíve had students do everything from peer critique to creating movement from sentences to show them that everything is open to interpretation.I use Matisse to explain thesis.These practices in themselves are not necessarily feminist, but the theories behind them, for me, always have been.
Bell hooks writes in Talking Back that ìfeminist education ? the feminist classroom ? is and should be a place where there is a sense of
“I have no idea what a feminist is although I have heard the term before,” said Stewart. I told her not to feel bad because I did not know the meaning of the term until I took the class and gave her bell hooks’ definition. Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Although they do not have to be an activist, they should be pro-choice. “With that being said I don’t consider myself a feminist but I am pro-choice. I give advice and let others learn from experience. A person is going to do what they want so I don’t push my opinion off on others.” While others have a clue to what a feminist is but do not fully understand their purpose. “I think a feminist is someone who wants more equal rights for women but take it to the extreme,” said Nia. I explained to her that a feminist does not have to be an extreme activist. Her response was “I still don’t consider myself a feminist because I don’t really care about trying to make a change for women’s rights. I think it’s as good as it is going to get,” said
What is your definition of feminism? My definition of feminism are the qualities of a woman. There are different styles of writing: romanticism, Victorian and modernism. Anna Letitia “Barbauld was born in 1743 into provincial dissent, that cradle of so many key voices of the Enlightenment. Her father taught first at a school and then an academy, coaching lads whose refusal to swear to the 39 articles meant they were barred from the ancient universities” (Hughes p.792). Mina Loy, who was born in London, both parents where from different places, a Protestant mother and a Jewish Father; She was an experimental poet whose writing of lyrics and long poems created a stir, because it demonstrated the work of literary, linguistic and sexual Iconoclasm, before that she had interest in the visual arts. (Loy p. 2077). Both Barbauld wrote in modernism literature and Loy wrote in romantic literature, but both wrote about similar topics; their poems elaborated on, the character of femininity and morality.
During the second week of class, we were instructed to read a reading written by Bell Hooks titled “Come closer to Feminism.” This reading is what I consider to be a very important addition to this unit. Unit one is all about Making waves, Confronting Oppression. According to Frye, it is a fundamental claim of feminism that women are oppressed (Frye, 1983). Before taking upon this reading, my understanding of the feminist movement was not nearly as clear as it is now. After reading this short handbook, I too agree that feminism is for everybody.
After reading the “Introduction to Women’s Studies Concepts” power point the pieces from hooks, Hull and Smith, Kimmel, and Yap are important to feminist literature because they all talk about a different aspect of feminism. In Talking Back by Bell Hooks, the woman explains how it was not okay for her to speak or ask whatever she wanted. “In the world of the southern black community that I grew up in, “back talk” and “talking back” meant speaking as an equal to an authority figure” (1). In the past women were not allowed to just speak their mind it was ‘wrong’. This story demonstrates the black racism involved with feminism. People opened their ears to what the black men had to say, but they could easily block out what the black women had to say. The Politics of Black Women’s Studies by Hull and Smith also dealt with black racism taking place. The men were sexist and the white women were racist. Where did this leave place for the black women? In Men and Women’s Studies: Premises, Perils, and Promise by Kimmel sexism and racism. This short story talks about how women’s studies lea...
Bell hooks knows about the challenges of race and class, and why some people have a harder time than others in achieving the American Dream. It is normal to feel uncomfortable and awkward arriving at a new school for the first time, but this was something completely different. For bell hooks, walking through the halls with eyes staring at her as if she was an alien, she realized that schooling for her would never be the same. She describes her feelings of inequality a...
In her book Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, bell hooks describes how she helps her students find their voice within her classroom.She discusses her use of authority to enable her students.For her, teacher authority is a necessary part of helping her students find their voices:
The term feminist is seen with a negative connotation because people use it as an insult against women in an effort to make them seem irrational and unfair, but in reality it is the exact opposite of that. Feminism is defined as the “belief in or advocacy of women’s social, political, and economic rights, especially with regard to equality of the sexes.” (Feminism). There is no reason that there should be a negative connotation to this belief or participation in advancing this belief, yet there is. This battle and struggle for equal rights has been going on for a very long time, but it really took off in the 1920s. The 19th amendment and The New Woman really helps to show how quickly women and their rights progressed in the United States. Many
By understanding oppression, you understand feminism. When you question why your path is blocked with barriers that have nothing to do with individual talent or merit, handicap or failure, but by on being in the membership in some category; that is oppression. (Frye). You have to look at how the barrier fits with others and who benefits or is harmed in its work. The barrier is constructed and maintained by men, for the benefit of men. Evelyn Cunningham states “Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors” (Rawlings, 2009). Oppression in people occurs when their options are reduced to very few and all are exposed to penalty, censure or deprivation. Women have been placed in a categ...
In this case women are stuck where in no matter how they act or how they dress, they end up put into a label they do not necessarily belong in. The main goal of feminism is to create equality for women and fight against the labels put on them. Though throughout time feminism itself has been given a negative label. In today 's society women do not want to be referred to as feminists from fear of being labeled as a bitter man hating woman. This is definitely amplified in media today. Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, brings up the idea of the essential feminist and where it suggests,” anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman” (169). This fear of being labeled a feminist not only comes from fear of being thought of as angry or humorless, but from being attacked for not being the “proper feminist woman”.
When I hear the term Feminism I automatically think its about doing things for women, and what they stand for, so I didn't really have a good idea about it. So I went online and looked it up. "Feminism consists of ideas and beliefs about what culture is like for women just because they are women, compared to what the world is like for men just because they are men. In ethical terms, this form or aspect of feminism is descriptive. The assumption in feminism is that women are not treated equally to men, and that women are disadvantaged in comparison to men" (http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/feminism.htm). I have to say I definitely agree that women and are not treated the same as men, and I don't think we ever will. Theres a saying I believe it is "its a mans world", I don't know if I believe that. I just feel like men were always held
One definition of gender is the membership of a word or grammatical form, or an inflectional form showing membership, in such a class. Gender critics take masculinity and feminism, as well as male and female, and use those theories to analyze writings. In books, or other writings, masculinity and feminism are used in order to describe how a character is seen by other characters. Feminism is the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. It is also a feminine character. After the women’s rights movement, women began to write works and put in their own views and beliefs. This era became known as the feminist writing era. Women felt that by writing their feelings and then getting their works published, that people would see why women should be equal to men.
In the book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center written by bell hooks, an African-American author, social activist and feminist first published in 1984 the author explains what she believes are the core principles of feminism. Throughout the book the author examines the early feminist theory and goes on to criticize it saying that it did not aim for a systematic change also that the movement has the potential to improve the lives of both men and women immensely. In the book the author investigates the performance of African-American women in the movement and what is needed to drive the movement towards ending oppression of all kinds.
Women for many years have been denied the right to express themselves. If a female spoke against something she was considered strange and out of line. Hall says, “Feminist methodologies are the belief that patriarchal oppression of women. has been profound and multifaceted” (Hall 202).... ...
A feminist is someone who is trying to advocate for the equality of women. I believe ...
feminism is in actuality quite limited in tha t she only applies it to British, upper middleclass women writers. Virginia Woolf’s essay-which to Bennett seemed non- feminist and to Daiches seemed feminist- universalist-is, by our modern definition, feminist; however, the borders of culture, class, and profession that composed her frame of reference drastically limit the scope of Woolf’s feminism.