Tag Archives: gender inequality

A New Feminist Movement? Will You Help?

I am calling for a new feminist movement and men, we really need your help.

Rush Limbaugh’s comments from last week still has people outraged. Though there are many men who despise him and his views on women, the fact that he is so forthright in the public eye suggests that many more of them are in agreement with his opinions. It is men like Rush who have given “feminists” a bad name and created the stereotype: that feminists are angry “man-haters.” Though he would probably deny it, it is obvious by his loose usage of the term “feminazi” that he has helped to perpetuate this hateful and outrageous stereotype. As a feminist, I have never been a man-hater nor met any feminists who were. It has been made clear by the public’s reaction to Rush’s recent rhetoric that both men and women are fed up with these unfair gender stereotypes and shamefully ignorant accusations.

I used to wonder how the public’s perception of the word “feminist” became so skewed from it’s actual definition “a person who advocates equal rights for women.” Instead of being viewed as courageous, people who dare to challenge the status quo in a country where women are still paid 20% less than what men earn in comparable positions, we are viewed with public disdain and branded man-hating rabble-rousers merely for daring to vocalize these glaring gender inequalities. Publicly, those with clout, like Rush, talk about and regard us with the same type of annoyance and irritation that they also reserve for the brave participants of the Occupy Movement.

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No, I’m Not a Crazy Cat Lady Who Writes Romance Novels

Gymboree’s discretion last week continues to offend me. If you haven’t heard about it, some moms were in an uproar because the children’s outfitter sold a variety of Onesies in which “Smart like Daddy,” was written on the boy’s version and “Pretty like Mommy” on the girl’s.  An article about the Onesies on Salon mentions some of the backlash this controversy created citing one writer’s words,  “if we get hysterical over every perceived slight, we won’t get anywhere. Choose your battle, ladies.” The article on the onesies goes on to include a commenter’s response to that statement, “These moms obviously have nothing better to do.”

These moms have nothing better to do? I’ve seen what moms do and they are usually very busy people. I’m sure they have plenty of better things to do than continue to fight this uphill battle in which every step women in the US take in the direction of equality (outnumbering male enrollment in universities, even) are thrown backwards a few steps by petty, yet offensive distractions like this type of children’s-wear. I do not fault the mothers across the US who spoke out, for not wanting their daughters to grow up in a country that continues to force women into the role of sex-object at increasingly younger and younger ages. Is being valued for our intelligence too much for a woman to ask for?

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