Supplement -- page 02

The Meliorist, Vol. 19 (March 8, 1985), Supplement -- page 022 THE MELIORIST MARCH 8. 1985 "No, I dont Mnk tuooMa maJuM a amnion maacuftoa, profaaaor — OM your* make you femWna?' (Thunks to •»• Mtartwfi'a Oanftw Or Samfcv uaatoj Equality Benefits All Feminism Need Not 1 Pose a Threat By Iris 1 have discovered that many people at the university are hostile towards feminism and feminists. Why? I am a feminist (I'm sure I heard a few doors slamming shut just then!), and I would like to to talk about feminism. However, many times when I've, broached the subject, I've gotten a negative reaction, mostly from men. but sometimes from women too. In most cases, "feminism" seems to act as a "red-flag" word which prohibits any real discussion of the issues. To find out why this is so, I decided to make a note of some characteristic negative responses to the subject and then try to pinpoint the emotions and thoughts behind them. Who hasn't heard some of the following opinions about feminists and feminism? Feminists are a bunch of women out to castrate men...Feminism is about' Women wanting careers, getting out of their houses and away from their husbands and kids, and trying to "find themselves" (this last bit said with a snicker)...Feminists are loud, aggressive and they burn their bras...Feminists are probably all lesbians...Feminism is a radical, misguided political movement...I don't know what feminists are complaining about; maybe women didn't have the right to vote or get an education before, but they've got the same rights and privileges as men do today...The feminist movement was okay to begin with because it helped make a few changes which benefited women. But now a lot of men, and some women too, feel threatened... A comment like "Feminists are out to castrate men" is a ridiculous statement meant to provoke laughter. Other illogical generalizations or sarcastic references to feminism and feminists are also blatantly derisive. This derision is the expression of a feeling of disdain towards women. It implies that they are inferior beings and that their concerns are unworthy of attention. Doesn't this derision clearly ilustrate the attitudes which prevail in society towards women, and which have fostered social inequalities? The move to bring these attitudes and inequalities to light is seen as a threat to the status quo and consequently, the traditional disdain is accompanied hy fear. The view that "Feminism is a radical, misguided political movement" aims at discredti- ing feminism on an intellectual level while attempting to disguise the fear and scorn experienced at the emotional level. A comment like "The feminist movement was okay to begin with...but...now .".lot of men and women feel threatened" expresses a fear of being associated with the movement. (Ob viously those who hold this opinion have heard a good number of the derisive reactions to have reached this conclusion!). Finally, a comment like "Women have got the same rights and privileges- as men do today" reveals ignorance and indifference. Those who express this opinion may have been exposed to a fair amount of media coverage of feminist issues and consequently, have a misconception that exposure fof the problems equals their solution. That has been a common reaction to countless social ills which have surfaced in the news: public interest in them wanes but the problems persist. All told, discussion and understanding of the social inequalities women face, and measures to remedy the situation, are irrationaly hindered by the preceding types of negative responses to feminism and femin.' its. Once the hostility against feminism is examined, how can it be justified? Surely, hatred fear, ignorance, and indifferenc; can easily be dispelled th-ough the exekcist of empathy. This done, those who once called themselves "anti-feminists" will realize that the concept of "feminism' poses no more of a threat, and stimulates as little hostility as do the concepts of "humanitarianism" and "altruism." By Shelley Scott The womens movement has been going on for a long time now, yet it still seems to be subjected to a lot of hostility, and what is even more disturbing, a lot of apathy. There seems to be an attitude that this is an old issue, that the problems are solved or not important enough to worry about them anymore. But this attitude ignores the far- reaching goals of femiuism. Of course, I cannot speak for every feminist becuase we are all individuals, but for me the issue of feminism involves a whole resovolution of social change- a new way of looking at the world. A way of seeing the world in terms of people, each with his or her individuality and rights, instead of seeing it as a bunch of rival national conglomerates. The problems that face women are jthe same ones that face men, it is just that women are given fewer options for solving them. Women are still given less opportunities, less money, less status, less control over their lives and bodies than men are given. And this ia no less unfair and unacceptable today than it was fifty years ago. The struggle continues, and it is not easy. Especially when so often women are struggling with poverty, with being a single parent, with the stereoiypes and prejudices that still persist in crippling her self-steem. Feminists are often accused of nit- picking; what difference does it make if we say "man" or "person"? The difference is that the word "man" shuta out half the population and it is a good indicator of the conditioning we have received since birth. Women are still a forgotten minority, and the injustice* sometimes seem insurmountable. There are so many qualities which women can offer our world: their intelligence, their strength, their compassion— but only if they are allowed to be powerful and allowed to be women. This is as valuable to men as it is to women; the equality of women would be a winning situation for all of us. And, as idealistic as it may sound, I believe that it would be a winning situation fo a world that desperately needs some help right now. In any case, the feminist movement is not a movement to be hostile towards, and certainly not .apathetic' Mti' aa¥^"flar>y' VI V^^a ^3^^ iE^^ A V Women's Studies Needed By Cynthia Cunningham Women's Studies Student's Association University of Lethbridge How many of us at the U of L learn the tradition of our foremothers as well as our forefathers? Take English literature for example. In the 84/85 U of L calendar under English we have major author courses dealing with Milton, Lawrence, Wordsworth Faulkner, T. S. Eliot, and Shakespeare'. The only major woman author offered is Margaret Atwood. What about George Eliot, Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Virginaia Woolf? Currently, we have inadequate representation of women's activities and contributions to the traditional disciplines at the U of L. We have a tremondous amount of catching up to do but, many departments already have many commitments. This is why we need a Women's Studies Program at the university. With a Women's Studies Program at the university. With a Women's Studies Progam we can learn the tradition of our foremothers as well as our forefathers, thus, creating a more wholistic liberal arts education. In closing, consider these remarks of Alice Clark fiom her book "Working Women in the 17th Century": WE may even ask ourselves whether the instability, superficiality and spiritual poverty of modern life do not spring from the organization of a state which regards the purposes of life soley from the male standpoint, and we may permit ourselves to hope that when this mechanism has been effectively replaced by the organization of the whole, which is both male and female, humanity will receive a renewal of strength .