At some point, feminism became a four letter word. And it was a long time ago because I remember being at university and tap-dancing around the term. Most of my fellows thought that if I identified myself as a feminist, I was a bra-burning uberbitch. It was hard to be classified that way and very difficult to get laid if you were viewed as a hard head. So I (and I think a lot of others) starting tapdancing.
In the intervening thirty or so years, what has feminism accomplished? The depiction of women and girls in the media has actually gotten worse. Women's earnings are still far behind men's in Canada (though the gap is slowly closing and some of the difference must be attributed to women's willingness to balance paid and unpaid work). How about violence against women? Folks are saying that violence against women is not decreasing despite the fact that the rate of violent crimes, in general, has been going down for decades. (However, this view is predicated on the assumption that only one in ten rapes get reported. So, the view is statistically unsupported.)
How about our view of the sexes? Well, there are studies like this that emphasize male and female differences and there are views of those like Dr. Cordelia Fine who strikes down pre-conceptions, stating that the two brains are, actually, very similar and suggests that design and interpretation of studies that point out vast difference between the brains may be nothing more than neurosexism.
And, now, in many states of the USA and, perhaps soon here in Canada, the very personhood of women is coming into question, again. And, certainly, her right to control her own reproductive health is at severe risk with many folks preferring government intervention in some of our most private decisions.
Well, it's not all bad. Women are entering universities in far greater numbers and far greater than their male counterparts. Career-minded women are learning to 'marry down' and get back to work quickly, leaving their spouse to raise the children. And women are, slowly, entering the upper echelon of industry and, slowly, being represented more and more in parliament.
Okay, so feminism has, predictably, helped and not helped the overall lot of women over the last thirty some odd years and, I hope (because the studies and conclusions are so confusing and disparate) that the general trend is up. If we keep up the fight, maybe there will be some semblance of equality, if not in my lifetime, then in my daughter's. So the fight needs to go on... But it leaves me wondering: Why is feminism still a dirty word?
Well, it's that uberbitch thing.
Feminism is okay, it seems, when we are ultra-feminine about it. When we are nice. When we speak softly. When we allow our audience to continue to ignore or undermine scientific studies in favour of deeply ingrained belief systems. When we don't say anything when a colleague makes a rape joke, or uses the term 'like a girl' to imply deep incompetence. When we get on facebook with titillating status updates meant to peak men's interest in some charity or women's issue, that's okay. When we dress up like sluts and walk the streets, that's okay - apparently, it's empowering. But to speak strongly and clearly, to debate rationally, to challenge pre-conceptions, to stride forward in a forthright way, that doesn't seem to be okay.
Whenever, I attempt to change views or cite political studies or discuss women's rights and a woman's position in the world, I am often laughed down, dismissed, or beset with anecdotal evidence, family lore, and common sense. And even though any anecdotal evidence or family story is simply not enough of a statistical set from which to glean any conclusion; and, even though common sense once told us the world was flat not so long ago, on these gender issues, we seem to be born knowing what we need to know and no study or evidence or discussion can change another's mind. Given this much resistance, it's a wonder women ever got the vote.
But they did. The single most important accomplishment of feminism is women's suffrage. Now, what did women have to do to get the vote? They marched; they shouted; they physically fought; they were arrested; they refused to pay fines. They attempted to storm parliament; jumped in front of and were trampled by horses; endured force-feeding. Not very 'lady-like'. Not very 'feminine'.
So maybe part of the reason that we haven't accomplished as much as I would like to see accomplished is this: Maybe, we are not uberbitchy enough. Maybe all that tapdancing was stupid and undermining. Maybe hyperfeminization in the form of a slutwalk is not what I would like to see as a primary choice, a rallying cry, for my daughter's generation. Maybe.
I know this for sure. If women's reproductive rights are challenged in this country, I am not yet certain what I would adopt as a rallying cry but I do feel certain that I will redefine the term 'uberbitch'.
Jacqui Burke is
a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. She is currently directing Kidsplay 2012: The Mayan Prediction
opening in June, and The Last Five Years
for TOKL Productions opening in July. She is, also,
serializing The
Pretender, her first novel,
online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.
She is preparing for two Shakespeare is Boffo! summer camp
sessions for 2012.
Want to contact me?
Jacqui
Burke
Artistic
Director
Jaybird
Productions
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/
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