Worldwide Feminism

Yesterday a friend asked me if I’d like to attend a lecture with her on Feb. 28^th.  I hadn’t heard of the speaker so I took a minute to see who she was:

Sheryl WuDunn is a Chinese American business executive, author, lecturer, and the first Asian American to win a Pulitzer Prize.

She has an impressive resumé ranging from advisor with Goldman Sachs to business executive for The New York Times where she covered global energy, foreign technology and foreign industry.   

She graduated from Cornell University with a BA in European in history and then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from Princeton.  In 2011 she was listed by Newsweek as one of 150 Women Who Shake the World. 

What interests me most, however, is the work she and her husband are doing in the field of international feminism.  In 2009 she co-wrote a book with her husband titled Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  The book looked so intriguing from the website that I ordered it.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to hearing about her personal story and the Half Sky Movement on the 28^th. 

Here is more information about her story and those of the women she highlights:

  http://www.halftheskymovement.org/get-involved  (The cause.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryl_WuDunn  (Wikipedia article about Sheryl)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/sheryl_wudunn_our_century_s_greatest_injustice.html  (Ted talk by Sheryl)

Culture and Self-Identity

In our class discussion last Monday the question was asked, “How should a woman react when she discovers her male partner is involved with pornography?”  Class member responses paralleled the opinions of many others on this subject which seem to be centered around four different perspectives:

·      Pornography is another form of infidelity requiring swift action on the part of the female to rid herself of a person she can no longer trust.

·      Men struggle to control their sexual responses to physical stimuli because of the powerful effect of testosterone, “the poison in their veins.”  Women need to be understanding of the challenge men face in this regard and should consider their partner’s pornography use as simply a management tool.

·      Pornography use is a form of addiction and can be treated effectively with interventions such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  The psychological reasons of why pornography is sought by males should be explored and understood.

·      Pornography in its ‘softer’ form is actually benign and can be a source of positive stimulation for both males and females.  Many couples enjoy watching pornography together.

A class member pointed out that around the turn of the century it was women who were considered to be biologically unable to control their sexual urges and men who were thought to be rational and emotionally superior.

To me it’s just more evidence that underscores the depth of our blindness to the cumulative effect of culture on our personal identity.

Knitting Needles and Tangled Thoughts

Yesterday in the library on campus I saw a young man sitting by himself in an upholstered chair knitting what looked like a scarf.  My immediate reaction was negative and judgmental with thoughts tumbling through my mind like “What’s he doing knitting!”

My next thought was more observational as I pondered the cultural conditioning and personal prejudice behind my knee-jerk response.

In an article I read recently the author challenged her readers to imagine a world where gender didn’t exist.  Not that there would be humans without biological distinctions relative to gender, but rather that the male/female designations would have no intrinsic meanings or cultural expectations attached to the words.  There would just be “people.”  Period.  No classification beyond that. 

It surprised me how difficult it was to create a mental picture of a gender-free society.  If gender provides the framework for our self-identity then who would we be without it? 

Contest

The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s and was in full swing by the time I graduated from high school.  My parents, the community and religious culture where I was raised were very resistant to the idea of “liberated” women, however, and strongly discouraged any kind of discussion or participation in this movement.  The terms “liberal intellectuals,” “hippies,” and “feminists” were frequently used in my family to designate dangerous and subversive groups and I was exhorted to keep myself “clean” and “pure” from all such worldly contaminants.  My father worried that “liberal” college professors might sway me from the path outlined by our religion, to which he had devoted his life.  To minimize that risk, he would only provide financial assistance if I attended BYU.

Of particular note in my background is a contest sponsored by my community in 1965 to determine who would be “Mrs. Utah” and represent the state in a national competition.  One of the finalists was Alice, a neighbor who lived just up the street from my family.  The event was televised and I remember gathering around the TV with my parents and watching excitedly to see if Alice would win.

Even as a 12-year-old, I remember being startled to see that the women were being judged on their homemaking skills.  The five finalists lined up for the camera, each with her own ironing board, and on signal, began furiously ironing a man’s shirt to the tune of the William Tell overture.  Alice had been practicing and finished ahead of the others with impressive style.  She went on to win the national competition where the contestants were judged not only on their ability to iron a man’s shirt, but also on how well they could cook, sew and excel in party planning. 

It's hard to imagine a contest like that now but I'm sure there are other forms of female stereotyping taking place today that cause the same kind of cultural blindness from the 70s.  I'm looking forward to learning more about the shift in attitudes towards women from then to now and finding ways to join the important feminist cause. 

Beginnings

I am in my second semester as a PhD student in the Family, Consumer, & Human Development department at USU.  My area of emphasis is Gerontology. 

I'm not comfortable with the format of blogging or posting on Facebook or any other forum where I feel I'm on display for public scrutiny but it's time I got over that so a class assignment to create a blog with weekly posts is a good place to start.

The class is Feminist Theories and the course description says it's a seminar designed to explore the history of feminist thought and the ways that has impacted the development of women, children, and families.

This quote in our class syllabus is worth repeating:

Feminism has fought no wars.  It has killed no opponents.  It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties.  Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions...for safety on the streets...for childcare, for social welfare...for rape crisis centers, women's refuges, reforms in the laws.  -- Dale Spender

I chose not to be a part of the second wave of feminism in the 60s and I've had very little to do with women's issues outside of my family up to this point in my life course.  There are many biopsychosocial reasons for that choice.  Now, however,  the time is right to explore my identity as a woman and I'm looking forward to this class as a catalyst for some needed changes.