Found this clip in an entry on Feministing. It's just over two minutes of men and one or two women on the street being asked what they thnk and know about feminists and feminism. The part I love (he said, ironically) comes about halfway through...
"You can silence a woman by caling her a lesbian."
Those of you who know my Annabel, Keitha and Colley story...enjoy with me, won't you, the thought of Keitha's reaction to this statement.
(It starts with "Oh, yeah?" then it gets much more smartmouthed and funny)
3 comments:
Sorry this is so long...
I dunno, the bit that got me was the guy at the end, Anthony, trawling for dates. Some men will take any excuse...lol.
But it brings up some good points. I think my generation, and those after us are really very afraid to call ourselves "feminists" on the grounds that there is a stereotype as described by some of the interview subjects: militant ballbusters who are still whining about equal rights, equal pay.
The fact is, if there wasn't a glass ceiling in many workplaces for women, we probably wouldn't whine so much. I remember being told in a college class that when being interviewed, a woman has to be careful about what she says. If you say you are planning to start a family after you get married--and you have a fiance--many employers will pass on hiring you, figuring they will have an employee who will be constantly on maternity leave. And this in a country where men are allowed up to a year of paternity leave (by law) also. Plus, this is even before you GET a job.
In addition, I have worked in one place where the hierachy was gender-divided: men were the "primary wardrobe consultants" and women/girls were the "sales assistants." You could "move up" if you wanted to, but it then became a boys' club you'd be automatically shut out of. It was stupid.
As for equal pay, well, stats show women are still paid less than men in certain sectors for the same job, so there's still a reason to speak up on it.
I think most of the stereotype is based on the "anti-mother" personality: someone who is bitter, resentful, loud, unforgiving, cold-hearted, cynical, hard, world-weary. These aren't qualities we associate with a mother (well...maybe mine sometimes), but they are associated with feminists.
I could go on, but I'm sure you don't want to read an essay in your comments section.
My (current) boss (I just put in my 2 weeks notice) is a gay man, and he just has no use whatsoever for mothers as employees. And he has told me this to my face. His attitude is not that we work so we can have a better life, it's that we live so we can work better. I'm not mentioning that he is gay to stereotype or equivalate his being gay to being an asshole, but the fact is he will never have children, and he has no concept of all the things that go along with having children. If he could hire nothing but gay men, he would. And regardless of how good an employee I am, I am still a wife and mother first, and if my child is ill and needs me, I will not go to work. This is what we have sick days for. How I choose to use them is my business, as far as I am concerned, although Fred Meyer does not see it that way.
He has recently purchased an apt building with the intention of managing it. Given its location, it is full of lower income single mothers, and he finds this completely offensive. He has come right out and said that he is planning to raise the rent and one by one throw out the single mothers. I have told him he is going to get sued as that is flat-out discrimination, but he says that single mothers are not protected under anti-discrimination laws. A gay man, telling me this. I have been a single mother, and I am so offended by his attitude that I am leaving. Sorry this is long, but women do have it rough still, and we do need to stand up for ourselves.
A'mee
I have to ask both of you, really: Who indeed do you think you're talking to?
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