Feminism: The new F-Word?

"Girls can wear jeans
and cut their hair short
wear shorts and boots
'Cause it's OK to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly you'd love to know what it's like
Wouldn't you?
What it feels like for a girl."-Madonna lyrics from "What it Feels like for a Girl"

     What is it about certain words that makes people so angry? Feminism- seems harmless enough but say it out loud and run for cover! I'm not sure where or when this happened, I'm not even really sure why, but some how over the years this simple word has gone from being synonymous with inclusion and equality to exclusion and bitterness. Will someone fill me in on this, because I never got the memo....

    I posed a question to my friends on Facebook a few weeks back to see if my suspicions were correct. I needed to know what the average person really thinks about feminism and more importantly feminists. My question was simple "what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "feminist". "Bitch" was the first response I received, "annoying" was another. "Uptight and oversensitive" yet another; all but one response was negative. I must say I was not in the least bit surprised at these answers. What did surprise me was that the majority of them came from women.

     Now, this is the part of the blog where I was going to dazzle you with my research and overall knowledge of the feminist movement, but sitting on my bed, surrounded by notes and figures it all just seems a little too term paper for my liking...so screw it! I'm shooting from the hip. For a more in depth analysis on the feminist movement and how it relates to our blog please see our stand alone page on the "Feminist Lens". If I am to be honest, I must say, I am a little disappointed. How have we allowed our sisters, daughters, grandchildren to think so negatively about a trail blazing group of women that made our lives what they are today? Without them we would not be able to vote, go to school, have a job, own land or any countless number of things we are able to do today, but as with most privilege take for granted. What disappoints me even further is that more women don't see this as a problem. We have turned on each other! We live in a society where it is more entertaining to tear each other down then lift each other up. Through no medium is this more evident than in the world of "Reality T.V.". Here the Court Jester is king and kindness and morality are viewed as weaknesses.
    
     Where have all our role models gone? Let's see.....we have "Bridezillas", remind me again how these women managed to get anyone to agree to marry them?, "The Real Housewives of "-(Insert affluent society here) with their plastic surgery and constant cat fighting I'm shocked they can use the word "real" any where near the title of this show, Vh1's "Rock of Love", "Flavor of Love", "Real Chance of Love", "I Love New York" mockery of the dating show franchise which teaches girls, you too can date someone rich and quasi-famous if you act trashy enough to avoid elimination. This is what we lift up? These are the women who we have as ambassadors to the cause? WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!!! Do you mean to tell me  there is not one strong, intelligent, financially independent, philanthropic, classy young lady out there more worthy of our attention?

     To add more salt to the proverbial wound, I turned on MTV (a station notorious for celebrating the morally and sometimes mentally corrupt) the other day and they were airing a program called "The Buried Life". Having never seen the show before I decided to watch. The premise is simple, the program focuses on four young men as they check off items on their collective bucket list ( a list of things they wish to do or see before they die). This particular episode had the four men in Washington D.C. on a mission to play basketball with President Obama. Their intent was to prove that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. For fear of spoiling the ending (if you would like to watch for yourselves) I will not tell you the outcome. I will however say this, I am entitled to agree with their credo that nothing is impossible and I was delighted to see such an inspiring and positive reality show for once. This docu-drama reality genre has become popular with the MTV set and the new show "World of Jenks" is further proof. The show follows young film maker Andrew Jenks as he injects himself into the lives of various young adults in an effort to see the world through their eyes.

     I offer these two shows as evidence that today's "youth" can be hard working self-motivated and positive, my only concern comes in the form of  gender. While young men have the film makers of "The Buried Life" and "World of Jenks" to look up to, our young women are left to identify with the cast of "The Hills", "16 and Pregnant" or "Teen Mom". What kind of message is this sending our girls? On one hand we have young men going out and living their lives, the way they want to live, on the other hand we have women fighting over clothes, boyfriends, and the limelight while others are forced to grow up too soon and wish they had the time or the energy to fight over clothes, boyfriends and the limelight. THIS IS NOT OK!!!! We have allowed this to happen, we have allowed ourselves to be stereotyped and pitted against one another. We allowed this the second we decided to make feminism a dirty word. We allowed this to happen and we owe it to ourselves and each other to make it right! ~ Rebecca