I also found Dr. Larson’s discussion of women and leadership to be very interesting and since class on Thursday, I have been thinking a lot about her (and her step daughter’s) distinction between “feminism” and “realism.” Dr. Larson asked us to truthfully raise our hand if we identified ourselves as a feminist. She was shocked to see that only about a fifth of the class raised our hands (and so was I since it is a class focused on women!) and this led her to tell us about a conversation she had recently had with her stepdaughter. She had asked her stepdaughter the same question—whether she would identify herself as a feminist—and she answered no, that she would call herself a realist basically because the word “feminist” has a bad connotation and “realist” is less controversial. Doesn’t it seem like identifying yourself as a realist though eliminates the whole element of fighting for the equality of women? How did you all feel about this distinction? Did you agree with it?
I also wanted to point out an article about the National Museum of Women in the Arts that was in yesterday’s edition of The Washington Post. It mentioned many of the artists that will be shown at the exhibit that we are going to on Thursday and it also mentioned the purpose of the exhibit. It explains that the exhibit “gives another generation a chance to see art that was not made for a marketplace or even with the hope of having an audience, but with a determination and belief that art can change that way we live…”
Link to Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102218.html
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3 comments:
While I was not in class, I would not have raised my hand. I don't identify myself as being a feminist. I tend not to attach labels to myself, or others around me - and calling myself a feminist would be doing just that. It is not that I am not interested in women's rights or issues; I just don't attach a label to it. Just as I wouldn't attach a label to the fact that I care about a large range of other issues that affect how we live and how other people live.
I don't think that just because we are in a women's leadership class that we have to call ourselves feminists. I am a person and I am interested in leadership, on any level, which is why I wanted to take this class. It was an opportunity to learn about leadership from a different perspective. To say that I have to be a feminist just to be in this class is closing the class off to any men who might be interested, or at best making it even more intimidating for men to take the class than I'm sure it already is. (I know we don't have any guys, but in the future I hope there will be.) I guess a man could call himself a “feminist,” I can’t think any that would and therefore any that would be able to take this class.
While I say that I wouldn't call myself a feminist, I would not label myself as a "realist" either. I don't identify with these labels not because they could be controversial (there are many times my views have been seen as controversial) but simple because I don't identify with labels in general.
Thank you--I really appreciate that you brought this up. I tend not to label myself as well (especially when it comes to political views and religious beliefs), but for some reason I do when it comes to feminism. I should probably explore this aspect of myself and understand why I feel the need to use that label...
I also want to clarify that I was not saying that we all need to call ourselves feminists in order to be in this class. I think I was just surprised when more people didn't raise their hands. I know women who don't claim the title, but strongly believe in women's issues and the equality of women and men (like you were saying). And there are men out there who DO claim the title of feminist and they are darn proud of it. :)
Thanks again for talking about labels--you helped me find an inconsistency in myself that deserves some further exploration.
I didn't raise my hand either! It's not about labels and not wanting to be perceived as something or another for me though. I just haven't encountered enough discrimination in my life yet to feel as much passion as I think a feminist should feel for the cause. I think in the course of this class I have grown stronger and stronger in my "feminist" beliefs and slowly, learning about the discrimination and strife that other women have faced I am drifting ever closer to that label, however, I don't think I'm there yet!
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