I've been taking this philosophy in film class this summer. It's probably one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken, but one of my favorites. I looked forward to it every day. The class ended with a succession of presentations done by us classmates. There were seven of us. I was the only girl. Not only was I the only girl, I was the last to present.
Most of the boys did religious-esque films. Life of Brian, Apocalypto. One boy did the film "Juice" starring Tupac, which for whatever reason brought out the gangster in all of the boys in the class. I ended up doing the film "All I wanna do!" which is a feminist film, set in 1963. It was between that, or Boondock Saints. I could tell my professor wanted me to do the feminist film, so I went ahead and presented feminism to a group of boys.
It went better than expected, I got some of the expected questions "why do girls dress slutty, knowing men are visual creatures?" "Aren't women basically oppressing themselves and each other at this point?" But one remark killed me. Made me stop the film and get into a direct confrontation with a boy. (who is actually going for a philosophy major. He better check himself.)
There is a scene in the film where the headmistress has a monologue discussing the years of oppression she has faced, urging a female student to go forth and lead. To promote change. It ends with the headmistress shaking the girl's hand with a firm handshake. The boy in my class commented "wow, that woman has such masculine hands." with a chuckle at the end.
I quickly considered my options. Should I let it go? Treat it as a passing remark and leave it at that? I was seething, but I contemplated staying quiet. Then I realized that's exactly what women have been doing since the beginning. Staying quiet. If I wanted to be like the strong women I've seen and I look up to, I need to learn how to speak up.
I paused the movie and said "That. that right there is the proof I needed to lecture feminism to a classroom full of boys. This woman just poured her heart out about the oppression she faces, and you degraded it down to the size of her hands. This is why we still need feminism." He came back with, "if I were to dress up, have my eyebrows and fingernails meticulously pampered, and went to shake hands with another man, he would look the other way. Judge me like you think I judged her. It's the same thing."
The argument went on for a few more minutes between myself and him. My professor joined in as well, trying to let him know that it wasn't the same thing. This is why the world needs feminism and feminists. No matter what positions women hold, we will still be reduced to what we look like. We witnessed this in the 2008 election, when Sarah Palin's pantsuit budget was a hot topic of discussion. We witnessed it a week or so ago when people dogged on senator Wendy Davis for her outfit not matching. Above rape culture, above slut shaming, above fat and thin shaming, we need feminism because women need to stop being reduced to what we look like and start being held accountable for what we are able to achieve. And we are able to achieve great things.
I know these boys went home thinking they are right and that women are just whiny bitches. Little did they know, that they fanned a spark into a huge flame, and I'll be damned if I don't add my voice to the millions of other women's voices that demand to be heard. I am that radical liberal "feminazi" I used to make fun of, and you have every reason to be afraid.
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