Thoughts

Feminism

I'm so sick beyond belief of hearing people talk about feminism with such negative connotations. Yeah, I believe that us women deserve equal rights. Deal with it.

When I was 14, I was walking down a street in New Orleans at night, wearing shorts and a tank top in the southern heat. My group of friends and I walked past what I initially thought was a drug deal or drug administration, and I looked to the side of the path, where a man about 50 made eye contact with me, looked me up and down and said "I see you lookin' girl".

Excuse me?

That wasn't even the end of the night. Another man walked past us later that night, about 40 years of age. He looked directly at me, scanned my body up and down, then nodded approvingly. All of my friends noticed this, even one of their moms and we got the hell out of there.

What disturbed me most during this is that I was wearing shorts and a tank top. It was 90 degrees out, why should I have to cover up my body just so I don't feel violated by men over thrice my age? It shouldn't matter whether I was wearing long pants and a sweater or a bikini. That does not permit a man to look at me as if I am a piece of meat. I am a woman, a human being who deserves to be seen as so, and not seen as "girl".

Three years later, I still find myself struggling against the forces that continuously push against women. I once made a comment my sophomore year along the lines of "boys are so stupid". A boy sitting in front of me turned around and said "that is so sexist. Do you realise what you just said? Wow. That's just so sexist of you to say".

Well.

Tell me more about sexism in your daily life, sir.

A man's concern is the perception of his intelligence levels, whereas a woman's concern is not getting beaten, raped, and killed for rejecting a guy, and sometimes even for no reason that should not be put on the victims shoulders. Women fight for equal wages, the same wages that pay for their daily survival and have surprisingly only been granted voting rights in the fairly recent history.

So tell me more about how that was a sexist comment. Yeah, I claimed that boys are stupid. But keep in mind that every day, as a woman, I am objectified and deemed an inferior simply because of my sex.

I've recently decided that if a boy can wear a shirt that says "cool story babe, now go make me a sandwich", then my bra strap can be slightly visible. Sorry, is my solid black bra strap poking out slightly from my t-shirt bothering you? Are my shoulders that sensual?

If you are genuinely distracted by a woman's shoulders or even a bra strap, I am genuinely concerned about that. I will debate with anyone about this.

Let's reverse the roles.

Excuse me, teacher? Yes that boy's cut-off shirt that exposes his entire abdomen is really distracting. I just really don't think I can learn in an environment with a male's shoulders exposed. It makes me uncomfortable.

I can't even put everything I want to say about feminism into words, especially at 11pm.

"Cool story babe, now go make me a sandwich"

No, why don't you? You're a man. You'll get paid more for it anyways.