Ryan ChartrandPicture a feminist. Does the term bring to mind a Birkenstock-wearing, butch haircut-loving, male-hating bitch? What about a whiny woman who labels any male criticism as gender discrimination? Please.
Instead, picture any person, female or male, who believes in equality of the sexes.
Feminism is a movement that advocates social, political, and economic equality between men and women.
Nowhere in any dictionary does the definition mention “women rebelling against males,” or, “burly women who are routinely mistaken for men.” Yet these stereotypes have morphed feminism into something women don’t want to be associated with.
Though not a complete girly-girl, I love my feminine side. I wear summer dresses and put on scented lotion and cry during movies and drink tea out of cute little cups. And I’m a feminist.
If you’re a man I’m not going to chase you down in my combat boots and thrust copies of “The Feminine Mystique” down your throat until you repent the sin of being born male.
Men shouldn’t consider feminists the enemy, and no man or woman should be afraid to label themselves “feminist,” or “person who advocates gender equality.”
Yet, perhaps a bigger problem than the misinterpretation of the term “feminism” is the belief by many that discrimination against women is no longer an issue in modern-day America.
Others acknowledge a slight disparity in the treatment of men and women, but believe this inequality not to be important when compared to the struggles currently faced by minorities and homosexuals.
This attitude scares me.
As a female, I will earn less money for the same job and be thought of as less serious or capable because of my sex. That’s kind of a huge deal, and the refusal by many men and women to acknowledge it as such is appalling.
Only 16.4 percent of corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies are women, according to a 2005 report by Catalyst, a nonprofit women’s research organization. Of those 500 companies, 67 don’t employ any female corporate officers. Zero. Zilch.
The number of women in corporate officer positions has been growing, but at the current rate it will take 40 years for women to hold the same number of Fortune 500 titles as men.
It’s true that attitudes towards women and female rights have improved dramatically over the last 40 years, but it’s ignorant to say everything is currently equal.
Reporters are more than three times as likely to cite men in a news story than to cite women, according to a 2005 report from the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Women are only quoted in 33 percent of news stories, whereas men are quoted in 76 percent.
What are the topics reporters are most likely to quote women on? Children, celebrities and homemaking.
Journalists rarely ask women for their opinions on politics, the military and foreign policy.
I doubt any of this is done deliberately. The discrimination is dangerously subtle to the point where it’s normal not to see women interviewed on television or female names in newsprint.
The attitudes and stereotypes in American society lead us to believe that male sources have more adept opinions on significant and world-changing events. We’ll wait to ask female sources for their opinions on Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s relationship.
Perhaps the most evident example of female inequality in the United States is the debate Hillary Clinton has sparked over whether America is ready for a female president.
Regardless of political preference, one cannot say there is complete equality between men and women in the United States when the gender of a candidate is the catalyst that inspires many residents to say they’re not going to vote for her.
Though the term “feminism” unfortunately carries many negative stereotypes and connotations, I am not afraid to call myself a feminist. I’m not satisfied to be misinterpreted and discriminated against because I’m a female. I hope others feel the same way.
Brooke Robertson is a journalism senior and Mustang Daily staff writer.