"All men and women are created equal."
Why must women be what everyone else tells us to be? Why can I not simply be me and you simply be you? Society tells us one thing... But wait. Society is also telling us a million of other things -- ways to be, ways to speak, ways to live, ways to sit.
All of this to be "women." To be feminine. To be "equal" to men. But, all the while, a separate sex. A separate creature. The more demure, fashionable, proper, big-breasted, big-assed version of men. Riiiiight.
What if I don't want to be created equal to a man? I don't want to be conceived in relation to men. The authors of the Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls Conference in 1848 say that man has "endeavored, in every way that he could, to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life."
I refuse to lead that life, I maintain my self-respect, I am confident.
I am a female, I am White, I like sex, I like laughing, I like reading, I like teaching, I like my friends, I like my community, I like to learn, I like to heal. I am these things and more, but I am none of these things because of men.
Yes, of course, the lives of males and females are intertwined and impact each other in inexplicable ways, but I will not let my patriarchal society tell me I am a woman.
Ain't I a woman just because I am me? In relation to others, I am who I am who I am. ME! WOMAN!
I don't know what to say to the feminists of yesterday and today, I am only me and that's all I can be.
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AMEN SISTA ! Why should women’s identity be formed in relation to men’s? and why are women repeatedly viewed as the “other”? Sojourner Truth’s impassioned speech brings up these questions and reveals the power that women have to act and speak for themselves, separate from men. Truth exclaims: “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!” The need for women to fight for their freedom separate from men is also revealed in Dubois’ article. It is disappointing to see how women were repeatedly let down by male reformers, that women’s rights were not prioritized and that essentially, women can only rely on themselves. The good news that I can gather from this somewhat pessimistic account of the feminism waves is that luckily women are capable of A LOT. Sure we are constantly being compared to men, belittled by men and viewed in relation to men, but we are also capable of fighting for our rights, and have clearly come a long way. Perhaps we have not yet turned the world “right side up again,” but we are on our way and if nothing else, we can say we have done it ourselves, with no help from men.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex and Ali’ point that women should not have to be defined in the narrow context of the opposite sex. We can be many things, as Alex points out, that have nothing to do with being biologically different from men. We do not have to possess the traits men traditionally attribute to women. As Sojourner Truth says, “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me!” No matter what social construction a woman fits into, she is still a woman. And during Truth’s time, no matter what, she needed to be fighting for her rights.
ReplyDeleteWomen had consistently been let down during the abolitionist movement by men who viewed them in these narrow terms of what a woman should be. Elizabeth Caddy Stanton was denied the ability to speak at an anti slavery convention in London due to her gender. She was campaigning for equality, but not being treated equally within her own movement. This seems quite contradictory of the male abolitionists and in my opinion undermines their work for equality between races. How can there be equality between white and black when half of both populations are completely ignored? This betrayal to women was further cemented with the passing of the 14th Amendment where any mention of gender equality was left out, and for the first time in the Constitution the word male was mentioned. Women were outraged as DuBois points out, “Previously, political discrimination against women had been a matter of local statute and public sentiment. Now, with the 14th Amendment, this discrimination was being endorsed on the national level.”
Thus, the only thing women could do to combat their treatment and narrow socially acceptable role was to advocate for their own gender without the help of me, and as Ali points out we are certainly on our way due solely to our own conviction.
Hi Alexandra, Samantha, and Ali,
ReplyDeleteFascinating posts -- I love the Truth-like manifesta you've created to lead things off, Alexandra! Two questions to complicate things (or not): what does it mean to deny the identity of "woman"? Do we lose something by casting off this identity -- or do we simply free ourselves of the residue of the male/female binary?
To respond to MES, I think that while Alex makes some great points about independence and individuality, women should not be so quick to shlep off their identity. Imagine if things were different and it was men who were trying to be more like women (think BOY POWER tshirts). Would it be equally wrong to switch the gender norm to female? Of course! Thus, I think if we can get passed the notion that maleness is the goal, women could be themselves in a way that would naturally bring out the best in the female sex. Just like men will always be known as the stronger sex, what could women be renowned for if given the opportunity to embrace themselves?
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