Gender Discussion

The discussion we had in class today regarding feminism was not a first for me. I have had the debate before assessing feminism's true definition and the societal definition that has been created. When asking nearly anyone to name a feminist, most respond with a woman figure such as Susan B. Anthony or Abigail Adams. I have to admit that when hearing the word feminist, Anthony and Adams immediately spawn in my mind. A feminist, however, is merely anyone who believes in gender equality. As a result culture's influence, however, feminist is now a word associated with a woman who is incredibly radical and forceful of women's equal rights. During class, an incredibly accurate explanation for this new definition was given; the socially constructed definition of feminist is a result of media's portrayal of feminists. The feminists most of the public hears of are the incredibly radical women who take extreme lengths to create a sense of gender equality. The feminists that are most common, however, are solely people like me who believe in and support gender equality, yet do not commit to extreme advocacy. No matter to what extent, all who believe in gender equality are feminists and should be proud and willing to say so.

Furthermore in our class discussion, we began to list the stereotypes that are existent in today's society, however, our class failed to do so as our discussion turned into an argument. The shifting of the discussion to an argument occurred mainly because children of this era are educated to believe that gender stereotypes are bad, and therefore blind themselves to their existence. When we began characterizing music and clothes are either feminine or masculine, our class had trouble agreeing, as people believed that everyone should have the freedom to listen to and wear whatever they want. This freedom, however, clearly does not exist as if it did, there would be no discussion at all regarding gender equality. I think that it is important to identify and be aware of the stereotypes that exist in today's culture, even if we do not support them. Everyone started getting angry at Mr. Heidkamp for having us do this activity of listing gender stereotypes because it forced us to recognize and continue gender stereotypes. I think that the activity, however, would have been incredibly beneficial and that it was not fair to shut out gender stereotypes as means of ending their continuance. In order to put a stop to gender stereotypes and the "proper" ways of women and men depicted by our culture -- clothes, music, toys, etc... -- we need to recognize the stereotypes because ignoring them and stating that we do not believe that they are accurate will only hide their existence and allow the stereotypes to continue to exist.