When I attended the National Organization for Women’s (NOW) 40th annual conference and its Young Feminist Summit last week, I was trying to understand what happened to traditional feminism. While NOW still claims their goal is “to take action to bring about equality for all women,” that wasn’t even close to their message at the Conference.
So what is a feminist? Mr. Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” but I think his definition is a little outdated. Feminism, or the original suffragette movement, was about equality decades ago when brave young women fought for the right to vote and work outside the home. As a college student today, I’ve been taught that being a feminist is much different and has nothing to do with equality.
In a workshop designed to determine why young people are hesitant or resistant to identify themselves as feminists, participants were asked to describe what it means to be a feminist. Responses to the question of what a feminist is included “a recognition that men and women are not politically, socially, or economically equal,” an acknowledgment that “women are better than men,” and an “undermining of certain constructions of gender.” The woman leading the exercise admitted she wasn’t a feminist, “but a womanist, since [she’s] a woman of color.” Boisterous applause filled the room with each description of feminism.
So, why are young women hesitant to call themselves feminists? The instructor told us that feminism is very political, and the negative backlash is “due to a threat to the power struggle.” She also said that “the stigma to feminism is attached to homophobia.”
It was painfully apparent that at the Young Feminist Summit, a majority of attendees were at least well into their 50s. I would argue that young women like me, a 19-year-old Bucknell University sophomore, aren’t turned off by the political aspect of feminism. Many college students are actively involved in politics, but we are reluctant to join a movement dedicated to bashing men, degrading our bodies, and obsessing with sex.
Amidst NOW’s “soap opera of feminism,” which included braless women, booths with banners declaring “I love female orgasms,” women who used to be men, current and former prostitutes, open displays of intimate affection, people referring to NOW President Kim Gandy as “my leader,” and an affirmative reply to a question asking if clothing is optional, the “veteran feminists” just couldn’t seem to figure out what was scaring off young people.
The “I’m Not a Feminist, but…” Workshop was designed to explore feminist stereotypes. The audience determined that the average person thinks feminists are butch, sex-crazed, pro-abortion lesbians who never want to get married or have babies. If NOW members want young women -- and the rest of the world -- to respect them and their ideas and not accept these stereotypes, they ought not to perpetuate them.
Based on my exposure to feminists at Bucknell, the Conference, however, was exactly as I expected it to be. Women with spiked hair and tattoos walked around clad in tee shirts reading “I love my vibrator.” They detailed inane grievances, like the fact that men get more magazines than women get in prisons. Many also showed their age by expressing anger that back in the '60s, everyone did drugs and that generation turned out fine, but now people spend years and years in jail for using illegal substances.
The NOW feminist leaders praised women’s studies classes that focus on activism, and denounced people and groups that did not see a “rainbow of genders.” I even learned some of their language and which words are taboo: guys = bad; girls = good; ladies = bad, women = good; gal = always bad; babe = good if hippie singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco says it. Statistics were cited, like those regarding the number of women abused by the sex trade, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the speaker announce that “the numbers are not reflective of the current status.” At least now they’re admitting their “facts” are, well, not facts.
I received few smiles at the conference, but most attendees were too busy criticizing and interrupting each other to take time to smile anyway. Their time was also consumed feeling sorry for themselves because they have this idea in their heads that men are the privileged class, and women are merely the oppressed. This explains why feminists simultaneously hate men and need their help.
Even while tackling tough, important issues, the feminists turned them around. We were discussing the horrors of human sex trafficking and “sex tours,” and although the oppression and degradation of women was mentioned, many women in the room were more outraged that the services cater to men, the enemy!
So some stereotypes then, like those about feminists, are true.
One woman finally raised a very good point. She said everyone knows of the stereotypes about feminists and asked what we can do to fix it. “How do we solve this?” she demanded.
The question remained unanswered throughout the entire Young Feminist Summit. At least I now know the answer to our question about what feminism really is. Feminism is about older women and their male-bashing, body-part obsession, cross-dressing, left-wing political activism.
So what is a feminist? Mr. Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” but I think his definition is a little outdated. Feminism, or the original suffragette movement, was about equality decades ago when brave young women fought for the right to vote and work outside the home. As a college student today, I’ve been taught that being a feminist is much different and has nothing to do with equality.
In a workshop designed to determine why young people are hesitant or resistant to identify themselves as feminists, participants were asked to describe what it means to be a feminist. Responses to the question of what a feminist is included “a recognition that men and women are not politically, socially, or economically equal,” an acknowledgment that “women are better than men,” and an “undermining of certain constructions of gender.” The woman leading the exercise admitted she wasn’t a feminist, “but a womanist, since [she’s] a woman of color.” Boisterous applause filled the room with each description of feminism.
So, why are young women hesitant to call themselves feminists? The instructor told us that feminism is very political, and the negative backlash is “due to a threat to the power struggle.” She also said that “the stigma to feminism is attached to homophobia.”
It was painfully apparent that at the Young Feminist Summit, a majority of attendees were at least well into their 50s. I would argue that young women like me, a 19-year-old Bucknell University sophomore, aren’t turned off by the political aspect of feminism. Many college students are actively involved in politics, but we are reluctant to join a movement dedicated to bashing men, degrading our bodies, and obsessing with sex.
Amidst NOW’s “soap opera of feminism,” which included braless women, booths with banners declaring “I love female orgasms,” women who used to be men, current and former prostitutes, open displays of intimate affection, people referring to NOW President Kim Gandy as “my leader,” and an affirmative reply to a question asking if clothing is optional, the “veteran feminists” just couldn’t seem to figure out what was scaring off young people.
The “I’m Not a Feminist, but…” Workshop was designed to explore feminist stereotypes. The audience determined that the average person thinks feminists are butch, sex-crazed, pro-abortion lesbians who never want to get married or have babies. If NOW members want young women -- and the rest of the world -- to respect them and their ideas and not accept these stereotypes, they ought not to perpetuate them.
Based on my exposure to feminists at Bucknell, the Conference, however, was exactly as I expected it to be. Women with spiked hair and tattoos walked around clad in tee shirts reading “I love my vibrator.” They detailed inane grievances, like the fact that men get more magazines than women get in prisons. Many also showed their age by expressing anger that back in the '60s, everyone did drugs and that generation turned out fine, but now people spend years and years in jail for using illegal substances.
The NOW feminist leaders praised women’s studies classes that focus on activism, and denounced people and groups that did not see a “rainbow of genders.” I even learned some of their language and which words are taboo: guys = bad; girls = good; ladies = bad, women = good; gal = always bad; babe = good if hippie singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco says it. Statistics were cited, like those regarding the number of women abused by the sex trade, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear the speaker announce that “the numbers are not reflective of the current status.” At least now they’re admitting their “facts” are, well, not facts.
I received few smiles at the conference, but most attendees were too busy criticizing and interrupting each other to take time to smile anyway. Their time was also consumed feeling sorry for themselves because they have this idea in their heads that men are the privileged class, and women are merely the oppressed. This explains why feminists simultaneously hate men and need their help.
Even while tackling tough, important issues, the feminists turned them around. We were discussing the horrors of human sex trafficking and “sex tours,” and although the oppression and degradation of women was mentioned, many women in the room were more outraged that the services cater to men, the enemy!
So some stereotypes then, like those about feminists, are true.
One woman finally raised a very good point. She said everyone knows of the stereotypes about feminists and asked what we can do to fix it. “How do we solve this?” she demanded.
The question remained unanswered throughout the entire Young Feminist Summit. At least I now know the answer to our question about what feminism really is. Feminism is about older women and their male-bashing, body-part obsession, cross-dressing, left-wing political activism.
Ms. Soller is a sophmore at Bucknell University interning this summer at the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.
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