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August 31, 2005
Other things that feminism doesn't mean
If you were to take a look at some of my major interests, you'd probably have a lot of trouble believing that I'm a feminist: baking, cooking, decorating, scrapbooking, decoupage, sewing, painting, gardening...
So tell me. Are you surprised? Because a shocking number of people are.
Those people missed the point of feminism. And they're doing exactly what they shouldn't be doing: gendering activities. Those aren't the activities of a woman; they're the activities of someone who likes to see things come alive under his or her hands, who likes to put raw materials together and create something new, who likes to have an impact on her environment. That person could be male, female, transgendered, or neuter.
The reason those particular types of activities were under attack by righteous feminists was not because they were fundamentally demeaning or pointless activities. Far from it; there's a lot of honor in being a creator, a craftsperson. The problem comes in when they were the only activities available to women. And yes, it is pretty demeaning to be scrubbing floors and cooking meals for your husband while he trots around under the impression that what you do is easy, and nothing compared to the work he does. Especially when the whole world seems to feel that way. But women have more choices than that, now. Sure, not everyone gets that. A lot of women still think they're destined for a life of childbearing and housekeeping. But if an educated, informed woman makes a choice to follow a certain lifestyle, who are we to judge?
By saying that anything is women's work is to perpetuate the very gender roles that feminism is attempting to combat. To dismiss any activity as demeaning when it is an informed and conscious choice of the participant is narrow-minded and simply incorrect.
I choose to decorate my home. I choose to bake. I choose to cook meals for my boyfriend (although to be perfectly honest, we usually cook together). If I chose to stay at home and have babies, or I chose to be tied up and whipped every night, or I chose to forfeit a family in favor of a high-paying career, and I have a fairly good idea of the consequences of my choices, and I made those choices myself with no coercion, then no one has any right to judge them.
Posted by becka at August 31, 2005 07:35 PM