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The Goddess Speaks By Yoon Jee Kim |
Feminism should
not be a bad wordFeminism -- oops, was I not supposed to write that? Let me try it again, feminism. Most people, upon hearing that word, it seems, think of bra-burning lesbians with thick bushes of hair under their armpits.
One guy in my section for Formation of Modern American Culture class at my pretty, "educated" Ivy League institution blurted out, "Title IX sucks."
Whoo boy. First of all, he dissed one of the best things Congress has done for girls. Based on the philosophy of Patsy Mink, one of Hawaii's representatives, Title IX deals with sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, which includes the majority of the nation's schools, from elementary through college.
Secondly, girls do not inherently play less sports than boys, they just have not had the same opportunities nor are encouraged to do so -- exactly the reason we need things like Title IX.
Why is it that feminism and the notion of women's rights are given such a bad name? Why do women not want to be known as feminists?
I am a feminist. I like makeup. I like boys (don't tell my parents). I liked Barbies. But you know what, I like it even more when women stand up for themselves, when women speak their mind, when women dare to do things that are typically seen as something only men can do, and when they demand some of the limelight for their own. When women support each other and stand up for each other and work together, we could make this world a more woman-friendly place.
I HAVE A DREAM that someday women can earn equal pay (none of this living-wage crap -- how many single mothers are out there?); when women can define their world; when we no longer need a women's studies department, but rather gender studies; when women's health is not separated from public health, or from health care at all; when "feminism" is no longer a bad word, but rather a celebration of women caring for women and helping to make this world more woman-friendly.
Whether that means questioning the perception that mothers make for a lesser lawyer, or doing research on ovarian cancer, or simply paying for your daughters' tuition to college, feminism is everywhere, and we should reclaim the word and get rid of the stigma.
Yoon Jee Kim is a Roosevelt graduate who is currently attending Yale University and writes columns to avoid finishing her seminar papers.
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