I don't know whether it's a passing craze or anything like that, but I've decided to start a blog. Nothing much really; I'll be talking about what I've been up to everyday, but most importantly how I feel about issues relating to women in particular.
I hate that people think that women are just fine after having achieved the right to vote in 1920, especially in America. Granted that women in America are much better off than those in other more oppressive regimes in the world, but there is still so much to be done. I still cannot fathom how this lack of equality even came to be. It surprises me that women still continue to be paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same work, and that women have to keep fighting for what I would consider basic rights, such as reproductive freedom and access to quality child-care.
As a budding young woman myself, the current workings of the system has forced me to think about my future. Will I have to sacrifice my career if I have children? Will I be able to provide them with a quality education without drastically cutting my hours at work? Will I be a bad mother if I dedicate myself to my work, or will I be a bad professional if I choose to miss a few meetings in exchange for attending parent teacher conferences and piano recitals? And most importantly, can I pull of Claire Huxtable (from the Cosby Show)-- can I really have it all? It is these questions that plague me, and other young women like myself, I'm sure. I'm not exaggerating the current circumstances. I just want to feel empowered enough to start a flourishing career without having to sacrifice it all?
I may be just on the cusp of adulthood, but these questions and concerns are still quite real for me. Of course, these questions only concern women like me, who actually are given a shot at a decent education, alongside men, in the most competitive university classrooms in the world. What about those women who will never be able to empower themselves financially or through literacy? Sure, microfinancing is definitely an option especially in impoverished nations, but how do we get these women their rightful place in the classroom? Producing a culture of tolerance and equality from an early age may be a fair start. If young boys learn that young girls are just like them in many ways, they can start to find their own middle ground. They can learn to treat women with respect and look at them as equals, both in and outside the home.
Perhaps that's why I'm blogging. In the hopes that I might find my own middle ground--balancing work and familiy-- when the time comes.
In the groundbreaking book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan discusses the average housewife's day: caring for her husband and children, chauffering them around, cooking and cleaning, and creating domestic bliss. In the end, they ask "Is this all?"
To the women (and men) of the future, I ask "Is this not all?" I challege you to find the answers to these probing questions and in your own little ways, take a step forward.
I hate that people think that women are just fine after having achieved the right to vote in 1920, especially in America. Granted that women in America are much better off than those in other more oppressive regimes in the world, but there is still so much to be done. I still cannot fathom how this lack of equality even came to be. It surprises me that women still continue to be paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same work, and that women have to keep fighting for what I would consider basic rights, such as reproductive freedom and access to quality child-care.
As a budding young woman myself, the current workings of the system has forced me to think about my future. Will I have to sacrifice my career if I have children? Will I be able to provide them with a quality education without drastically cutting my hours at work? Will I be a bad mother if I dedicate myself to my work, or will I be a bad professional if I choose to miss a few meetings in exchange for attending parent teacher conferences and piano recitals? And most importantly, can I pull of Claire Huxtable (from the Cosby Show)-- can I really have it all? It is these questions that plague me, and other young women like myself, I'm sure. I'm not exaggerating the current circumstances. I just want to feel empowered enough to start a flourishing career without having to sacrifice it all?
I may be just on the cusp of adulthood, but these questions and concerns are still quite real for me. Of course, these questions only concern women like me, who actually are given a shot at a decent education, alongside men, in the most competitive university classrooms in the world. What about those women who will never be able to empower themselves financially or through literacy? Sure, microfinancing is definitely an option especially in impoverished nations, but how do we get these women their rightful place in the classroom? Producing a culture of tolerance and equality from an early age may be a fair start. If young boys learn that young girls are just like them in many ways, they can start to find their own middle ground. They can learn to treat women with respect and look at them as equals, both in and outside the home.
Perhaps that's why I'm blogging. In the hopes that I might find my own middle ground--balancing work and familiy-- when the time comes.
In the groundbreaking book The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan discusses the average housewife's day: caring for her husband and children, chauffering them around, cooking and cleaning, and creating domestic bliss. In the end, they ask "Is this all?"
To the women (and men) of the future, I ask "Is this not all?" I challege you to find the answers to these probing questions and in your own little ways, take a step forward.
To start off, this argument is full of logical fallacies.
ReplyDeleteYou say that women have only two choices, to work or to have children and stay home; this brings on the fallacy of "False Dilemma." These are not the only two options. According to http://www.womenemployed.org/index.php?id=20, the majority of women who work also raise schoolchildren.
The second is the logical fallacy of "Biased Sample." You claim that women still earn 77 cents per dollar that a man makes; nevertheless, you are looking at an overly general statistic. As Forbes made evident (http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/04/16/its-time-that-we-end-the-equal-pay-myth/), women and men tend to go into (generally) different job areas, with many women in the humanities and many men in science and technology. Though both are essential to our society, there is difference in pay between these two sectors. Women who work in the same field, same position, and same hours as a man are equally successful (take the respected CEO of PepsiCo, for example). In addition, men are shown to work longer hours than women not because they are assigned longer hours, but because they opt tow work longer to pursue a higher pay. This, as Forbes editor Lukas puts it, "should explain the wage gap."
Furthermore, you establish a claim that very few women are "actually given a shot at a decent education", attempting to show unequal opportunity. In actuality, in America, more women earn degrees than men (women-30% , men-29%), as shown by the census (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36663479/ns/us_news-census_2010/t/census-women-equal-men-college-degrees/#.T-R-H_UdiVo), and there are slightly more women in our universities than men (57%). As shown by the US Department of Labor (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm/), women even have a higher admissions rate to college than men.
So, where is your so-called discrimination. With all the laws about equal opportunity for all genders, races, and regardless of handicap (ADA), bias can be ruled out. With the government's support of women and bringing equal opportunity for all Americans (as Obama emphasized in his last State of the Union Address), the problem lies, as was repeated earlier, in choice of profession. Since many women go into the humanities (the writer of this post herself is majoring in humanities) and many men go into science and technology (qualifying that there are several exceptions), a general survey of pay indicates less the gender disparity but rather the pay in these two fields!
Lastly, to respond to the allusion to "The Feminine Mystique" and the post writer's simply-transcribed question of "Is this not all?", I pose a critical question of my own: "Do we not have a choice of what to become and what to do with our lives?" Women and men choose their professions, choose to get married, choose to have children, and (possibly) choose to stay home. Essentially, all this supposed bias and gender disparity arises by personal choice, not by society. Do not blame society or men for personal choices. After all, did Rachel Kadish, a feminist, not say, “Feminism means having a choice. And feminism doesn't care which choices you make, either. Just that you have them. The point has never been to establish some principled refusal to give yourself to another human being. The point is to make sure you can give yourself--or not give yourself--of your free will.”? So then why do you yet claim that you do not have a say in the matter?
*Note: Before I am berated as a "feminist-hater", as the post writer would put it, I would like to challenge the writer of this post to find an Ad Hominem attack or significant bias that drove my argument.
-R.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I want to say is that I'm not arguing anything. These are just my personal thoughts and worries for women, especially in the future. True, a great deal of women do work and raise schoolchildren. All I'm trying to say is that it's not an easy feat to perform, and with the way the current system is, some women may feel the need to choose one or the other.
As for your second comment, I was not aware of the details of that particular issue. Thank you for your clarification.
When I speak of women who are not able to receive a decent shot at education, I am referring to the global community. I understand that I might have been vague in this regard, but that was my original thought.
I'm also speaking of discrimination in the global context as well. So many women around the world are discriminated against just because they are women. Starting from sex-selective abortion itself, there is much discrimination against them around the world. Again, I may not have been clear here, but that is what I meant.
I am not blaming men or society for women's choices; I agree that many women in America are fortunate enough to make comfortable choices and balance home and work. However, there is some frustration is attempting this balance. That is why I bring up Claire Huxtable from The Cosby Show, the woman who magically seems to "have it all." A lot of young women strive for success in both fields, as in some ways, society expects it.
I wouldn't think of you as a "feminist-hater"; I am not that narrow-minded. I do thank you for your comment, and hopefully I have clarified a few things with this reponse.