Different... But Equal

I generally consider myself well aligned with the feminist movement. Who wouldn't be? It is a movement that has supported equal rights, access, and opportunity for women.

I also think I've done a good job as feminist. I have had my moments of "sticking" it to the "man." One of my favorites coming as teenager working at a Habitat site in Hazard County, Kentucky (home of the Dukes and the county motto: Where the Blood Runs Purple). I ran up against a construction crew who didn't feel that I, "a girl," was well qualified to dig the drainage ditch through a 18 inch crawl space. It wasn't a fun point to prove, but my stubborn nature demanded it, and, in the end, I was quite proud of the feat.

I've considered my personal choices through a feminist lens, giving great deliberation to changing my name and to being a working mom.

But I am a literal person, and of late, I feel feminism has done a disservice to women and the role of women in society. While the feminist movement has tried to make space for various "waves," i.e. the evolving nature of injustices and their fighters, it has stuck true to the fight for equality. In equality, I feel there is an insistence on the homogenity of gender (and this could be where my literal nature hangs me out to dry). A friend and colleague refers to this as neutering gender.

In short, I feel feminism is at risk of selling short the relevance of our gender.

So, what is the relevance of gender?

Charles Malik wrote:

"The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world."

Nobel Laureates, like Amartya Sen, have written about the economic and social benefits for whole communities and societies when women are educated and have access to resources. The philanthropic and international development community has seen this first hand. Women deal with absolute poverty differently than men: they will start micro businesses, feed and educate their children, and get invest in preventative health (like immunizations). The Grameen Bank, the leader in microlending, explicitly loans to women, citing the power of women as agents of change:

"Women have proven to be the best poverty fighters. Experience and studies have shown that they use the profits from their businesses to send their children to school, improve their families’ living conditions and nutrition, and expand their businesses."

I've seen this first hand, and it is the reason I work in the women's funding movement.

And even though the White House Project believes you "add women and change everything," I disagree (and tangential conversation about today's politics might support a disagreement). In order for the power of our gender to be realized through leadership, it has to be recognized by the leader.

It is not as simple as a woman being a leader. She must also recognize, appreciate, and realize what feminine leadership entails.

And I believe that it is our fight for equality in the workplace and government that has enabled us to shy away what feminine leadership really means. As we claim our space as equal and able participants, we try not to underscore that we are different. And there's the rub. We are different.

These are bold statements. And they may get  my head burning on a stick. But feminism is a complex framework; it is not universal in recognition, acceptance, or definition. Much like women. Which is why, this month at the Maine Women's Fund, we're exploring various feminist perspectives.

Susanna Liller shares her story on Making Change Happen.

The New Girls are having an intergenerational conversations that explores the following questions.

When you consider the topic of feminism, what comes to mind?

 
What has been your experience with the feminist movement?

 
What are your thoughts, feelings and observations about the current state of feminism and where it’s headed?

What has been your experience? What do you want to offer to conversation?

Comments

[Meredith S. Bove]

For the last fifteen years (I’ll be 33 this month, for those who are curious), I’ve considered myself a feminist in the same way that I think of myself as having brown hair. It’s a fact I don’t think about all that much. Sure, there are things I’d change about the “movement” -- the labels, the divisions between the waves, the emphasis on equality as the only answer. But overall, I consider myself a part of a movement that’s focused on legal and cultural equality for women.

I’m a feminist who has rejected the “third wave” label in favor of the generic “feminist” association. It’s not that I don’t know the history of the movement or that I don’t appreciate that I am part of the third wave like it or not. I’m not trying to chart a new course or prove a point. It’s simply that I’ve never found the label meaningful in the work I do with and for women.

As logical as this all seems to me, I’ve been struggling recently to find common ground with other feminists of my generation who seem to be caught up in what I deem to be an over analysis of the movement. I’m peripherally experiencing a laborious debate about the definitions of feminism and equality – a debate I believe is happening at the expense of the world that is crying out for our consciousness, compassion, connection and collaboration.

I’m at the point where I see more women caught up in unproductive, divisive conversations (at odds with themselves, their peers and with the second and third wave feminists who came before them) than I see women tackling the more urgent issues of our time.

All of this has me wondering. And waiting. In my inaugural post, I talk about the need for women to roll up their sleeves and get to work, the need for our collective energy and wisdom. So building on those themes, I ask:

What will it take for us to put aside our differences and realize that we are working toward the same end?

What will it take for women to put a stake in the ground and say, “These are my values. This is my story. And labels aside, I am going to make a difference”?