E-Quality Matters

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?

The Underbelly of Women's Culture

Two times this week I have facilitated a dialogue with women leaders on the topic of women working with other women. Specifically, we examined why it can be so difficult. Needless to say, I’m exhausted. However, what I’ve observed in both groups has me really intrigued and has given me the inspiration to keep this topic on the table with the women with which I interact. Despite my sweaty palms.

This is a tough topic. Most research on the matter concludes that is exactly why it is among the lists of “undiscussables” with women. From my own experience, it can bring up issues of shame, embarrassment, defensiveness, and most certainly denial. I’ve found this to be true for myself and most recently, I have observed this in other women engaging in the topic. What it requires is women to look at the “dirty underbelly” of female culture. There is an increasing amount of research on the topic of why women struggle to work with one another. The findings typically attribute it to three dynamics: how we are encultured as girls to deal with anger and conflict, the fact that we are often pitted against each other in the media and the challenges we face as we aspire to be leaders within a society that traditionally honors and rewards the masculine.

So sure, there are a lot of good reasons this is happening. And certainly, this is a really hard issue to explore as a group of women. But here is my concern: what if we don’t? What are the consequences for us as women if we don’t discuss this issue and begin to take ownership of our collective dynamics and perceptions? What then? My fear: more of the same. In fact, the research out there comes to the same conclusion: until women rise up address this within our own culture of women, we will find ourselves stuck and divided. More of the same.

From my experiences this week, I’m getting a bit clearer on the rub. What I’m noticing is when women don’t relate to the statistics and the stories that would paint this picture of “internalized sexism” – either because of their experiences or because of their own resistance to claim a rather unattractive issue – they tend to vehemently push away the topic as if it was a hot potato. Which it is. The problem is, who will catch it? And ironically, isn’t the very notion of “passing the potato” to another woman discounting the many, many voices of women who claim this issue is true and alive to them? Isn’t that in itself an act of judging and differentiating ourselves from other women?

And then there is the whole Law of Attraction thing… If we begin to focus on this topic as women and talk about it more, won’t that “draw it in” to us? So, in effect, we will be creating more of what we don’t want: divisiveness, disagreement, and conflict among women?

So what’s a woman to do? Simple, the research concludes: RISE UP and DO SOMETHING!!!! The bottom line, is that we need more women winning, than losing. We need to see the connections between our successes and our losses and resist the urge to just use our own perceptions and experiences to drive our actions (or inactions). We need to wrap our minds around the idea that when we find fault with another woman – or another woman does – the notion is reinforced that women are somehow faulty. And that includes you, whether you “deserve it” or not. So the invitation is to turn the tide – to somehow make it fashionable to be good to each other (which flies in the face of the current cultural mindset).

Specifically, here is what we can each do:
Become less judgmental about other women
Find common ground – we are more similar than different, so focus on that
Don’t allow the media, or anybody else for that matter, to define who you are.
Support women’s organizations with your involvement and/or your checkbook.
Mentor a younger woman–become an ally for another woman and support her success.

Be an activist in ways that engages dialogue, not debate: invite curiosity, not judgment.

So what do you think? Let’s talk about this. And I’d ask you again: what are the consequences if we don’t? Isn’t it time?

Not My Mother's Feminist

My mother took me to my first prochoice rally when I was 9 years old, and, to quote the Indigo Girls, "that was the beginning of the rest of my life." But my mother and I were very different when it came to being a "feminist." If my mother were to tell you the three major attributes of her character -- feminist would be top on the list. If you were to ask me, a host of other things would fall out ranging from global citizen to foodie to yogi.

Its not that I don't view myself as a feminist -- I do to the extent that it owns much of professional and private life.

I've always felt that actions were stronger than words, and so for me, feminism became a strategy -- a strategy for eliminating poverty in third world countries, a strategy for getting the greatest bang for a philanthropic buck, a strategy for building happy healthy communities. Yet, the words "Feminism Spoken Here" never made it to my bumper, whereas it hangs over the door of my parent's house.

Does that make me any less a feminist? No. Obviously. But it took a me a while to own that and be comfortable with it. Feminism has taken so many forms, individual by individual and generation by generation. So this week's discussion focuses on the various forms and meanings of feminism. Tell us, what does feminism mean to you?