Everyone’s favorite f-word is having a moment of limelight and galore. Ideally, we would all celebrate by reading some Woolf, waving flags with “We can do it!” or “Votes for women!” feeling beautifully independent or independently beautiful, but there are some issues to tackle first.
Apparently, many women feel like they don’t need modern feminism: all is fair in the land of casual ignorance. Others take it to the extreme and allegedly take bubble baths in the tears of our noble male counterparts.
What does it mean to be a modern feminist in its practical-personal sense? Should we all stop shaving and start performing Bechdel tests on our favorite movies? Or is it enough to have an engineering career? Let’s discuss the matters of gender, feminism and, ultimately, humanity.
The Lipstick Debate and Media Revolution
Is it fine to wear a lot of makeup and not a lot of clothes in an attempt to seduce men (or “a man”)? Of course it is, says the third-wave feminist. Is it okay to do so in an attempt to express yourself? Yep, it’s all good, says the third-wave feminist.
But then the radical feminist interrupts: The second cause is superior to the first one, because the reason you want to impress men is that they have the power of the planet Earth. But what about her power? If he finds her attractive, she has the power, right? Well, she shouldn’t need to be sexually attractive to get the power.
Female attractiveness is greatly exaggerated in importance. My mother usually makes sure my suitors are smart, funny and kind and that my brother’s girlfriends are pretty. How boring. Don’t get me wrong, we all engage in objectification. Sometimes when this pale, thin and tall senior walks by, I gaze longingly after him and think, “I would,” too, but hey, I don’t see attractive men selling me products all day, every day.
As famous actors get older, their partners in movies get younger. Female youth and beauty cult in the media and, so, in life needs to stop. And for this we need more feminist screenwriters/directors. Become one, girls! There’s a revolution waiting to happen.
Think about all the trouble girls go through to look good. Primer, foundation, concealer, bronzer, mascara, lipstick, nail polish, healthy eating/calorie awareness, shoes you can’t properly walk in, hair straightening, hair removal, etc. Is it un-feministic to do so? Again, no.
What’s un-feministic is a girl’s possible insecurity she has when she goes without all of these things. You need to ask if you can accept yourself without looking sexually attractive and if your own opinion is the most important one. Because it should be.
Pie or Pi
All women love pies: apple pies, cherry pies and, of course, mathematical pis. Just kidding — not all, but some. I have come to anticipate the look of disbelief and newfound respect in people’s eyes when I tell them my major: Applied Math.
It is understandable — we can’t just make-believe a world where my classes are not dominated by men. Yet feminism has done its job. If you had the choice to be in Applied Math, you just didn’t like it, and the reason you didn’t like it is not because you were expected not to like it. Can you follow my logic? I’m sure you can. None of those “women-cannot-logic” sitcom myths.
So, as feminists, how should we battle the stereotypes? By being in engineering and being awesome at it, too. For example, Maryam Mirzakhani recently won the Fields Medal (the Nobel prize for math) for the first time. It seems like she has done more for feminism than anyone dedicating his/her life to “raising awareness about women in engineering.”
Gender Trouble
No, but can we talk about women’s rights before talking about women? What is gender? One of the main points of third-wave feminism is inclusivity. It has elements of queer theory and men’s rights activism, includes transgender people and thos of non-binary genders, speaks for people of color, etc., thus turning feminism into this all-encompassing spokesperson for Human Equality. Ultimately, and as a tendency, the world goes from natural to artificial and then back again. Erasure of the social construct of gender is a part of going back to natural, but “new natural.”
According to rather over-simplified Judith Butler, gender is performative. Try it; it’s fun. Dress like a man, hide the hair, look
