Rights
for women
Danielle
Sawyer
Rhythms for Womyn
"Man-haters,
lesbos, bitches, bra-burners and dykes."
Although advocates for feminism, which
means advocates for change, can be lesbians,
can be angry, frustrated or upset women
wearing bras or not wearing bras, but degrading
labels of hatred and ignorance we are not.
Yet I personally have heard society, as
well as friends and family, call me, as
an advocate of feminism and even as a women's
studies major, all of these names and not
just once. Fighting a long battle for the
rights of women to their own bodies, quality
jobs, equal pay, assistance with child care
and household duties, just to name a few,
has been and still remains a strong and
consistent struggle. Due to our country's
history, as well as the history of the entire
world, we all still live in a predominantly
patriarchal oppressive world.
This
is not a "poor us statement."
This is a raw and genuine wake up call to
all those living in a dream-like state that
believe we have predominantly overcome racism,
sexism, and classism among all the other
"isms" I have not mentioned. Yes,
slavery has been abolished, technically,
and women are "allowed" in the
work places of men but have these core issues
just been disguised under a different mask?
Sweatshops, $.75 to every man's dollar,
ghettos, the percentage of women and children
living below the poverty level, the percentage
of young people in our jail systems who
can not read and the lists grossly continues.
Everywhere one turns is an "ism"
to be reckoned with. How do we continue
producing generations that do not produce
drastic change in our societies? Is white
patriarchal power truly that much more powerful
than everyone else?
Social
constructions of power, control, and the
ever so mighty dollar have fogged our lenses
toward the needs of people. To be an advocate
for feminism is not a "woman-thang,"
it is a "human-thang" to fight
the oppressor that our history has made
and the oppressive roles we have been given.
If we collaborate together to fight these
powers that be, embrace our differences
and yet find our commonalities, we will
develop the new tools that can dismantle
the master's house, break the chains of
oppression, empower ourselves and eventually
all people towards the acceptance and unconditional
respect for all. We can overcome the dreaded
"isms" that plague this world,
a planet that should be at peace, but we
need to work together as a community of
people to achieve this goal.
Just
start thinking outside of the mold given
to us since birth, you never know what you
may discover, maybe even a whole new you!
Danielle
Sawyer is a women's studies major at Cal
State Long Beach.
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