Blue Notes from a Red Zone

The Power of Feminism

Way back when I was a child in the 1950s and 60s, The Ladies' Home Journal used to run a tagline "Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman." For all I know, they still do. While this quote sounds affirmative, it was derived from a humorist (James Thurber?), and spoke to a woman's "feminine wiles" and power of manipulation. Women as rational, productive human beings were severely underestimated.

Today we have a dichotomy. We still underestimate women, but we greatly overestimate the power of feminism. I hear a great deal of railing by fundamentalist preachers, newspaper columnists, and politicians. All these groups are united against feminists, who are allegedly responsible for the supposed abandonment of families by wives and mothers. As an institution, feminism is only acknowledged when advocating for abortion and against the nurturing of children.

Being a mother myself, I think this anger is misplaced. As much as I believe in respect and equal rights for women, the desire to prove a point would not have pushed me back in the workplace. I went back to work for the same reason every mother I have ever known went back to work: my husband and I couldn't afford the life we want for our children on a single income. Certainly I had come closer than most in immersing myself in family life, having taken 18 years off for maternity leave. However, when my oldest started college it quickly became obvious that even my husband's hefty income was not enough to sustain four college tuitions, weddings, study abroad, grad school, and other advantages we wished to provide for our offspring and ourselves (such as retirement). I took a job when my youngest was seven, and I've been working ever since (he's 17 now).

There has been an incredible social revolution within the family structure, but the root cause is not philosophy, but economics. Wages first flattened, and then entered into a period of decline. Manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas, and the low paying service jobs that took their place forced many formerly middle-class families into lower-class status. The basic standard of living became more expensive, and the range of available extras mushroomed. Although it is possible to live with a black and white TV, or no TV at all, few people want to do so. We all want "entertainment centers," and computers, and cable connections. Our children want IPods, hand-held computers, and camera cell phones with bluetooth technology.

Several trends emerged. Many men were relieved at not being the sole financial support for their families. Many women found that they loved being in the workforce, and were pleased to be recognized for their intellectual and organizational skills as well as their pot roast. Some children thrived in a day care environment, though the jury is still out as to whether this has been a good thing overall. And for an enormous number, primarily low-earning families and single moms, it was simply business as usual.

But the results were not consistently wonderful across the board. A large number of men felt emasculated at the idea of needing their wives to help provide for the family. Other women found that the jobs open to them were often menial and paid poorly, and were unimpressed with the "new" freedom to make beds at hotels and wash dishes in restaurants. The women who had dedicated their lives to nurturing their husbands and children were often resentful, both of having to work, and of seeing their peers flourish at the new challenges.

With all this angst and drama being enacted around the country, it was natural that those most adversely affected looked to demonize someone else, and to push the responsibility for change (and individual failures) onto an outside group. And thus, the women who had a short, glorious moment in creating social change relating to equal rights and opportunities in the 1970s became the witches of the ensuing decades.

Feminisn as I knew it while a idealistic and passionate college student in the 1970s was a marvelous force. It pushed us to build upon what our foremothers had won for their daughters: voting rights, access to education, and freedom to make our own choices. It empowered us to consider a myriad of dreams, including full-time motherhood as well as engineering, medicine and law. And yes, it allowed us to view ourselves as sexual human beings who could make decisions about how we wanted to conduct our relationships.

But feminisn, a movement allowing women the freedom to choose their own direction in life, and to be supported whatever that choice, has been marginalized. Most women must go to work, and they are anything but supported in that effort. Our society does not offer universal health care, or sufficient access to subsidized child care, or sufficient quality child care whatever the cost. Women still do not get paid as well or promoted as often as men. A transient life style has reduced the impact of extended family support. While the vast majority of women make the best of their situations, and often (like me) find jobs that utilize their talents in fulfilling ways, it is a struggle. Women forge their paths individually, and do not come together as one for any idealogy, feminist or not.

Feminism as I knew it barely exists, and what is left has been so cariactured that it is hard to recognize. Still, it is remains a noble dream and a proud history, and one that has insinuated itself into the fabric of our lives even if primarily driven by economics. We have flexed our muscles and found them strong, and that's a good thing no matter what our life choices.

To get a much younger woman's take on feminism, check out my daughter's blog at www.myspace.com/hmajors. I'll use this excerpt as a teaser: I feel that modern feminism should focus on equal pay for equal work, easing social mores about sexuality being immoral, respectful and egalitarian relationships between men and women (which does not mean turning women into men!), and just as importantly, the well-being of children and establishment of happy well-adjusted families. Economic justice is an important corrollary!

posted by Lenore Wilson @ 12:02 PM