Looking Backward,
Facing Forward
Looking Backward, Facing Forward
Feminism ... what does it really mean? For me, like many in my age bracket, it doesn't begin to describe the road we've traveled and how far we have to go. I am often frustrated that women don't seem to realize just how long and hard the road has been; that they don't seem to acknowledge or take pride in the struggle from which they benefit. And yet, we have miles to go and we need the involvement of every woman to reach global parity.
Like so many women my age, I have been denied my rights because I was born female. I don't want to cry "poor me" but present these things as an example of the kind of discrimination against women that was the norm.
- I wanted to go to medical school. I had a passion for medicine. I had taken the necessary prerequisite classes in high school and my Grade Point Average was 3.9. I could not get a recommendation for medical school, only for nursing school. The rationale was that I would be depriving someone who would finish the course (read that as a man) from a place in school. I was told that I would just get married and quit so it was pointless to start. Who knows what I might have accomplished? I was denied my dream. Getting notice that I had been accepted for the School of Nursing was a bitter blow. I did not attend.
- I was lucky that I worked for a company that depended on its female sales force for survival. Otherwise I might have been like many of my friends, who got married and then got a pink slip advising that their services were no longer required. Yes, a company could and would fire a female employee who got married.
- I had two or three credit cards. After I got married I applied to have them changed to my married name. Imagine my surprise when they came back in my husband's name.
- We wanted to buy a house, but needed to include my income to qualify. I had to get a letter from my employer promising not to fire me if I got pregnant. Yes, they could and did do that too.
- I was denied more than one job for which I was well qualified in favor of a man who "needed the job" more than I did. In whose opinion? The premise was the a man was the main breadwinner for his family and therefore more qualified and more deserving. That was really strange to me, because my husband was going to school and *I* was the chief breadwinner in our family at the time.
- I bought my first new car. I was so excited. I picked it out and arranged for the financing. When it came time to sign for the loan, the bank required my husband to sign the papers too. They never said anything about that when I applied. And when the title came, my name wasn't even on it, just my husband's.
- I have held several management positions over the years. In those positions I have had to constantly fight for recognition of my ability and respect for my position. As a female business owner I had to put up with business contacts who constantly asked to speak to the person who really ran the business, meaning the man.
It hasn't been all bad. Some of my greatest successes came because they were so unexpected. Management often has such a low opinion of women that we blow their socks off with a competent, well thought presentation.
"We've come a long way, baby." was a popular and sexist advertising slogan, but it also describes the progress of the feminist movement. Yet we have so far to go and I sometimes think we are our own worst enemy. We've allowed ourselves to be sidetracked from the main goal by the struggle to survive day to day. And in doing that, we've allowed those who would maintain the status quo a major victory. We've failed to take seriously threats that should have raised an alarm with us. Witness the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment. Who would have believed that a thinking people would accept and believe the claims of the foes of the ERA? And yet they did. (See The History Behind The Equal Rights Amendment).
I think we have sometimes been embarrassed by the women who made the gains we have achieved possible. Someone once wrote that the words "I remember" mean "I believe". Well, I remember the women who worked tirelessly for the rights we do enjoy and I believe we should honor them by continuing to support the cause for which they fought. We should read their words and learn their tactics. We should keep our eyes on the goal and never accept less than we deserve ... full and equal partnership in the human race.
I identify with those women and applaud their courage. Bella Abzug (1920 - 1998) once said if she had been a man she would have been described as courageous instead of abrasive; forceful instead of strident. In her 1972 book, Bella!, she wrote: "There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash and overbearing, Whether I'm any of these things, or all of them, you can decide for yourself. But whatever I am - and this ought to be made very clear at the outset - I am a very serious woman."
I, too, am a very serious woman. My commitment is no less strong even if my results are less spectacular. I face forward and march on.
Peggy Erickson
08/15/01
Recommended reading:
Bella!
- Bella Abzug
Gender
Gap - Bella Abzug
Women: Looking Beyond 2000 - Bella Abzug
The
Feminine Mystique - Betty Freidan
Life
So Far - Betty Freidan
It
Changed My Life - Betty Freidan
Herstory:
Women Who Changed The World
Outrageous
Acts & Everyday Rebellions - Gloria Steinem
Discuss your views on feminism in The Forums@Xisti.com. Not registered?
Click on the Register Now icon in the left column to join the community.