Feminism Today: Can We Do It?

Written by Emily Perkins Rock

Feminist. For most people, the word conjures a distinct image: Rosie the Riveter, sleeve

torn back, muscle bulging, eyebrow raised in defiance and the bold declaration: We Can Do It!

Starkly contrasting this picture is freshman Maggie Bridges, sitting with her legs crossed

and her pale, willowy fingers clasped in her lap. She’s perfectly polite, with a gracious “No,

thank you” to the offer of water and little quips to add to the small talk. She’s also a feminist.

“I think a feminist is someone who believes that women and men are equal and should

have equal rights,” Bridges said. “I do consider myself to be a feminist. I feel like women are

equal to men – it’s just common sense.”

While the issue of gender equality may seem like something of the past, the distinctions

between men and women are still present, and Bridges has experienced these first hand, right

here at Shawnee Mission East.

So far, Bridges has only encountered sexism in the form of jokes – nothing aimed at

seriously degrading women. While they’re only jokes, the degrading comments are still offensive

to Bridges.

“If someone says something or does something that I think is unfair, I’ll challenge it,”

Bridges said. “I feel like there’s a lot of derogatory comments in high school that are meant to be

funny, but are just rude. There’s comments about putting women in their place, and telling them

that ‘you should be in the kitchen.”

Though the jokes may be harmless enough, the general idea of women being inferior to

men seems to be played out in the workplace.

According to CNN, as of 2011, women are still only making about 77 cents to a man’s

dollar. This fact isn’t surprising to Bridges.

“In the workplace and in the military, there’s a lot of discrimination,” Bridges said.

“Some of it seems like a good idea, but if you’re going to make men and women completely

equal, you’re going to have to change a few of those things. A lot of it just seems unfair.”

But should men and women be completely equal? Freshman Rachel Kim thinks that the

idea of total equality between genders is unreasonable.

“We can vote, we can have jobs, we can live on our own,” Kim said. “I’m not one of

those people who thinks men and women should be completely equal, because we’re completely

different. If you think about it, we are treated equally.”

Kim also believes that if women are still viewed as inferior to men, they’ve helped to

build those views, perpetuating stereotypes through their actions.

“I think part of what contributes to the stereotypes today is how some girls, like, put

themselves out there,” Kim said. “It’s not completely the males’ fault. There’s those girls who

are always asking help from men, and being, like, a typical girl.”

Freshman Hannah Swanson believes that women help to keep the stereotypes alive not

only with their actions, but also with how they dress.

“I don’t want to say women shouldn’t wear skirts or low cut tops, but I think that the

main contribution to gender discrimination is the stereotypes that a lot of women make for

themselves,” Swanson said. “If you don’t want to be treated as inferior, don’t act or dress like it.”

To Bridges, the idea that women should have to monitor what they wear in order to be

treated with respect is unfair.

“We should demand equal rights, but we shouldn’t have to change what we do or how we

do it in order to get equal rights,” Bridges said.

According to TNS Research Surveys, 68 percent of women surveyed believe gender

discrimination exists in the workplace, and yet gender discrimination is a topic that’s slowly

fading in today’s media coverage.

Although major steps were made toward gender equality in 1920 when the Nineteenth

Amendment modified the Constitution so that women could vote, Bridges can see that the issue

is slowly fading from attention.

“Honestly, there are still problems out there that [people] need to fix,” Bridges said. “I

definitely think [feminism] should be prevalent, but I think the movement is running out of

steam, and isn’t as prevalent in the news.”

Swanson also commented on the disappearance of the feminist movement from the news.

“I remember seeing, like, one article on feminism, and that’s it,” Swanson said. “Other

than that, I haven’t seen it in my daily life at all. I think the feminist movement is definitely

something of the past.”

Bridges hopes that women aren’t lulled into a false sense of complacency when they’re

so close to complete equality.

“We’re so close right now, and we just have to keep pushing for equality,” Bridges said.

“We have a good stance on it right now – we just need to finish the job.”

As feminist rallies and protests fade, the revolution may be coming to a close. With few

pushing the cause, only time will tell if feminism is truly a cause of the past.