My Twitter feed is tied to my Facebook page. Generally my friends respond to a fairly high percentage of my tweets. But last week I tweeted about swimwear for little girls and started a long and, at times, intense conversation!
It strikes me that it is much easier to discuss an issue like sexism when we deal with seemingly inconsequential matters, like clothing. I'm very pleased that my last post, talking about sexism and rape, got some comments (Thanks to Wes and Rachel!). But I wonder if talking about sexism and clothing might be a less daunting topic?
So, let's talk about it!
I'm a feminist, and I'm soon to be a first time mother of a little girl. I'm thrilled to be having a daughter, and I confess that I have already bought very girly clothes for her. I plan to give her headbands, and cute shoes, and a purse if she wants one. I have a whole box of dress up clothes and a fabulous doll house that I hope she will enjoy one day.
I know I can walk the line of teaching her to be feminine without teaching her to be weak. But that's a pretty thin line. Especially given that I'll be battling most of American culture and media...
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Rape is assault, not sexuality
Washinton Post story on rape
Cleveland Rape case
East Coast rapist
What do all these stories have in common? Besides being disturbing to read, they all classify rape as a sexual act. Why is this an issue? I think that when we label an assault as "sexual", we change how we consider it and prosecute it. The real problem is that rape is not about fulfilling a healthy sexual need. It is not about desire, lust, or love. It is about power, humiliation, and sadism.
Consider this: If I accused a man of poking my eye out with a knife, and there was medical evidence to back this accusation up, would anyone say I wanted that to happen? Would anyone ask what I was wearing? But if the same man poked my vagina with a knife, my clothes would suddenly have relevance. If the tool was a penis, my intentions and desires would suddenly have relevance.
Rape is assault with a sexual organ. The term "sexual assault" is, in fact, accurate. But I think it does damage our ability to understand the full impact of the crime. And I think it adds an element of sexism to the discussion. Consider priests who sexually assault altar boys. Does anyone say "Well, that boy looked like he was 18 at the time." I don't think so. But if the priest assaulted a middle school girl who had finished puberty, then that's exactly what would be said by someone. Just read the articles about the Cleveland gang rape of an 11 year old, who by all reports, "looked" older than 11.
Mixing up sexuality with rape, sodomy, forced fellatio, and other acts of abuse bring sexism and victim blaming to the table. What's the answer? I'm not sure. Let me know your thoughts!
Cleveland Rape case
East Coast rapist
What do all these stories have in common? Besides being disturbing to read, they all classify rape as a sexual act. Why is this an issue? I think that when we label an assault as "sexual", we change how we consider it and prosecute it. The real problem is that rape is not about fulfilling a healthy sexual need. It is not about desire, lust, or love. It is about power, humiliation, and sadism.
Consider this: If I accused a man of poking my eye out with a knife, and there was medical evidence to back this accusation up, would anyone say I wanted that to happen? Would anyone ask what I was wearing? But if the same man poked my vagina with a knife, my clothes would suddenly have relevance. If the tool was a penis, my intentions and desires would suddenly have relevance.
Rape is assault with a sexual organ. The term "sexual assault" is, in fact, accurate. But I think it does damage our ability to understand the full impact of the crime. And I think it adds an element of sexism to the discussion. Consider priests who sexually assault altar boys. Does anyone say "Well, that boy looked like he was 18 at the time." I don't think so. But if the priest assaulted a middle school girl who had finished puberty, then that's exactly what would be said by someone. Just read the articles about the Cleveland gang rape of an 11 year old, who by all reports, "looked" older than 11.
Mixing up sexuality with rape, sodomy, forced fellatio, and other acts of abuse bring sexism and victim blaming to the table. What's the answer? I'm not sure. Let me know your thoughts!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Permission to do what?
I love my gynecologist. One reason I love her is that she allows me to insert the speculum during my Pap smear. Yeah, you heard that right. I get to insert the speculum.
Now, setting aside the question of why I would want to do that (short answer: control freak), this is something I've shared with other women. Almost universally, they react with astonishment. "You're allowed to do that?" Well, sure, why not? It doesn't take a medical degree to insert something into one's own body. It's not like I'm doing the actual Pap smear: once the speculum is in place, the gynecologist takes over. But it seems like I'm doing something forbidden, something that not all doctors would allow. Why? Why should a doctor object? After all, I'm a lot more familiar with my vagina than any medical expert - I know best how to insert items, to be blunt.
Why don't we feel empowered to take charge of our medical care? I think part of it stems from women's general discomfort with our genitalia. (Obviously that's a generalization that doesn't apply to all women). We go to the gynecologist and try to pretend that nothing is going on. Most of us hide our underwear in the middle of our other clothes (don't you? be honest!). We hate the whole procedure, worrying about our appearance, what the smell is, etc. I have yet to meet a women who truly enjoys looking at or interacting with her own genitalia. Even masturbation is cloaked in shame and secrecy - something that "nice girls" don't do.
I think the other piece is that people tend to defer to doctors as authority figures who know everything. It goes without saying that they would be better at inserting anything anywhere. I mean, we're not allowed to take our own temperature at the doctor's office. We forget that we are the consumer: we can refuse treatment, fire our doctors, etc.
So I say, take back your power! Remember that while a gynecologist may know more about vaginas in general, s/he doesn't know more about your vagina than you do.
Now, setting aside the question of why I would want to do that (short answer: control freak), this is something I've shared with other women. Almost universally, they react with astonishment. "You're allowed to do that?" Well, sure, why not? It doesn't take a medical degree to insert something into one's own body. It's not like I'm doing the actual Pap smear: once the speculum is in place, the gynecologist takes over. But it seems like I'm doing something forbidden, something that not all doctors would allow. Why? Why should a doctor object? After all, I'm a lot more familiar with my vagina than any medical expert - I know best how to insert items, to be blunt.
Why don't we feel empowered to take charge of our medical care? I think part of it stems from women's general discomfort with our genitalia. (Obviously that's a generalization that doesn't apply to all women). We go to the gynecologist and try to pretend that nothing is going on. Most of us hide our underwear in the middle of our other clothes (don't you? be honest!). We hate the whole procedure, worrying about our appearance, what the smell is, etc. I have yet to meet a women who truly enjoys looking at or interacting with her own genitalia. Even masturbation is cloaked in shame and secrecy - something that "nice girls" don't do.
I think the other piece is that people tend to defer to doctors as authority figures who know everything. It goes without saying that they would be better at inserting anything anywhere. I mean, we're not allowed to take our own temperature at the doctor's office. We forget that we are the consumer: we can refuse treatment, fire our doctors, etc.
So I say, take back your power! Remember that while a gynecologist may know more about vaginas in general, s/he doesn't know more about your vagina than you do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)