Happy International Women’s Day!
Today, March 8, 2012, marks roughly the 103 annual International Women’s Day. It has been celebrated internationally on dates from the end of February to the middle of March since 1908, and March 8th is a now designated as an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia. Sadly, the United States does not officially recognize the holiday, which is probably why even after four years of dropping not so subtle hints to my friends and family, I have yet to get the day off from work or receive any cards, flowers, or small gifts like women in other countries do.
National recognition and lack of gifts aside, International Women’s Day is still one of my favorite days of the year. It is not only an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women around the world, but it is also a great time to reflect on the wonderful women who have made a difference in our own lives. Last week students in my WMS 150 course presented their “Shero” projects, which involves them interviewing a woman who has inspired them, and then writing an essay that not only depicts the strength and spirit of their shero, but also reflects on their shero’s life in relation to our course. Each semester, the mix of touching, funny, and inspiring narratives that my students present always impresses me. They, in turn, benefit from not only sharing their shero’s story, but also from hearing about the amazing women that their classmates know and respect. Ladies, here’s to you!
Ultimately, this is what International Women’s Day is about: sharing our own experiences as women, celebrating the women who have made a difference in our lives, and honoring the women whose voices have been silenced, lost, or forgotten along the way. I have been fortunate to have amazing women as mentors and friends, especially the wonderful colleagues and students I work with in URI’s Gender and Women’s Studies Program.
Today has been a really weird day of reflection for me. For whatever reason (completely unintentionally related to International Women’s Day) I found my mind wandering on how people leave such strong imprints on people. Reading this blog post I began thinking about my grandmother who passed away a little over a year ago and the things that she taught me. Especially the things that she taught me recently because of events in my life with an ex-boyfriend. When things were good, and I talked about them, she didn’t caution me, she didn’t tell me what to do and what not to do to preserve that happiness. She simply told me that I should live in happiness when it is there, appreciate it. When things got bad, and then worse, she told me that pain is inevitable, but necessary to learn about the world, and most importantly yourself. She also said that without pain we would not know what happiness is. This isn’t something that I wanted to hear when my heart is broken, and everything seemed so tragic, however it was necessary for me to hear. A couple of years later, I feel as though I’ve grown because of her advice, and I live happier than I did before.
The point I am trying to get at is that while materialistic gifts are nice, the fact that she looked at life in this amazing way, and was able to express those feelings to me, so that I can feel it, is a gift. International Women’s Day may be unrecognized in the United States (and it very well should be), but the lack of recognition does not stop this depth of knowledge and advice from being spread to one another, or the powerful movement for the betterment of all women and people. I think having the opportunity to meet different women, especially the women I have met during class, and the professors I have had, and hear their thoughts, opinions, ideas and motivations has been very inspiring to me. And I think that is something worth celebrating.
I believe that celebrating international women’s day is very important! Though I think that we should not only be celebrating this for one day, but every day. It makes me think how we have a specific month for celebrating women’s history, and a specific month for celebrating black history. Yes, it is good that this is a month that we are maybe paying more attention to this history but I think that these “designated months” makes us truly remember that we should not be celebrating these, cultures, achievements, and people…etc. for only one month. Acknowledging that people of color and women are making advances, and not only looking at things in the white, western way is very important as well. In doing this we can open our eyes to so many things many of us may not have known before. Currently I am taking a WMS 400 class and we are learning a lot about Middle-Eastern women, and I find myself learning several new things every class. This begs me to ask the questions, since we are focusing on international women here, how much are American people being taught about the cultures around us. It seems that many of us have little to no education on the Middle East and are almost afraid of what we might find out. I think it is important to learn about other cultures, specifically cultures that the US is quick to judge and stereotype in order for us to become a more accepting society. Though if the US cannot even celebrate something that is only one day long such as international women’s day, then I am not sure how far we can get into celebrating other cultures day.
I completely remember doing the Shero project women I took WMS 150 in 2008 with Jody. I wrote and interviewed my mother. If I had to do that project today, I know that I would write about my mom again. It was nice to reflect back on that project, and makes me realize how far I have come with the WMS program, being a senior now. I am so proud to be a WMS major and have learned the most valuable information in these classes then any of my other undergrad courses.
On this day, I called both my mother and grandmother and wished them a Happy International Women’s Day! I got a chuckle from my grandmother and then a “Bri you are crazy!”, which was expected from an 80 year old woman who has never heard of international women’s day. However, my mother stopped and asked me what the day was about and why she hasn’t heard of it before. We had a nice, thought provoking conversation. It’s funny that Jenn mentions the Shero projects because that is exactly what came to mind when I was talking to her. I choose my mother as my Shero my freshman year when I was writing my paper. I still haven’t forgotten our conversation, and this is coming from a girl who doesn’t remember what happened last week, or how I felt while talking to her. I am so proud of who she is and all that she has accomplished throughout her life. With my pride in my mother comes anger because I know it should not have been as difficult of a journey for her. I honestly think the obstacles she faced trying to attend school as an adult were due to the fact that she was a married woman with children. It really frustrates and enrages me when I hear, read or experience the injustice that women still face today. I honestly have a hard time comprehending why women are not considered equal partners in today’s world. It literally boggles my mind. I sometimes just want to shake people and ask “what are you talking about?!” I have never in my life met a woman who was inferior to a man. I am not saying all women are more intelligent than men, I am simply saying that I have never come across a woman where I said to myself, “oh okay, yes that quality/ personality trait/ characteristic makes her inferior”. That is because they do not exist. I understand physical physique do differ and I am not ignoring that. However, because some man is stronger than me does not make me inferior to him or incapable of making my own decisions. I wish there was someone or something that explained why women are still seen as unequal. Does anyone agree/disagree? Have an opinion?
“How to Cure a Feminist”
http://academic.reed.edu/anthro/faculty/mia/Images/Gallery/Pics/Cureafeminist.jpg
Ladies, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it would seem that we are all seriously ill. What is this illness you wonder, that has gripped us all? It is feminism and it has made you “an unshaven, militant, protesting vegan.” But fear not! The social and medical experts at Maxim Magazine have developed a way to “cure” you of this horrible disease and return you the over sexualized cum dumpster that society expects you to be! (See JPEG of the article at the top, courtesy of Bitch Media) Let us note the “success” story of the female they features in the four photographs. See how through these 4 simple steps this feminist has gone from a smoking, messy, hairy male reminiscent image to a nearly naked, sexualized, and hairless dream girl! I don’t know about you ladies but I sure am excited that they found a way to fix me, in 4 steps no less!
If you’ve failed to pick up on my highly sarcastic tone thus far allow me to make myself very clear: “articles” such as the one I am talking about here, are absolute trash. If you ask me the men who came up with and the ones who then approved it for print are the individuals who are in need of a cure. It is garbage like this that perpetuate the negative image of feminism and make it “cool” and acceptable for men to scoff at and make a farce of feminist and feminism.
I am dying to hear what the rest of you have to say about this topic and “cure” to our ailment.
International Womens day reflection throught the eyes of a male WMS major. Entering college for the first time, six years ago, I never knew there was such a major as Women’s Studies. After one semester at URI and taking one WMS (wms150), I became informed of a program that is extremely diverse and strongly academic. Walking out from my first WMS class as a male I was nervous because the material was something I had never been in contact with before and I was not sure if males took women’s studies courses. Having Professor Jenn Brandt as my first WMS professor, I knew that even if the class seemed a challenge she would always help a student. Completing the course and being one of three males in the entire course I felt very accepted. In the spring of 2010 I officially joined the WMS department at URI. Looking back as I enter my last month as an undergraduate, I look at the accomplishments I had at URI. Being the only male in my two senior WMS courses this semester I realize that along the way I always had questions when someone asked me what my major was and even in WMS courses I had fellow students ask my reason for being a WMS major. Here is my response which I have explained to many intent listeners.
Being a male who is a gender and women’s study major has been a positive experience for me the past three years. I am constantly asked by other students, administrators, and professors what made me become a women’s studies major in the first place. I have a few reasons, first I became interested in the discipline through the many courses I was taking and was looking at issues across the world through a difference perspective. Learning about multi cultures and genders and how societies and cultures create different lives for people across the world was fascinating. I felt that being in the women’s studies program was being a part of something bigger on campus and that it was not just taking classes but creating a clearer image for myself to learn and educate others on. As a Women’s Studies major, I was taught to become a better writer and an independent critical thinker through the individualized guidance from my women’s studies professors. As I prepare for my last five weeks of undergraduate work at URI and graduation in the near, I like to reflect back to think about the level of education I received in my women’s studies courses; learning about Muslim women, Native American women, African women, the westernized world, and much more. I strongly recommend taking gender and women’s studies courses for all students at URI because the courses can open a person’s mind to a particular global issue more than they would have known. Having been (almost) through (finishing two classes) the entire program, I can say that I have learned a great amount of information about activism, and making changes to better others. This change will help me to grow in the community for my career and educational goals.
Happy Belated International Women’s Day! Hey, if I had it my way, every day would be International Women’s Day! I am late, but I decided that I would take this time to reflect on a woman who has been such a positive role model in my life, my mother.
My mother and I have had a very special relationship that has only grown and matured with time. She has become one of my favorite people on this earth – and not just in a “I have to love you because you are my mother” kind of way. No way. My mother earned her way into a special part of my heart that no one else can fill. Her journey started with the countless mornings we spent singing and dancing before preschool. As I grew, she dug a bit deeper by becoming my rock. A warm soul I could come to with any worry. She earned my full trust. Today, my mother is everything and above all, a friend. She energizes me to believe in strong confident woman that I am. She sparks the creation inside of me and pushes me to greatness.My mother is a wise woman, colorful in her views of life. I have always been inspired by the way she lives in such grace. She can paint a story with a few words, but usually uses many more. She can be generous beyond measure. She can build me back up when no one else can. My mother energizes me to be a better person. I look up to her in ways that she probably isn’t even aware of.
Looking back on the semester I can truly appreciate the importance of this day and my involvement in it. As a graduating senior and a Women’s Studies minor I feel that being a women receiving a degree from a good college is often taken for granted in society. After reading about women all over the world who struggle just to provide food for their families, let alone receive an education, I feel extremely fortunate to be where I am today. Being a women is one of the most important things in my life and I will never forget the lessons I have learned in Women’s Studies. The awareness of issues and the openness when discussing these issues is something I hope will transfer over into other fields of study. I will celebrate International Women’s Day for the remainder of my life and will continue to raise awareness on these important issues. Thank You so much!
On March 8, 2012 one of my professors called on me and asked me, “what is significant about today” I frantically replied, “Assignment 6 is due?”. I was embarrassed to find out that I did not know March 8th is International Women’s Day, at the time I felt I had done something wrong. I called my mother, asked my friends and roommates, but none of them knew the significance of March 8th either. As I reflect back on this semester I blame myself less and blame the patriarchal system more, what else is new? I believe the lack of acknowledgement for International Women’s Day is attributed to a lack of concern for gender issues in the United States. Last International Women’s Day marked roughly the 103rd annual celebration, so I can’t say I didn’t know because it was only recently added to the calendar. I was pleased however, to discover later that day that “Happy International Women’s Day” was a trending topic on Twitter. Seeing this topic trend reinforced what I have learned about activism through social media this semester.
International Women’s Day is recognized as an official holiday by 27 countries, but not the U.S. This makes me wonder why the U.S. so often feels as though gender issues and gender inequality do not have a presence in our society. Just today I heard a classmate say that she didn’t believe there were inequalities between men and women anymore. I can’t help but scratch my head as I try to figure out where this idea came from. A lack of acknowledgement for International Women’s Day in the U.S. may not seem like a big deal but I think it is correlated to issues that are a big deal such as the fact that the U.S. has yet to ratify CEDAW. I suppose there are just some things in this field of study I will never understand, but next year I’ll mark my calendar on March 8th and buy myself some flowers.
What makes a good feminist?
Ladies, I would like to reflect upon an issue that I often find myself facing as a young feminist. It is my deepest hope that I am not alone in facing this issue and also that some of you may be able to shed some light on how to deal with what I am presenting today. The issue is as follows:
I love high heels, I love make up, and I love looking pretty, being fashionable and reading Cosmopolitan and Vogue magazines. I frequently tell my boyfriend that “pretty doesn’t just happen” and my idea of “me time” consists of me sitting in bed watching princess movies while wearing a tiara and painting my nails. This behavior however harmless as it seems, frequently earns me the comment “You’re the worst feminist ever.” So here’s the big question… Does that really make me a bad feminist?
Does being feminine and partaking in some social norms disqualify me to be counted among the ranks of feminism? I support all the causes, work to promote equality and feminist ideals in my day to day life, so does my love of tiaras cancel all of that out? Does my desires to someday have a husband and a family of my own with the big traditional Thanksgiving dinner that I wake up at 5am to prepare lessen my feminist ideas and make them less than reliable because I “perpetuate the norm” that society has defined for me?
I don’t think so. I’d like to think that feminine feminists are just as powerful as their counterculture counterparts. Why is this you may ask? It’s simple, because no one sees it coming. I’d like to think it’s a lot less threating to listen to someone talk about equality when they’re wearing a tiara.
So what’s the verdict? Am I really a bad feminist, or am I just a diverse and multilayered individual who has more to me than what’s on the outside?