That dirty F-word: Feminism
Cass C. Carter
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Opinion
A recent opinion piece has prompted me to think over campus attitudes about feminism, abortion and education. I think there's a great deal of mass media confusion out there about what feminism is and what it isn't; the biggest problems come in how people perceive what a feminist is, in mental visualization primarily.
You want to see what a feminist looks like? Come find me, right on campus, any day. Look me up and down, and size me up. I could have you meet some of my feminist friends, or show you some feminist websites where other feminists gather together to discuss feminism, and you can see what it's all about.
What is feminism all about? Well, there's an expansive definition out there for the academically inclined, but we can save that for Women's Studies minors and those who have the time. The best definition is extremely simple: A feminist makes a bold declaration, that a woman is a person, that her experiences are relevant to understanding the human condition, and that she has rights as a person.
When it comes to debates of reproductive rights, this question of who is a person is the most basic. The anti-choice/anti-life side of the debate would have us just take for granted the concept of a zygote as a fully independent person, and that the woman is purely incidental to the process; they argue from this perspective without establishing facts and then are shocked when it's discovered not everyone shares this viewpoint, as if one denied gravity.
The pro-choice/pro-woman side of the debate declares that the woman comes first. We know for a fact that she is a person, and so we know she matters. The question of whether a blastocyst counts as a person isn't settled, so we can't curtail the freedoms of known persons on behalf of every multi-celled entity that comes along. As well, we cannot accept that women exist purely to be fetal carrying tanks, without any control of their body or health.
I use the terminology of anti-choice and anti-life versus pro-choice and pro-woman very deliberately. It seems that one side of the debate is constantly locked in protest against people exercising morphological freedom, while the other is constantly struggling to ensure that freedom.
You want to see what a feminist looks like? Come find me, right on campus, any day. Look me up and down, and size me up. I could have you meet some of my feminist friends, or show you some feminist websites where other feminists gather together to discuss feminism, and you can see what it's all about.
What is feminism all about? Well, there's an expansive definition out there for the academically inclined, but we can save that for Women's Studies minors and those who have the time. The best definition is extremely simple: A feminist makes a bold declaration, that a woman is a person, that her experiences are relevant to understanding the human condition, and that she has rights as a person.
When it comes to debates of reproductive rights, this question of who is a person is the most basic. The anti-choice/anti-life side of the debate would have us just take for granted the concept of a zygote as a fully independent person, and that the woman is purely incidental to the process; they argue from this perspective without establishing facts and then are shocked when it's discovered not everyone shares this viewpoint, as if one denied gravity.
The pro-choice/pro-woman side of the debate declares that the woman comes first. We know for a fact that she is a person, and so we know she matters. The question of whether a blastocyst counts as a person isn't settled, so we can't curtail the freedoms of known persons on behalf of every multi-celled entity that comes along. As well, we cannot accept that women exist purely to be fetal carrying tanks, without any control of their body or health.
I use the terminology of anti-choice and anti-life versus pro-choice and pro-woman very deliberately. It seems that one side of the debate is constantly locked in protest against people exercising morphological freedom, while the other is constantly struggling to ensure that freedom.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 14
J. Lo
posted 4/23/08 @ 4:56 PM EST
Excellent strawman argument throughout. This was my favourite part:
"The reality is that the anti-choice/anti-life activist side is committed to fighting against any technology that gives women reproductive freedom. (Continued…)
ZING!
posted 4/23/08 @ 6:16 PM EST
ZING!
Cass C. Carter
posted 4/23/08 @ 11:30 PM EST
Hey, J. Lo, it's not a strawman argument when the same people protest clinics that don't even provide abortions (only referrals), but are more centered on providing birth control and education on proper methods. (Continued…)
Laura G
posted 4/24/08 @ 12:15 AM EST
Excellent, and more importantly, factual opinion piece. I wish I had found more gals like you when I was desperately trying to jump start the Feminist Majority Alliance on campus about three years ago. (Continued…)
J. Lo.
posted 4/24/08 @ 3:23 AM EST
"it's not a strawman argument when the same people protest clinics that don't even provide abortions (only referrals)"
Only referrals? Look at it from their point of view - they're offering referrals to murder mills. (Continued…)
Tiffany
posted 4/24/08 @ 11:54 PM EST
I wanted to comment that I found your column very well argued and very intellectual. I only had one contention.
I am a Christian, and I am Pro-life, meaning that I believe it is morally wrong to have an abortion. (Continued…)
ravi
posted 4/25/08 @ 8:02 PM EST
It is not the definition that defines feminism, but the feminists actions defines feminism. I don't look at you, at your feminists friends, but their actions. (Continued…)
hee hee
posted 5/05/08 @ 3:06 PM EST
what's the opposite of feminism? masculinism? Manism? Man law? Or would you call that "anti-woman?" Dude, women are great and all, and we all love 'em, don't get me wrong (except for the gay guys, and they love women too, just in a different way), but this whole "I am woman, hear me roar" thing went out with Sinead O'Conner and Avril Levine, or so I thought. (Continued…)
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