Relating Feminist Theory to Everyday Life

In my Feminist Theory class I compiled a scrapbook relating items I came across in my daily life to theories I learned about in class.

Studying feminist theory can help make connections and get a deeper understanding of events in the world around us. Some might see how Native Americans succeeding from the US just as a sign of radical behavior, but someone who has some understanding of feminist theory can see parallels between the succession and lesbian theory wanting an Amazonian like society. It isn't until you study feminism that you realize how sexist and degrading the Disney Princesses can be in their stories. It wasn't until after I read about Modern Muslim Society that I understood the concepts behind honor killings that are all over the news. Many people just accept that doctors know what is best for them, and now I know it is important to look around and see what other options are available for women's health. I have learned how traditional gender roles can be difficult for another sex to fully understand and the thought that women shouldn't get a proper education is still prevalent today.

On December 2008 the Lakota Indians declared that they have succeeded from the United States. The Indians feel that the government stole land that was guaranteed by treaties. In protest they have refused a cash settlement awarded to them, withdrawn from the treaties and renounced their US citizenship. As with radical lesbian feminist theory, the Lakota have decided that the best way to deal with white men and the US government is get rid of them altogether and govern themselves. Lesbian feminism centers around the thought that women need to free themselves from men by completely cutting them out of their lives. It isn't until they are in a completely lesbian society that they will no longer be oppressed. As a quote from Jill Johnston shows, "...Until all women are lesbians there will be no true political revolution. No feminist per se has advanced a solution outside of accommodation to the man" (Kolmar 7). This thought is paralleled with the Lakota and their feeling that should no longer accommodate the US government and need to rid themselves their oppression.

The Disney Princesses have become a phenomenon with young girls, each trying to be just like their favorite and buying their products. The princesses are not good role models for the young girls. They sing, cook, clean, fall asleep and need to be saved by a man. "And what could they aspire to, beyond landing a Prince? In Princessland, the only career ladder leads from baby-faced adolescence to a position as an evil enchantress, stepmother or witch" (Ehrenreich). The stories push the theme that girls need to dress scantily, and be subservient, and then one day their prince will come complete their life. Many feminist would argue that this image should be changed and allow for better qualities and role models. The girls should also have women in the story that are powerful, but not evil as well. [Side note: this article was written by the author of Nickled and Dimed.]

In Mississauga, Ontario a young 16 year old girl was murdered by her Muslim father, and the press speculated that it might have been an honor killing after her refusal to wear her hijab at school. Salon.com Broadsheet temporarily had an article up about the aftermath of the event [copy of text]. According to Fatima Mernissi in Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society, "The first gesture of 'liberated' Arab women was to discard the veil for Western dress," (Kolmar 269). Mernissi sheds more insight into Muslim culture by explaining that women were seen as possessions to men, and that they had the right to kill them then. The article explains that honor killings are a cultural problem rather than a religious one.

The former talk show host Ricki Lake produced a documentary titled "The Business of Being Born" about natal care in the US and options women have when they are giving birth. She first discusses how care for the mother and baby in hospitals are not as they should be, how the doctors make medical decisions for them based on monetary concerns and hospitals are being run as a business at the expense of the patient care. It goes on to speculate if all the medical advances that have come about are in fact better for mothers. The next part of the documentary follows mothers making decisions before their child is born and exploring their options of using a midwife. It use to be that midwives use to take car of all of the child births, and understood what women needed during their labor. As birthing moved to hospitals some have speculated that doctors have not really understood what would be best for the mothers. As Anne Koedt wrote in The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm, men were at such a disadvantage at understanding women's bodies, that what they couldn't understand they classified as a defect in women. "Those women who complained about it [frigidity] were recommended psychiatrists, so that they might discover their 'problem' -diagnosed generally as a failure to adjust to their role as women" (Kolmar 227). Many feminist argue that because men's bodies work differently then they will never be able to understand women's bodies completely. The fact that the medical institution was built by men could make it difficult for them to properly accommodate women in their birthing process.

In a small town in Canada, all the women packed their stuff and went on vacation for a week, leaving the men and children to take care of themselves. As an experiment by Canada's national broadcaster, the CBC, the show is titled "The Week the Women Went". "Recent government statistics show that 70 percent of Canadian households are run by women. The majority of these women also hold full-time jobs," (Gordon). When the women leave, the men have an opportunity to take on the responsibilities that traditionally fall on the women in the family. Traditional family roles have been ingrained since childhood, because of this, many argue that men do not understand why women protest these traditional family roles, since they do not have opportunities to experience them themselves. The only way to make a change to these traditional roles, is for both males and females to work together. Alexandra Kollontai write in Working Women and Mother, "Working men and women are trying to lighten the cross of motherhood by getting laws passed and by taking other measures" (Kolmar 130). These changes can start with men gaining an understanding of what the female sphere entail.

An article written by John Bustrak at Michigan Tech, argues that 'Feminism has gone too far.' [copy of text] The author believes that women a are pressured to go to college against their will by feminism. "I have several female friends whose greatest ambition is to be a wife and mother, but feel social and cultural pressure to go to college and get a prestigious job simply because it is expected" (Bustrak). The author also observes that his above thoughts would be considered sexist by some. He fails to figure out that it is because he is. Education has long been a right denied to women, and using feminism as a guise is not any better then telling women they are too stupid to get a higher education. Women have come so far in education, able to attend school in almost any field of their choosing. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote in Solitude of Self, "Is it, then, consistent to hold the developed women of this day within the same narrow political limits as the dame with the spinning wheel and knitting needle occupied in the past? No! no!" (Kolmar 110). This article is an example of why many feminists think it is important to push for higher education for women, because they are constantly told that staying home is what they should want.

Feminist theory has shed new light, and gave me some understanding to all of these events and articles. They are examples of news that we come across everyday without thinking twice about. After learning some of feminist theory, these examples seem to contain more information and I can understand them in a different and deeper way.

Work Cited