|
| Antes que te cases mira lo que haces.
To define and contrast, seems simple enough. But that is a total lie. Feminism and sexism are not tangible, so they are not easily defined. So easy to look at as tree and say it has long branches, green leaves, and chloroplasts that are capable of photosynthesis. So hard to define these more human things. The things that we experience, and thus give our own definitions. It is said that feminism is the theory of political, economic and social equality. These are only words. It is said that sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex. Basically the opposite, but still only words.
I like to think that I am fair. That my beliefs go beyond being a male chauvinist pig. But I can only go as far as my own two eyes allow me to see. I cant see how I treat others, at least not from their perspective. So I may never know if I am truly fair. I generally try to avoid the use of words like feminist and sexist. They dont seem real to me. They cant give any meaning to anyone else without first explaining what those words mean to the user. To rediscover our roles as men and women in society, we must give ourselves an excuse to break out of our shells. It is a mans world. Or at the very least it has been. Not to say that it should be. On the contrary, women have forced change in the past century better than ever before.
I cant say that I am perfectly fair. I sit on the guys side of the room. I, or should I say we, am totally segregated from the girls on the other side. To cross that threshold would be sacrilegious. This simple act of seating placement tells of subconscious barriers between the sexes, thus creating more concrete barriers. Men and boys-so the myth goes- conceal their feelings and lose interest in anybody elses (Rorphe 194). Women, apparently, are the only gender capable of compassion. That seems to be a misconception anyway. It was Gerzon that said: First I had weaseled out of a fight But the most damaging evidence of all were my barely averted tears. To be hit and to cry was the ultimate violation of the code of masculine conduct(305). A case of one man seeing his weakness and being ashamed of it.
But that is only one man after all. Nothing is really learned from one person. Nothing can really be learned from the broad view of society either. One specific person cannot define what society is. The average demographic cannot cover all the endpoints of the human experience. This basic idea is covered by Hamill:
The subject of men, like women, is not simple. Only Fools or philosophers would presume to generalize about so many millions of individual live. Human beings will not fit neatly on charts or graphs. Nobody is a typical case of anything The world [is] more complicated than that.
Although the idea of sexism seems irrelevant to me, that idea would make me seem sexist. I believe that the sex of an author is irrelevant (Burgess 286). I believe that the sex of an author is irrelevant. Nobody, which I know of, would go to a bookstore and base their choice on gender alone. It is true that no woman has ever come close to the presidency, but that is an image thing. Many men may have a problem with their supreme commander not being allowed in actual military combat. The barriers that are placed on women in the military echo throughout all womens issues.
I have long hated those book dedications academics write to their wives and children for being quiet and out of sight and patient while they hid away in splendid isolation doing their dry tomes(Elshtain 156). The real issue is to connect the sexes. To make them equal in theory. I believe there are few bounds that would reasonably stop equality. I believe that sexism is prejudice based on sex. I believe that feminism is the theory of political, economic, and social equality. Those are the dictionary definitions. That may seem like the easy way out. Or would it be much more difficult to believe in six billion definitions? Each one only as important as the owner makes it. Each own irrelevant because no one person can define it. Id like to say that if I could list every persons definition I would. But that would be pointless. It would be the only possible way to be honest. No one would read all of them, thus escaping the basic purpose of writing.
|
|
|
