September 27, 2005
OPINIONSBeing a woman is important enough
Why must women have to come across as feminist extremists in their efforts to make a mark in this world? Why must a woman have to prove she is as good as a man in order to be considered important? In the realm of feminism, it is still a man’s world.
The word feminism has become representative of something much more than the struggle for equal rights for woman as men. Feminism, in today’s society, connotes an extremist view of women’s rights. It tends to imply a struggle for superiority over men, or a struggle to be just like men, rather than an effort to make the status of woman worthy in itself. We have become the chauvinists we so hated and have created an image of woman as being radicals.
In an effort to prove our worth, we perpetuate negative images of women. We take pride in saying that well-behaved women rarely make history, without thinking about the image it portrays. Would a man ever be referred to as well-behaved? Of course, not!
On the surface, this saying rejects the concept of a well-behaved woman, and therefore, encourages women to denounce the stereotype. But if that is the case, let us disassociate with the concept altogether. In the statement, well-behaved women rarely make history; not only are women referred to in this belittling manner, but it is also being said that women should reject good behavior.
What connotations does it have, then? Is this really the type of history we want to be recognized for? It seems we are so eager to prove our equality with men that we will do it at any cost.
Feminism now means that women have to act like men, be treated like men, and have all the same responsibilities as men in order to have equal rights. Women hold themselves to men’s standards. We are women. We should have our own standards, and our worth should not be contingent on our ability to be like men.
We, as human beings, have different strengths and specialties and they are not always equal to one another; therefore, women should not be held to the standards that we must be able to do everything a man should do in order to be worth of our human rights. I advocate for humanism, without an emphasis on one gender or another. We need to destroy the image of the “feminist bra-burners” and restore our dignity as women.
We need to seek respect for our gender in the security that being women is enough to make us important.
Volume 43, Issue 3. Today is
