International Women’s Day backlash…

To those who braved the storm yesterday and marched for International Women’s Day, I commend you! My unwavering belief in solidarity between women was begging for an outlet, while my body’s decrepit state prevented me from taking any collaborative action. I wish I could have been there, and had my health not been at further risk, I would have been.

Due to a terrible cold and some stomach problems this week, I’ve been holed up like a cozy little ewok (pretty much looking like one, at that) and have taken advantage of my spare time to catch up on some much needed reading. This includes the newspaper, which I’ve read every day this week, hoping to get a glimpse of some interesting news with regards to International Women’s Day, which was on March 8th.

Then I read this : Are we women really the stupid sex? No joke, right in the Editorial section of The Gazette, on the Opinion page.

To those of you who don’t have time to read the article, I’ll sum it up in a nutshell : it’s a contribution by Charlotte Allen, who writes for The Washington Post. It begins by scolding women everywhere for the fervour with which some admire Barack Obama, gradually spiraling downwards into a thick headed critique of “the fair sex”, effectively telling us to shut up and make more babies. In The Gazette, they entitled this article : “Are we women really the stupid sex?” The Washington Post had the gall to entitle it : “We scream, we swoon. How dumb can we get?”

This was my response (I sent this letter to The Gazette and CC’d The Washington Post) :

I am bothered, and deeply perplexed by this article.

On the one hand, it reads like a sarcastic societal critique, complete with hidden back-handed compliment to women between the lines.

On the other hand, it isn’t to read between the lines that I pick up a newspaper.

This article reeks of patriarchal discourse. It seems to support the ideology that the only favourable characteristics of being born female consist of being able to bear children, watch the men in our lives die before us and the fact that ten years ago, medical research revealed that we’re only clumsy, not dangerous, behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

In a time when women are continuously affected by the myriad forms of oppression in the world, despite a few hard-won rights the lucky minority possesses that may have the average person believe otherwise, it seems contradictory to print such a piece the same day as a front page photo of our local International Women’s Day march.

It’s bad enough that when a female reporter or politician speaks strongly about significant women’s issues, she may get attacked, ridiculed or personally threatened for her position on the matter. But to see practically an entire page devoted to “the stupid sex” makes one wonder what a woman has to do to be heard at all. The fact that it was written by a woman does not make it better. It makes it worse.

By printing this article, The Gazette seems to promote woman to woman sexism. This destroys the solidarity we need in order to stand strong in the face of male discrimination, which is just the thing that this article seems to be supporting.

It gets worse. In a Q&A The Washington Post conducted with Allen about the article, she states that she wrote the article “totally for fun,” which prompted the following exchange later on :

West Lafayette, Ind.: Your idea of fun is to paint a (horribly inaccurate) picture of your sex as stupid?

Charlotte Allen: How about an accurate picture?

I’m not suggesting we all bombard Charlotte Allen with letters. Clearly, that’s already taking place. It’s just my choice to respond this way.

However, I do believe that we need to take a good look at ourselves in the mirror. How many women do you know would agree with the viewpoint promoted in this article? How many women are the product of their own lack of self-confidence, or worse, develop an inferiority complex due to getting victimized and being instilled to accept it?

I believe there are millions of ways we can help each other to overcome these inner battles, rise up and be strong.

I believe in myself as a woman not because I don’t believe in men, but because I believe in PEOPLE.

And I believe in people because I believe in equality, and I refuse to let anybody tell me that my brain is smaller so that makes me dumber; that I must shut up and bear children because it’s what I’m meant to do; that my feelings are second rate; that I suffer from femininity and therefore low morality; that I am prone to being weak, superficial or hysterical as a result of being born with a vagina.

Finally, I believe that jokes are funny and mockery is destructive, and that it’s about time our media outlets had an actual stance on that difference. We all need to be aware that there’s a difference. When you try to get informed, do you settle for SHALLOW BANTER, or do you go for the real news?

For now, whether you identify as a man or a woman, or both, or neither, please try to keep in your mind and heart that there are millions of people who identify themselves as women who need support in the face of global misunderstanding, and they deserve your attention on the matter. It’s no privilege for me to be able to say this when it breaks my heart to know the fight is still going on. But is it going to break me down? HELL NO!

Stockholm

Vancouver

International Women’s Day