I need feminism because….
I have just seen that today, It’s a
campaign on Cambridge University’s Campus where students are given a board that
says “I need feminism because” and they fill out their reason. I have checked
this Tumblr page about it (see below) and read a lot of inspiring reasons why
do we still need feminist thought. This campaign idea reminded me of a book I
started reading by Cynthia Enloe, who is among the first female professors in
International Relations field and the book’s title is “Seriously!:
investigating crashes and crises as if women mattered” Among the themes that
are highlighted in the book is what is taken seriously and that to a long time
women in academia weren’t taken seriously.
The author describes her journey
in academia that started in a discipline very far from women and gender studies
and one where women’s contributions as actors or educators is invisible which
is “ International Relations”. When I reflect on that given that I had a lot of
interest in international relations when I was doing my undergraduate degree,
but I was as the author described didn’t take women’s analysis in the field seriously
( if I found any). The author narrates the initiation of the women and gender
studies in one of the universities she was teaching in and how that came as a
demand from students in the university once they heard of it from their peers.
That was intriguing for me as you can rarely find a department that was initiated
as a result of students request and not as a result of faculty seeing the
academic prospect of the department. That idea coincides with the legitimacy concept,
one that is of importance in international relations and other political
science disciplines, but I am using it here in the context of discipline legitimacy.
The quotes that are on this Tumblr
page could be regarded as evidence of the legitimacy of feminism as a
discipline in academia. But to what extend can this campaign pressure
universities to have more female lecturers or to allocate funds for education
on women and gender issues is questionable. Also the question of whether
feminism is really legitimate in other institutions comes to mind and if the
organizations avoid feminism in their institutions, what are their reasons for
that? Finally, what discipline is awarded seriousness is something that comes
to mind as a student and that depends for the most part on what employers
regard as a serious discipline, and the status of feminism discipline
seriousness is questionable.
References
Enloe, C. (2013). Seriously!: Investigating Crashes and Crises as If Women Mattered. Univ of California Press.
http://awkwardsituationist.tumblr.com/post/52817821994/cambridge-university-students-were-asked-on-campus
It was such a enjoyable thing to check on the Cambridge University website of "I need feminism because" after a long day teaching and having classes. I went through all of those reasons and thought to myself, "Gee, we do need feminism no matter how!" One guy said on the board that he needs feminism because he has been tired of being told "man up." Another girl was saying that she needs feminism because many people in her generation still think feminism is a dirty words. And another girl said that she needs feminism because none of the hair on her body should define her. I was amazed to read all of them and thought, "Still, there are so many things that need to be taken care of."
ReplyDeleteI thought about my own path to claim myself as a feminist. I didn't realize that until I got into OU and was enlightened after several conversations with my adviser. I told him that when I was little I dreamed to be a lawyer, standing in the court and speaking for the poor who cannot afford the expansive fees to hire a lawyer. I said that I used to fight against boys in the elementary school who used to throw different insects on to girls in order to make fun of them and see them screaming. I was so made at those times. Cold rational mind didn't work for me during those times. I went up to the front and punched them on their faces that resulted in receiving punishment from my teacher who asked me to stand for the rest of the day in the teacher's office. I didn't realize that was the feminism thoughts that I was carrying with. In fact, no one around ever pointed out to me that was it. "Feminism" was not in the language repertoire that I grew up with. Instead, I have always been taken as a trouble-maker as I grew up. "Why cannot you live your life in a more peaceful way?" People used to question me like that. Apparently, no one thought about "Feminism" but simply categorize me as a trouble kid. Until I met my adviser, he was saying to me course from Women and Gender Studies may make the way that I am heading to clear. So I did. And as he said, it did make sense of those things that happened earlier in my life. I am not a trouble-maker but just simply act my care out.
Few universities in China offer class on Feminism. But most universities do not even talk about this at all. For me, I need feminism because so many people in China do not even know what it is and how it will benefit the people and the society.