At work lately, the Sundance film festival has been THE topic of conversation, particularly a documentary called Miss Representation, about the portrayal of women in the media and how they are underrepresented in positions of power because of it. You can read more about it here, although I can't recommend the trailer; it's pretty graphic and actually turned me off of the documentary.
All this talk has gotten me thinking about one of my favorite topics, feminism. You may have heard me mention it on here before, but I am absolutely sick of modern feminism. Don't misunderstand me; I agree that men and women should have equal rights in the workplace, and I agree that women were mistreated for hundreds of years and are still mistreated and abused today in many parts of the world.
What I am sick of, however, is feminist literature and movies that are supposedly "empowering" to women that really use every opportunity they can to belittle men. I was disgusted by Barbara's Kingsolver's treatment of the father in The Poisonwood Bible, and even one of my favorite sitcoms ever, Home Improvement, features the stereotypical "dumb husband" who messes everything up each episode (although he was able to redeem himself before the credits rolled).
I'm also sick of women who look down on other women for not being career-oriented. My mom only attended one year of college before getting married and starting a family a few years later, and she is one of the most giving, wonderful women I know. She wasn't meant to be a lawyer or a congresswoman; she was meant to be my mother.
Even when I read the Scroll occasionally, I see editorials and columns that belittle the women who attend BYU-Idaho for only a short time before marrying and having children. One particularly saddening editorial suggested that graduating from BYU-Idaho without getting married was the real accomplishment. That idea has stuck with me ever since I read it, probably since I graduated from BYU-Idaho without a husband and have never really thought of that as an accomplishment.
I guess what this long post is getting at is being happy with yourself and recognizing the positive things you've done in your life. If you never finished college because you were raising a family, you shouldn't let people bring you down! You're not going to retrieve your ACT or GRE score when you're standing at the pearly gates. If you haven't found the man of your dreams yet but all your friends have been married for years and have three kids, don't get down on yourself! You are a woman. You are a daughter of God.
Don't get down on the boys, either. Tell your husband you love him. Compliment a good guy friend unexpectedly. Bringing down the incredible men we have in this world doesn't strengthen women; it only makes it harder for everyone to be treated fairly.
Those are my two cents on feminism. Be happy! Hug your man! Don't be a catty woman of the world! :)
I love this! I hate the anti-man movement, even though I'm grateful every day for the feminist movement (read: equal pay, equal rights). Everybody Loves Raymond (one of my favorite shows) makes me cringe most of the time because of how they portray Ray and how mean Deborah is to him. That editorial bothered me too. I'm glad she could be satisfied with where she is in life, but I don't think getting married is the end of all personal goals. My cousin got married at 18 and had a baby at 20 and still graduated with her bachelor's. She decided she was going to do it and she and her wonderful husband worked it out.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, bravo. As you can see, you struck a chord with me :)
Amen and amen. I hate today's popular media movement, "Men Are Buffoons." A few years ago there was a commercial for some fancy cell phone that took pictures (wooo!). A guy looks lost at a grocery store, so his wife sends him pictures of what he's supposed to buy. Ha ha, stupid man! Doesn't know what a loaf of bread looks like! Needs a woman to do everything for him. I wanted to throw something at the TV whenever I saw it. Even in Relief Society the women (who are all fairly young) put down their husbands and laugh at them. I feel sad for the husbands who can't be everything they need to be as righteous priesthood holders and patriarchs of the family because their wife doesn't treat them as such. I understand that women were belittled for decades, and the current movement is in response to that. But I think it has gone too far the other way. (I also hate "girl power" music. But that's another story.)
ReplyDeleteI need a "like" button. I enjoyed your two-cents.
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