Feminism? Or Egalitarianism? (A Miscellaneous Rant)

In this day of age, we have people from all walks of life and from differing cultural backgrounds coming together to take a stance on an issue. The time of division based on belief, identity, and physicality has long been over. It is time for us as people to acknowledge that our race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, and religious beliefs (or lack thereof) has no affect whatsoever on our ability to succeed and live our lives. Feminism is a great cause, because it has paved the way for women to finally become equal members of society. A problem with feminism, however, is in the word structure. Feminine is the root word here. Feminism is defined according to Merriam-Webster dictionary as "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities."Another definition by the same dictionary states that feminism is "organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests." It's quite interesting how the same dictionary provides two definitions: one claiming that feminism is about men and women being equal while the other is that feminism is about only one gender's rights and interests. This leads to many questions. Why is it called 'feminism' if it is supposed to be for gender equality? Should there be another term instead of 'feminism?' Well, when we look at the word 'Egalitarianism' in the same dictionary used to define feminism, we get "a belief in human equality especially with respect to political, social, and economic affairs." The second definition states that egalitarianism is "a social philosophy advocating the removal of equalities among people." It is interesting because the two definitions of egalitarianism are very similar in meaning as compared to the two definitions of feminism, which possess different meanings. If one is truly for gender equality, one should call themselves an egalitarian: one who believes in equality of the human race. This brings me back to the point I mentioned earlier. Whether you are a believer or a non-believer, a liberal or conservative (or reject both of those terms), male or female (or gender queer), of different race and sensibility, let us all be united in our pride as human beings. Let us focus on the issues of all people, regardless of who they are or what they stand for. Let us be One.

-Brendan Xu

Visual Elements/Style for the 1960's Feminists Protest

The text from the 1960’s is a candid photo of the feminist protests for equal positions with equal pay. In this candid photo there is a female protestor who is holding a sign, which states he argument in this protest. There are also bystanders in the background sitting on a bench. Candid photos help to show the full emotion and passion of the situation at hand. We can see that the female protestor is sincere and will likely be passionate for her cause. The photographer knew that in order to get the most out of his picture he must capture the protest in its most sincere and raw stage. The tactics used by the photographer helped to create great visual effects and style for this text in a meaningful way.

-Patrick Forbus

Second Wave Feminism And The People Who Want To Hear

At a time where women were disadvantaged politically, socially, and economically, it was women who ultimately came to the conclusion that their gender was oppressed. This epiphany led a vast majority of women to make their voices heard in the deaf society of gender equality. Feminists began various protests, demonstrations, and other forms of public outcries to protest issues such as equal political representation, equal pay, and reproductive choice. An important aspect to consider here is the target audience. What sorts of people were they appealing to? Would their message resonate with people differently based on their ideologies or gender? Well, the answer can be obtained by looking at the achievements of Second Wave Feminism. The Equal Rights Amendment of 1972 was passed, allowing women to finally pursue careers that men traditionally held along with an increase in the amount of women in leadership roles. From this achievement, one can infer that their intended audience were people who had political ties. However, this is not the only audience. Feminists wanted everyone to hear their message, be it man, women, or gender-queer. Just like discrimination against race, discrimination against women was a systemic injustice at the time, which prompted feminists to appeal to genders of all kinds. Essentially, feminists wanted all the people and society to listen. To a great extent, they were successful in achieving their aims. The gender inequality that remained ultimately contributed to the Third Wave of Feminism.

-Brendan Xu

Audience of Modern Feminism

The targeted audience for the modern feminist movement is hard to pinpoint because it's really directed at society as a whole. The movement aims to reach out and show how unacceptable it is to sexualize woman. The slutwalk is a perfect example of this because many woman take part in the protests and hold signs saying "still not asking for it" and "teach men not to rape" because it really is a problem, and the statistics are staggering. According to nomore.org, a foundation who's goal is to end sexual assault and domestic violence, 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lives. Many people may believe that the modern feminist movement is just a bunch of women that target men, but men make up a decent percentage of "feminists" too. Overall, they just want to be treated equally by society, which would be the targeted audience of the movement.

Posted by: Sam Jalowicz

Feminists Against Slutwalk

Modern feminism has many sides, definitions, and arguments to it, many pertaining to rape culture. Although all women who walk in the Slutwalk protests have nothing but good intentions, there are many women who believe the movement is counter-productive.

In the video on the right, two young rape survivors use slam poetry to express their distaste for rape jokes, false sympathy, and the backwards rhetoric expressed by some feminists.

In their critique of Slutwalk (begins at 2:42), Belissa (right) says sarcastically, "nothing helps rape survivors of all gender, ethnicity, and economic level like rich white girls walking around half-naked while collaborating with the police." Another way they see Slutwalk as irrelevant is in the signs people hold during the protests. One popular phrase at these demonstrations is "consent is sexy." These young girls realize that this type of wording forgets that "consent is a basic human right."

They go on to articulate their loathing of non-victims using the word "rape" to describe other types of abuse and harassment, explaining that it reduces actual survivors to just statistics and info graphics instead of real people who went through something as horrible as they did.

This slam poem is a perfect example of the conflicting views many feminists have on rape, rape culture, and the ways to combat it.


Mia Salenetri

Visual Elements/Style for Modern Protest

There are many visual elements that contribute to the argument of this protest. This includes the signs that people are carrying as well as the way they are presenting themselves in terms of clothing. When analyzing the signs there are many bright colors used to draw the viewers attention--bright pink, yellow, green. The signs themselves are also artistically thought out in order to make the audience think. There is a sign that says "Things that cause rape: " and then has a list that follows. The main point is that what causes rape is a rapist but visually, the woman who made it put other things that people may think cause rape (like skirts and flirting) but then crosses them out with huge red marker. She does this so that the viewer not only thinks about what causes rape, but also realizes things that do not cause rape. In addition, the way that the women present themselves at not only this Slut Walk, but others, plays a large role in getting the point across. At many Slut Walks people dress in what might be thought of as "slutty" or "provocative" clothing and then they write messages on themselves or posters that say "Still not asking for it"(like the image) or "not a slut" in order to convey that even standing somewhere with minimal clothing on does not mean you're condoning sexual behavior. Because of the type of movement this is, I would say that the visual appearance of the protesters plays an extremely important role of addressing their issue.
-Lucia Tarantino

Pathos in Second Wave Feminism

Pathos, or the appeal to emotion, is often the forefront of any protest. In the context of Second Wave Feminism, pathos played a subtle, yet meaningful part. In the image on the right, one can see a long row of women along with one in the front holding a sign bearing the words "Equal Positions For Equal Pay." The feminists of this era were very succinct in their demands, explicitly stating their desires for equality in the society. Another aspect of the image worthy of note are the expressions and emotional sentiment of the protestors. Their expressions are not content, nor are they indignant. Rather, they have calm demeanors and produce an aura of silent indifference. This serves to imply that they do not feel as if they are proper human beings due to their perceived inferiority in society. The lack of emotion, rather than the presence of emotion, serves to further the feminist narrative, conveying that they cannot feel empathy for society until women are truly equal. It certainly is an interesting example of pathos, especially when this concept is often associated with some emotion.

-Brendan Xu