Wednesday, March 08, 2006

On Sexism

I want to blog against sexism. I do. But I'm at a bit of a loss as to how without rehashing ideas and statistics heard and seen a thousand times before, uttered and typed by people far more informed, intelligent and insightful than me. I could rehash, but I really don't want to.

This is a pretty safe topic. In America, at least, I like to think that the "A Woman's Place is In the Home" people are a dying breed. How many will really disagree with something that basically boils down to "Sexism bad, equality good?"

And isn't that essentially what I'm supposed to say? That sexism is bad, that the playing field still isn't level, that we're making progress but we're not there yet? We can bullshit about abstract concepts all day and not get anywhere. Discussion is important, don't get me wrong, but it's not like I'm capable of adding anything of note to the dialogue.

So I will do this, instead:

I will acknowledge that I am female and;

I will accept that my tastes, my thoughts and opinions, will reflect my gender, but my gender alone will not dictate my tastes and;

I will do with my life what appeals to me as a person, not what appeals to me as a woman, or as a woman trying vehemently to deny or oppose traditional gender roles and;

I will hope that I am taking an active step (even if it is just a personal step) in the right direction.

1 comment:

karen leslie said...

"I will accept that my tastes, my thoughts and opinions, will reflect my gender, but my gender alone will not dictate my tastes and;

I will do with my life what appeals to me as a person, not what appeals to me as a woman, or as a woman trying vehemently to deny or oppose traditional gender roles"

I couldn't ask for anything better. This is the way to live a life to be proud of....it isn't as easy at it sounds when media/society are trying to tell us at every turn that we aren't good enough....yet (we need the next cosmetic or fashion accessory to be complete). Nor can we let gender stereotypes force us as females to be undynamic mimmicries of eachother.

Cheers.