Sans Innocence

Feminism and femininity

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 | analysis, life, people

Following the wonderfully inspiring speech that Isabel Allende gave a while ago at TED, I spent some time thinking of what feminism is, and of what it means. What its initial purpose was, and how it diverged.

I find it perfectly fair and democratic that women can vote, work and support themselves, make their own decisions and have each and every right a human being is entitled to. This is a great thing Modern Times have done for women, and this moral achievement was both necessary and liberating. In some contemporary societies there still are many, many women for which these rights are nothing but a distant dream,  and fighting to impose them is simply vital. I also have all the respect in the world for the works of Simone de Beauvoir or Virginia Woolf.

The Western World, however, is going too far on this. As I’ve been recently travelling by train, carrying quite a heavy suitcase, I found myself struggling to put my luggage up in the luggage rack, while my western male friends were simply watching. Since we’re equal, we’re equal, right? Even if, as a woman, I have a significantly inferior muscular strength and I could use some help.  One could argue this is an isolate case, but no, I’ve met numerous similar situations in Western Europe.  It’s a behavioural trend.

I’ve been watching Sex and The City with my female friends, and I guess no one would disagree with me on it being a good expression of the mainstream feminism in our society.  Let us now remember one thing from the movie: Samantha leaves her handsome, much younger boyfriend, who loved her truly and had morally supported her through chemotherapy, and she does that because of his busy schedule. Like seriously, that’s all you can do, right? When a relationship faces some challenge, you have to think of your own happiness and move on, since a little effort on reviving it, a little well-deserved devotion would be so uncool, right?

What I’m trying to say here, by these examples, is that we are heading towards extremism. When feminists such as Marlene Dixon say that marriage leads to the oppression of women, or when neofeminist groups opinion against vibrators reproducing the shape of the penis and thus perpetuating phallocracy, well… it sounds like it’s time to stop and take a deep breath.

Femininity, my dear friends, is also weakness, and we have to accept that, since it’s biologically built-in. Is seduction and devotion towards our male fellows, and it is also need for love. It is a precious gift that is part of our identity, and, also, is a feature we just wanna waste, since our attractivity is closely related to our femininity. Therefore, while the core values of feminism and femininity go hand in hand, everything is fine and perfectly sane. When contradictions appear, it is a sign that feminism has gone too far, heading towards misandry and its values have turned weird and distorted.

Tags: contemporary, femininity, feminism

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