Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Surprise and Patriarchy


The latest readings from The Curious Feminist took a very interesting stance on surprise.  Enloe characterizes surprise as an undervalued feminist attribute, suggesting that many feminists would be better off if they were able to accept more surprise in their lifestyle.  Rather than accepting that something that surprises you in an attempt to hold onto your “bedrock of status” and “hard-earned credibility,” Enloe suggests that we should step back and be surprised because there is a certain amount of benefit to accepting surprise (Enloe, p. 13).  Going along with the theme from her introduction, the idea of stepping back and asking yourself why something surprised you can be crucial to reforming your argument.  Rather than trying to fit the new knowledge into the evidence or argument that you already had formulated, thinking about how the new knowledge can shift or alter what you previously thought can do a lot more good and cause a lot of growth, learning, and change.
Much of Enloe’s commentary on patriarchies mirrored what Johnson had to say in the article we read earlier this semester.  The focus on patriarchy existing all around us, regardless of voluntary acknowledgement, stands out the most to me, especially since it’s something I’d never really focused on prior to this class.  As the class winds down, I think what we’ve learned about patriarchies will be the one thing that I will remember the most, especially when trying to be curious about events around me like Enloe suggests.  Both of my newsflashes have had elements of patriarchy incorporated into the explanations of the issue, which has really shown me how much of an influence it has everywhere.  As I’ve noted in my newsflashes, spreading awareness about the fact that our society is a patriarchy will make a big difference, as more people learn to see its influences.

Feminism




The readings for today had me start thinking about what feminism is like today. I thought of a campaign that I heard about a few years back that tried to put a face to feminism. Well, in some ways it tried to take back the image of feminism. This YouTube video is a part of the larger feminism campaign that exists to try to change the image of feminism from the hairy, angry, man-hating, white woman. Feminists do not have to be women, although they frequently are.  
            When I first came to Colgate, I had two friends who lived together. One identified herself as a feminist and the other as an anti-feminist. I had not heard of anyone calling themselves an anti-feminist before, let alone a woman. I still find it a little weird. I have not asked recently, but I am pretty sure this friend still considers herself an anti-feminist. I would say that this is still pretty rare, but what isn’t rare is the hesitation to identify with feminism. Many people do not know some of the core aspects of feminism and just associate it with negative stereotype. I think about how the women’s movement has become the butt of jokes. I will admit that I have fallen into this. However, I think that things are slowly changing. I have faith that more women (and men) will look at the disparities between men and women and will want to stand up for equality. I could be wrong, but I think the recent laws passed and the way that the media and politicians are discussing women will be a catalyst to increasing participation.