Tuesday, February 07, 2006

I'm an angry feminist now

Recently Trillwing (who I always want to call Trilliwig) commented that she sometimes feels feminist angst because of her lack of righteous indignation. The Clutter Museum: Should I be angry? Today I find myself full of judgmental anger! My feminist geography class was discussing recent feminist writings on women and work. Of course, much of the writing focused on the trendy themes of globalization and migration. The professor (always willing to spread gossip) described the rude and demanding behavior of a certain female, South Asian professor. This professor had written one of the articles and, being good feminists, we had to discuss her positionality. We eventually landed on the fact that she was used to having servants in her home country. Someone then commented on the terrible dilemma many professional women face between giving up their careers or hiring underpaid immigrant women to raise their children and clean their homes. I mean what the hell? Poor rich white women, forced to exploit other women! Have any of these women ever considered just telling their men to buck up and do their share??? (See: Bitch Ph.d.’s Radical Married Feminist Manifesto) Or maybe we could admit that the nuclear family and romantic love are not working as the basis for child-rearing??? Are the most educated, privileged women in the world (namely tenured faculty) not capable of figuring out something better? While we are at it, how about demanding the male faculty do their fair share of the committee work and teaching?

2 comments:

Tree of Knowledge said...

Have the professional women never heard of daycare? But I'm with you Breena. Two parents means TWO parents, not one who happens to be a woman. I am often amazed at how many people who self-identify as feminist don't recognize when they themselves stereotype women and fail to question the paradigm. I am equally amazed by how many young women who clearly are feminist repeatedly deny it--"I belive in equal pay for equal work, but I'm not a feminist. Of course my future partner will do laundry and wash dishes. I'm not a femisit though because they hate men."

Anonymous said...

Daycare?

Unless it is gov't or employer subsidized (and often, even then) the (mostly) women who work there are still likely going to be less well paid than the parents who use the services.

No, you have articulated a key thorn in the feminism work/family discussion. So: Thank you. I wish more of us would discuss it honestly.