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The Dangers of Optimism: Equality is Not Yet Won Jaime Dienst (1024877)

Political Science 313 Final Paper Winter Quarter 2013 Kiku Huckle

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At the Fourth World Conference on Women, Secretary General Gertrude Mongella declared that the feminist movement has become unstoppable (NTB 346-347). With Estelle Freedman and other optimists, Mongella believes that feminism can never again be ignored, having spread across the globe in less than two centuries. This optimism paints a rosy picture, but Mongella and Freedman gloss over the battle feminists must fight for change. Underestimating the long path ahead will harm, not help, the spread of gender equality. I argue that Freedmans claim of No Turning Back is wrong because the fight for gender equality is reactionary: feminists must keep constant vigilance for unequal patriarchal norms. Without incessant feminist effort, these patriarchal values could easily cause society to turn back. I begin by examining two feminist victories: womens suffrage and access to birth control, and two obstacles that remain: criticism of women leaders and postfeminism. These examples show how concerted feminist mobilization is crucial for progress. I will explore the beliefs of optimists like Freedman that awareness of feminism is now irreversible. But ultimately, complacency halts feminist progress, and I will show that gender equality is actually in unique peril today as women disassociate themselves from feminism. The victories of the past are not permanent, and the victories of the future are not inevitable. Ironically, the belief that the gender battle is over may be the biggest threat to feminist progress. One of the many familiar milestones of feminist progress is the achievement of female suffrage. The fight for suffrage came early in the rise of feminism and was the culmination of over fifty years of proactive campaigning against unchallenged patriarchal norms (NTB 54). The right to vote gave women power to pursue other feminist goals and encouraged male politicians to consider women. Depictions of marching suffragettes have since inspired many further generations of feminists. The suffrage movement was successful because women mobilized the

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liberal language of human rights originally designed for men in the Enlightenment period to draw attention to the dehumanization women faced when denied political rights. Moved by the same rhetoric that had inspired male freedom, men like John Stuart Mill also took up the womens cause (NTB 53). Lamentably, that same liberal rhetoric could not address the complex familial and economic ties that kept poor women of color from exercising their new political rights (NTB 57). The suffragettes chose to mobilize along an equal-opportunity argument which could not be used against domestic oppression because there was no similar oppression of men. But suffrage still marked one of the first victories against patriarchy and gave future feminists the confidence that women could win if they organized. The normalization of birth control is another feminist triumph achieved through mobilization. Womens demand for contraception was unanimous but kept secretmost married women desperately sought contraceptive informationAlthough private use of contraception was widespread, very few women spoke out publicly in its favor (NTB 232). Margaret Sanger was the first feminist to call for widespread family planning by opening a clinic that distributed information on contraception in 1916 (NTB 234). Feminists like Sanger broke the taboo on discussing birth control. The silence surrounding birth control hindered feminist progress until contraception advocacy received a boost from a separate movementeugenics, which hoped to slow the population growth of minorities through birth control (Popenoe). Contraceptive rights might have languished had the eugenics movement not mobilized the white majority on concern for racial purity. While the movement to normalize birth control succeeded because of the eugenics movement, debates continue today over whether reproduction is the states concern because womens movements to demand birth control as a human right have been conflicted and disorganized (NTB 248). Until birth control is state-sponsored, it will be difficult

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for poor women to access. Birth control has become available to some women worldwide because of the work of Sanger and the eugenics movement. But the patriarchal assumption that birth control is negligible for women will persist until women organize and react. Many patriarchal practices still go unchallenged. One such practice is the scathing media coverage of prominent women. These criticisms stem from traditional patriarchic views of women as irrational objects best suited for domestic life. Female leaders find their credibility constantly challenged by irrelevant media attacks. Political media has a financial interest in generating reportable controversies and thrives on personal mockery and ridicule of the kind that has proven especially devastating for women (Kornblut 250). For example, in 2008, Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton ran for national office with contrasting strategies for managing their public image as female leaders: Palin embraced traditional femininity while Clinton projected masculinity. However the media discredited these starkly different women using the same set of (contradictory) patriarchic labels: Palin and Clinton were both portrayed as sex objects, distracted mothers, incompetent children, and inflexible iron maidens (Carlin). Media interviews with Palin and Clinton wasted time on inappropriate personal questions never asked of the men, like when Katie Couric digressed to ask Clinton about the sexually/emotionally-implicative nickname Miss Frigidaire (Carroll 14). Both female candidates were viewed as incapable despite the similarities of the credentials between the women, McCain, and Obama. Women in the public eye face gender-specific trials that cripple their campaigns and policies no matter how they manage their public image. Until women are outraged enough to retaliate, the patriarchal expectations that constrain women leaders will prevent gender equality in government. Patriarchy also attempts to convince feminists that the battle is already won, damaging the will to continue pushing for equality. Postfeminismthe belief that society has attained

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gender equality and that the need for feminism has passed encourages women to be apathetic and to ignore the inequality that remains. Women increasingly label themselves postfeminists for two reasons. First, motivation to continue to fight for gender equality sinks as more of the worlds women have no memories of the power and necessity of the first two revolutions. A rift is growing between older feminists and their daughters. Geraldine Ferraro, a woman politician who fought to crack the glass ceiling, was shocked to realize that her own daughter had chosen Obama above Clinton in the 2008 primaries. Women discounted Clintons candidacy because nothing in 2008 felt unequal. Women had worked alongside menfor decades[and] every year seemed to bring a new achievement, making the nextless remarkable (Kornblut 82-83). Second, feminist has become an abhorred label after the media distorted it to mean militant, unfeminine man-hater. Women who otherwise agree with gender egalitarianism deny that they are feminists, thereby making the burdenharder for the rest of us [feminists] who are willing to pay the price (NTB 346). Sarah Palin identified with feminism when first interviewed, but seemed to cave under negative pressure about the association and denied that she was a feminist a month later (Kornblut 125-126). Feminist has become a slur, fragmenting the women of the movement into disunity and disassociation. As a reactionary movement, feminism cannot function if women no longer want to react. Optimists who argue that there is no turning back believe that the essence of feminism will triumph despite the issues faced by the feminist movement itself. After all, awareness of gender oppression has spread further than ever before, from divorce reforms in Egypt and sexual harassment cases in Japan and the United States to the nomination of equal members of male and female candidates by French political parties (NTB 1). While all women do not label themselves as feminists, they may still consider themselves conscious about gender issues

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independently. Optimists see the postfeminist younger generations as evidence that gender consciousness can be so far normalized as to be expected out of modern society. International gender issues have become as meaningful for women as their own immediate gender issues. For example, the first Slutwalk demonstrations began in Toronto in 2011 to protest police statements that women who dress provocatively invite rape. Just mere months later, Slutwalk demonstrations blossomed across the world, even into nations as conservative as India (Hannon). Earlier this month, International Womens Day was celebrated with an official call to action from the UN to prevent violence against women (Marking). To women worldwide, gender discrimination has become an everyday concern. Equality seems inevitable. But as Clintons inevitable win in the 2008 primaries never arrived (Kornblut 84), awareness does not guarantee feminist progress. Feminists fighting to enact change must discover and restructure countless misogynistic assumptions of the patriarchal majoritywomen cannot count on men to be conscientious of womens rights. Only women feel the impact of these misogynistic assumptions and can call for change. This means that feminist progress must be reactionary: women must retaliate to injustices already committed to fight sexism. Reactionary change requires proactive and consistent movement from motivated individuals. The success of womens suffrage and contraception is directly traceable back to the efforts of actors with strong beliefs and sophisticated mobilization techniques. The womens vote was attained through the use of Enlightenment ideas that made hypocrites of liberal men who opposed equal suffrage. Birth control was already a widespread concern for women, but outspoken individuals like Sanger and the eugenicists brought the issue to public priority. Current feminists face difficulties with the important factor of mobilization. Women develop the free-rider belief that participation in the feminist movement is unnecessary because progress is

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inevitable. But nothing changes if no one gathers to protest. The media attacks on the female candidates during the 2008 election occurred because no one held media sources accountable for the inappropriate coverage of the women: sexism directed at Hillary Clinton was not considered noteworthy (Carroll 12). Postfeminism weakens participation by convincing younger generations that the war for equality is already won. As apathy grows, feminism will face unprecedented challenges to mobilization that threaten future progress. Slutwalk protestors organize for progress only once a year, and the UN commits little more than lip service to the feminist movement. Inaction among feminists will cause society to turn back, even if awareness continues to increase. Feminisms past successes and failures show that progress is not possible without mobilization. Reform will only happen if women organize and react against patriarchal inequality. But optimist assertions that there is no turning back incorrectly imply that gender equality will arrive whether women rally for it or not. While it is tempting to generalize about the future based on the progress of the past, equality is not inevitable. Gender discrimination is still present and must be actively confronted whenever it appears. Feminists must not let optimism lull them into complacency, for the fight is far from won.

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