The Women’s Movement has certainly been one of the most significant events of our lifetime. It is and has been surrounded with grave misunderstandings, blatant frauds, and much hot air. No one, man or woman, has escaped its effect. In this column we would like to explore, in the next few months, some of the less publicized aspects of it.
Any change in society’s attitudes is a painful process. The Women’s Movement has been phenomenally successful due, in part, to its appeal to a great range of females. There are feminists who have never joined NOW, never subscribed to Ms., and who will never have an abortion. There are women who have chosen to quit work and raise families who are actively involved. (This cause, like any other, depends heavily on volunteers.) Any woman who recognizes that her sex has played a subserviant role for centuries and would like to see that change is a feminist. A mother who vows not to limit her daughter’s future by such admonitions as “Act like a lady, sweetheart,” or “Girls don’t do that,” is a feminist. A woman who decides after 20 years of voting like her husband to read about the candidates and issues herself this election is a feminist. A grandmother who buys her granddaughter a fire engine or her grandson a set of pots and pans “because that’s what they want” is a feminist. Most feminists wear bras, shave their legs, and love their families.
Let Freidan, Steinem, et al. argue about CIA infiltration of the movement and haggle over definitions of “radical” vs. ” liberal.” The movement is now too large to be guided. It cannot be controlled by them or the CIA. The movement is us.
Permit me to inject a personal bias. I am angered by women who claim not to be feminists though they benefit from them. You hear them often: the first woman on a college varsity tennis team who in an interview says, “I’m not a woman’s libber. I just want to play tennis;” or the woman vice-president of a major corporation who says, “The women’s movement had nothing to do with my job. I was promoted because I was qualified.” What these women fail to realize is that for hundreds of years there have been talented, able females who have not been permitted to excel. Their successes are due to the breaking down of barriers by women who came before them. And their gains will make it easier for women to follow. They are part of the movement whether they recognize it or not.
In future columns we will discuss women in literature, film, politics, careers and any ideas you may have. Send your opinions to me at 6037 Pershing, please. I’d love to hear from you!
Originally published in The Paper, November 1975.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed “subserviant” and “Freidan” retained; no silent modernization.
Original source: SD_Times1975_11.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
