A movement started by man-hating butch lesbians who want equal rights?
An ideology advocated by extremists who are trying to overthrow patriarchy?
Simply the idea that men and women are equal and should be treated that way?
An underground society of women bent on making men like this their servants?
My definition is simple.....and not really even mine (I'll give credit to Professor Stice from women's studies....and yes. Stice is a man who teaches women's studies. I know...shocker!)
*Feminism is the belief that women should take an equal and active role in society and can take responsibility for themselves.
BUT. There is fortunately a lot more to add to that. Or else I wouldn't create an entire blog based on the idea of feminism.
Let me introduce myself!
Because as I explain my theories and research, I want to be real to you.
I believe in being raw. I believe in being vulnerable. My life isn't a completely open book, but I don't have walls up. I don't apologize for who I am or what I believe. But I respect you and your opinion. You are entitled to an opinion and entitled to be loved. I'm also a Mormon....trust me, we have our own quirky gender system, and it will definitely work its way into this blog. You may even get a laugh here and there. That being said!
I am currently a psychology major at Brigham Young University minoring in anthropology and music. Ever since middle school, I knew I would be a psychology major.....for what reason I know not. At one point, I was interested in counseling/clinical psychology - a typical path. But I was dissatisfied with my plans and learned that with clinical neuropsychology I could open any door I wanted - brain research, clinical therapy, teaching, etc. So I planned on forensic clinical neuropsychology where I would make courtroom evaluations, conduct criminal brain research, work with families in the court system, and on and on and on. Fortunately, I had a friend (annoyingly at the time, but fruitfully nonetheless) prodding me about why I was pursuing that path. Because even though it's really cool and motivating, I really don't care much about neuropsychology.
Thus began my existential crisis this past month. My boyfriend and I broke up, I dyed and chopped off my hair, I wrote a song (check out my music page on the side, by the way), I decided to move into a different apartment next semester, discovered I like anthropology a ton more than psychology, and found out I had no idea what to do with my life.
Last semester (and you will see how this all ties together later, I promise!), I was seriously dating someone and knew that before things got too serious, I had to go somewhere and do something big. Explore the world, so to say. I got an email from the psychology department one day saying that the anthropology department was looking for students to go to Thailand. No harm in applying, right? So I would defy BYU Mormon culture and escape the idea of marriage for at least a year. I wouldn't be bound down and unable to explore, discover, achieve, and progress. For some people, this is a correct path - not the bound down part, the married part. But I knew I wouldn't be happy with it. I had to get out - to do something before I lost that opportunity. But what to study? Over Christmas break, I researched the Hmong people for eight hours a day, several weeks in a row and had no idea what to investigate in Thailand. Eventually, I narrowed it down to a possible neuroanthropology project on shamanism that my professor suggested I join or a personal gender studies project. (Keep in mind this was all before my existential crisis, so I was leaning toward neuroanthropology.)
Now I can't tell you why. And trust me...I've heard it all....especially the Feminazi comments (which is my official nickname in my apartment). But I love studying women's issues. Through the progress of researching my topic, I have come to find that studying gender issues is the only academic pursuit I have ever had intrinsic motivation for. I've spent hours discussing feminist and gender-related issues with my anthropology professors and even got to go to dinner with said professors and Chelsea Shields Strayer (http://www.mormonwomen.com/2009/10/17/choosing-between-two-rights-chelsea-shields-strayer/). I became caught up in feminist theories and cultural implications, and I could not escape.
So back to my existential crisis. I've come to realize that anthropology offers everything for me that psychology doesn't. Building relationships with people while studying them rather than sticking them in a lab. No more talk of experimental designs that only offer probabilistic results and don't prove anything. Etc. So last week I decided that depending on how Thailand went, I would ditch the idea of a PhD in Psychology and continue investigating cultural gender studies and write about them. Write and talk. Like TEDTalk kind of a thing. And keep up music on the side, of course. I want to make academic research more relatable and interesting to the public. Because honestly....who, outside of people at universities, spends any time reading academic articles and discussing them? No one outside of academics cares about academics. That is probably too broad of a generalization. But really. So begins my future career plan. And I figured a blog would be a good place to start my journey, collect my thoughts, and get them out to the public.
I've been rambling for awhile now. I think your eyes need to take a break. This is what I feel like after writing all of this.
All right. Rambling on part 2.
I have a theory that you are more feminist than you think you are. Just because I chose to escape the BYU marriage culture (or at least postpone it), it doesn't make me more feminist than the girl in one of my classes who dropped out of the field school to get married. It just means that we have different life plans. I've met a lot of people who are seriously uncomfortable with the concept of feminism. A lot of girls I've talked to say "Oh, I'm not a feminist" or "I used to be feminist until I realized what it meant." Do you believe that women should be on equal grounds with men and deserve to be treated as such? Yes? Then you are a feminist. Not to put you in a box or anything....
Someday I plan to be a stay-at-home mother (for some period of time, however long it may be) and raise my children. That does not make me less feminist. Feminism is about following your path through divine inspiration (with Heavenly Father's guidance and being under the influence of the Holy Ghost) without inhibitions posed on you by your culture or by other people. And this holds true for males as well.
Stop trying to live up to other people's expectations. Stop trying to look like what other people say you should. Stop trying to be the perfect model Mormon mom. Stop feeling insecure about your dating life and making assumptions that because you've never been asked out, there is something wrong with you. You are you. NEVER apologize for that.
So what will this blog contain, you may ask? Well! Since my whole life practically revolves around gender studies right now:
*The next post will be my theories on feminism from a cultural point of view, including White feminism, McDonaldization theory, feminism from different cultural viewpoints, etc. At some point, I will post my 10-15 page literature review that I haven't started yet....and need a draft for in 4 days from now.
*An ethnography of the Mormon Mom Bloggernacle
*My thoughts and feelings about the "pants to church" issue
*The progress and finding from my Psych Anthro class about the question:
What are some of the gender differences among BYU students’ perceptions of gender roles and seemingly progressive feminist ideologies? That is, what does an alternative feminism look like in a Mormon (particularly BYU) cultural context? What are some dimensions of variability in people that ascribe to this alternative feminism in different ways?
*How much of the oppression that women feel in Western culture is a product of self-fulfilling prophecy?
*And MANY, many more things to come.
Please keep following, and take a look at my funnies, musica, and random thoughts and epiphanies! (See pages on the side links.)
I think I've done enough rambling for one night.
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