So, this semester, my passion blog is going to be focusing on feminism. I know that a few people had similar blog topics last semester, but I thought I’d put a little twist to it. Currently, I’m reading “My Life on the Road” by Gloria Steinem, who is one of the mother’s of feminism. You probably have seen this incredibly famous and inspirational photo of her and Dorothy Pitman, another well-known feminist who has done wonders for the movement:
“My Life on the Road” tells many stories of Steinem’s experiences around the country and world while organizing for the feminist movement. What I would like to focus on are the many important lessons and ideas that I think represent feminism extremely well. For the next ten posts, I’ll describe a certain lesson or idea to hopefully make you all understand feminism a little bit better, so that you can decide if you are a feminist.
Okay, here we go.
“One of the simplest paths to deep change is for the less powerful to speak as much as they listen, and for the more powerful to listen as much as they speak.” (Steinem, xxiii).
I’m expecting some of you to be surprised after reading that quote. When most people think of feminism, images of abortion or sexual assault or oppression immediately come into mind, and that’s definitely what feminism is about, too. But, I wanted to start with this because I think it represents what feminism is at its core: kindness and respect for all humanity.
Feminists represent the oppressed, the people who do not always get the first word (sometimes they never do), the people who are told who they are instead of being allowed to figure it out themselves, the people who are forgotten. We aim to change the world so that the forgotten can become equal. To get there, we must allow them to speak and to be heard.
Women have been conditioned to think that their voices are lesser and not worthy of being heard. We have been told that our opinions and ideas do not matter. Blacks have been told this. Hispanics have been told this. So many marginalized groups have been told this, and they still are. We are simply not being listened to or valued.
A present day example would be the case of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman was hanged in Waller County jail in Texas; however, this incident was covered up by police officials. Bland’s family, the black community, and many other supporters started a movement called “#SayHerName” to symbolize how the oppressed are frequently forgotten and shoved under the rug, especially with cases like this one. The movement became extremely popular on social media, particularly on Twitter where it began.
The #SayHerName movement has also passed onto other unfortunate cases like Janese Talton-Jackson‘s who was shot in the chest after saying no to a man at a bar. She left behind three children.
Listening to your peers is an important part of humanity because if we ever want to improve our society, or even just get better as people, we cannot simply rely on our own opinions and arguments and standpoints. Listening to others allows us to gain knowledge, to learn from other people’s experiences. Maybe someone made a mistake, and so because we know that now, we won’t make that same mistake. Maybe someone thinks about an issue from a totally different perspective that you would have never imagined before. Maybe you just hear something you like.
I challenge you all to take note of how much you listen and of how much you speak. If one is more than the other, make a change. If you’re not comfortable about speaking out then you don’t have to, but what I’m trying to say is that you have to give everyone a chance because you never know what someone is going to say.
Feminism is about so many different things, but I picked this one first because it applies to every aspect of life, and possibly one of the most simplest aspects (unfortunately it is overlooked). Give feminism a chance to speak, too, because you might like what it says.