"Women's Liberation Movement".....still appropriate today?

[AnnInLa]

Umpteen years ago, I met a lady in an airport who had on a tee-shirt with these words on the back of it...I was so impressed I took a picture of it, and just found the picture in a box of old stuff. I wonder what the women of this board think about these things...I took this picture sometime in the 80s, and wonder if things have improved for us?

"Because woman's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a real man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and unfeminine and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we still can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and ....for lots and lots or other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement."

Have times changed or not?

[MountainLaurel]

1. Things have improved

But not to the point where we can give up the fight -- Hell, the Reich Wing is trying to take away access to the contraceptives we do have.

[electron_blue]

2. things are better on the surface

but underneath, the tide still pulls strong against women.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's. The 80's don't seem that long ago to me. I was in college and grad school then. REally - society seems much the same. Better in some regards, worse than others. Remember that since the 80's we've seen the defeat of the E.R.A. and a rising threat against Roe V. Wade.

If you want to really get the pulse of the future of today's women, go talk to a dozen or so women in their teens and early 20's. It astonishes me how little they are willing to settle for. STILL.

I wince as I see my 4 yr old daughter already being socialized into being a "good little girl" and letting the boys play t-ball, but not her, even though she loves it as much as they do.

We have a long way to go, period, before this society is not in a mode of pushing down others (not just women) just to better their own prospects.

[WildClarySage]

3. I don't think any of the issues raised have been adequately

addressed. For some reason, though, a lot of people seem to think that the progress we have made as women towards equality is some sort of social evil that must be returned to the 'good old days'.. Some of those people can be found right here at DU, which is a damn shame.

[CrispyQ]

4. If we continue on this path of self destruction,

the final battle will be between the sexes. The first division of our species is gender, female/male, not race, black/white/yellow/red, not religion, Jew/Christian/Muslim.

===
warning: posted "before coffee or after liquor"

[kestrel91316]

5. Things have improved somewhat, BUT

we are also now at the edge of THE ABYSS.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

[marions ghost]

6. it's better

in that there are more resources for women, and more understanding of the issues among men. So the most blatant abuses at least aren't condoned, even as they continue. At the same time, girls now have more diverse and healthier role models. And I think SOME parents are really trying hard--to do a better job of bringing up boys--than in the past. :big applause: In many ways women's liberation is men's liberation. The smart men get this, the slow ones will have some sort of epiphany hopefully, or go down with the dinosaurs. Women's progress is also connected to decreasing the need for "power over" and redirection of drives to dominate, or at least knowing the difference between that and healthy competition. The revolution is far from over...and the women's front continues to be one of the critical 'fronts.'

[omega minimo]

7. Granny shed blood for the right to vote & all I got was this lousy Tshirt

We are living thru dangerous times, when the inevitable deadly outcome of the bully boy mentality and domination mode of organization have outlived their usefulness.

It is time for all women, wherever they are, in whatever way they can, to step forward and begin healing, communicating and leading in the opposite direction.

The state of women's liberation is easily gauged by watching the TV commercials on mainstream media-- how are women portrayed? What are they doing? What are they saying? Are they powerful of pathetic? Is there a female version of the stunning Gillette commercial in worshipful homage to the act of shaving and empowerment: The Best A Man Can Get? "You know the feeling. Every man's had it...." YOU ARE THE KING OF THE WORLD BABY! "You look. They smile."

Check it out.

:bounce::bounce:

[CrispyQ]

12. A few years ago Special K cereal had a commercial,

A man in a bar asks the camera, "Do these jeans make my butt look big?" Another man complains, "I have my mothers heavy thighs." And yet another man says, "I feel so fat." (Yes, the men were all a bit heavy.)

The voice over then says, "You never hear men make comments like this."

The irony is that while the commercial makes a valid point, Special K commercials are generally geared to women so that we will lose weight or work to keep our figure.

[Eloriel]

8. Still appropriate? You tell me.

Did you see anything in that list that no longer applied -- at all?

I also thought I'd mention there's a Women's Issues forum and also a Feminists Group (for which you have to be a contributing member, but there's no lower limit on how much and that plus all the other groovy Groups make it vry much worth it, IMO).

[omega minimo]

9. From the 14 Signs of Fascism

5. Rampant Sexism -- The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.


:kick:

[mcctatas]

10. I agree completely...

and the thing I find most offensive about the state of the country is that people aren't more incensed that the repuke leadership is trying to pass things like defense of marriage, which only adresses a small segment of the population, while the ERA was defeated and women are somehow supposed to take their rights as a given or something!

on edit: I am completely opposed to the defense of marriage act, I just think it is a good indicator of where our country is headed if we don't rescue it...the same country that refused to use the constitution to define womens rights, would consider using to limit the rights of any segment of our population!

[smirkymonkey]

16. Yep. I actually think that this administration has turned the clock

backward regarding women's rights and there is a cultural backlash in full swing.

The patriarchy is dying and they are rearing their ugly heads and fighting progress every step of the way.

[wli]

11. not long before the American Taliban has women made chattel again

So yes, Women's Liberation is as relevant as ever. Liberate women from the Dominionists/etc. who so desperately want to make the Handmaid's Tale (along with several other dystopias) into reality.

[dogday]

13. Look at the Body Image of the Woman Today and tell me

we have made advances in our liberation. The body image of a stick figure with two big lumps of clay on her chest is not natural. I have to raise my daughter to understand she is not fat because her body type is not that of what America sends out as the image for a women.

I think women are more abused and less respected as bitches and ho's and I don't think that has advanced our cause any.

Women still work for less pay and get passed over for the guy. Look at the Supreme Court. The ratio of men to women on the court does not represent the actual count of women in this country.

The issue of a Woman's Choice is being threatened.

[omega minimo]

15. You got it. And thanks to Madonna and Camille Paglia

the young women (and not so young) who are packaging and restricting them-selves in male gaze imagery are telling themselves they're "liberated" because they "chose to be exploited."

How bout those bondage shoes that are all the rage in offices now? I think that's great girls, but when I see you mince in and out of the State Capitol, I wonder if you understand that you are not going to be taken seriously. I don't think you do.

And what's up with that strangulated vocalization that has infected an entire generation of women? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

[Lars39]

18. I live in a cave...what are bondage shoes?

Flip flops?

[omega minimo]

20. Yeah, add a 4.5 inch heel and a strap and you got it

"Sex and the City" shoes

But what's up with THAT VOICE!?! Even seven year olds are doing it now. It's EVERYWHERE. :wow:

[Hello_Kitty]

21. And assholes like this are still given a public forum

Richard Roeper (who is no Brad Pitt from what I've seen) is offended by Dove ads featuring "chunky" women on billboards.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeper/cst-nws-roep19.html

It's the second section, after he complains about women not listening to voicemails.

Personally, I feel visually assualted by the sight of aging wanna-be hipster movie critics on my TV screen. I think the producers of "Ebert and Roeper" should replace them immediately with the hot-looking hardbodied young dudes that I would prefer to fantasize about. Don't you all agree with me?

[noiretextatique]

25. i never liked that guy...

something about him...and this quote makes it clear
"If that makes me sound superficial, shallow and sexist -- well yes, I'm a man."

newsflash: you don't just "sound" superficial, shallow and sexist...

[hfojvt]

23. hmmmm...could John Roberts be filibustered on that basis alone?

Conservatives would scream bloody murder that we were passing over a qualified man (and suddenly he would be trumpeted as the "most qualified" which raises the question - how many women are there with more experience on the federal bench, since Roberts has only two or three years? Still, would someone like Priscilla Owen be a better alternative?) to maintain some type of quota. But how can any man be more qualified to decide on the issue of abortion? Okay, maybe if he was a medical doctor, but even then he would have zero experience of actually being pregnant. Would a "Sandra Day needs to be replaced with another woman" meme play in Peoria?

[donsu]

14. your a woman and you have to ask?

nt

[AnnInLa]

22. I am an older woman in my 50s, and experienced all of the things

in the original post....was just hoping that you younger women perceived things as better today.

[omega minimo]

24. There's a disconnect b/w generations on what feminism

was and is. It impacts the "perception" you are asking about.

Discussed recently in WR&I

:kick:

[omega minimo]

17. "The "Godfather" had a scene with a tit, therefore it should be rated X"

Meanwhile on Democratic Underground
GD Saturday morning

"The "Godfather" had a scene with a tit, therefore it should be rated X"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4174231&mesg_id=4174231

[Nikia]

19. Of course

For many of the reasons given by other posters.
And we are in a critical time with Bush and his friends. He is pushing anti feminist rhetoric: women don't have the right to choose, marriage can only be between a man and a woman because each has a distinctive role, and the glorification of the "real man" who fits a narrow version of masculinity.

[Finder]

26. Changed for the better, but...

the lack of solidarity within feminism today has put many of the accomplishments at risk of being overturned or at least stagnated. The movement has become a "1" issue movement for many rather than the cohesive movement it was when progress was being made. Actually, it is a common problem for most movements historically.

While feminists were infighting, groups like the Promise Keepers grew, women like Malkin and Coulter were groomed, their female enablers infiltrated feminist strongholds, issues that divide were introduced and are battled daily even in progressive venues today. There is no room for debate only shunning or censorship. The very principal we fought against originally.

As the old saying goes, "We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang seperately."