Main Post for 1/27

In each of the readings for today’s blog post, female disappointment in male hypocrisy is evident. In her article on the first and second waves on feminism, Ellen DuBois points to the intense role male incompetence has played in the success of the women’s movement. Although this idea is seemingly paradoxical, DuBois suggests that as women realized that they were being oppressed and ignored by men in even the most “radical” spheres, they truly took charge of their movement and forced change to occur.

DuBois specifically points to several instances when men’s actions conflict with their words of promise to help women. For example, Wendell Phillips, a leader of abolitionist forces, promised women that as soon as he started working towards black suffrage, he would also focus on doing the same for women. However, DuBois points out that two years later, black people won the right to vote while women found themselves without progress in their movement.

Similary, the treatment that women experienced during their work in the abolitionist movement displays the tendency of many men to ignore women’s demands for equal treatment and respect. Placed in jobs as secretaries or organizational background workers, women were held doing “shitwork” (DuBois, 1) despite their undeniable drive and ability to aid in the abolitionist movement. Men, on the other hand, were always given jobs at the forefront of the movement-giving speeches, heading the projects, and most importantly, making the decisions.

When they were refused seats as delegates at an anti-slavery convention in London, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott refused to wait idly backstage, despite orders to do so. Instead, they took a walk to discuss the women’s movement and just eight years later, they took this drive to be at the forefront of change, and hosted the first women’s convention for equal rights. Additionally, in her speech on the ability of women to live and behave just as men do, Sojourner Truth took the anger she felt from men’s artificial gestures of respect, such as helping women in to carriages, to display a convincing argument in the name of women’s power and strength.

Although these arrogant acts by men were certainly disappointing and potentially discouraging to the women working towards equal rights, these women were determined and driven to succeed. Therefore, these women took the incompetence of many men and used it as motivation and inspiration to work towards a better future.

However, while the artificial acts of concern and enthusiasm by men eventually do inspire women to take action, these pretend acts did serve to suggest progress and change that was not really happening. As we have discussed in class, much of the workplace today is changed on the outside, however internally and deceivingly, many men still create a divide between women and men, though their actions may not be so obvious. Therefore, I wonder, how do we make sure we are aware of the actions around us in order to avoid male oppression? Also, do we need to personally experience men’s arrogance to again push the “second wave” forward to a new point of extreme change? Or is this determination something that can be formulated without the “push” of men’s condescending behavior?