Main Post for 1/21

While our readings thus far have varied in their feminist content and perspectives, I have noted a particularly interesting commonality among them: the question of responsibility. This question not only encompasses who is responsible for the challenges women face, but also who is responsible for “fixing” these challenges. The notion of responsibility in the feminist movement is not only complicated, but downright disagreed upon. It is easy to point fingers at those who are overtly supporting women’s subornation and inferiority, but what about those with a neutral or apathetic stance? Is complacency with the status quo as egregious as creating it? Should men and women play an equal role in today’s burgeoning feminist movement?

I began thinking about these questions after reading Ellen Neuborne’s essay on the problems of a post-feminism world. For Neuborne, the issue of responsibility lies not with the men who degrade women, but with the women who fail to stand up to such men, “It is a dangerous thing to assume that just because we were raised in a feminist era, we are safe. We are not. They are still after us,” (Neuborne, 184). While I agree with Neuborne’s empowering message, it seems that this mentality puts an unfair burden of responsibility on women to carry and continue the feminist movement. Should men not also be held accountable?

Ariel Levy speaks to the responsibility of women over men as well, yet she refers to a completely different demographic. She argues that the Girls Gone Wild phenomenon illustrates the embarrassing role that young women are playing to stall, if not reverse, the feminist efforts of the previous generation. To me, it seemed clear that Levy was working towards a thesis on the responsibility these women have to present a positive image of their gender and sexuality. At the end of the chapter, however, Levy throws in a remark that left me very surprised, “But even though this new world of beer and babes feels foreign to sixties revolutionaries, it is actually also a repercussion of the very forces they put in motion – they are the ones who started this,” (Levy, 45).

It seems audacious to accuse the very people who have fought to change the way the world sees women of causing the “raunchy culture” of today, but perhaps Levy is right. This is not to say that the feminist movement should never have occurred, but rather that Girls Gone Wild is simply a mandatory (and embarrassing) phase in its evolution. Unless, of course, you believe that Girls Gone Wild is not a phase but the end result of feminism. If this proves to be true, the question of responsibility gets even more confused. Is equality at the expense of a woman’s body really progress? If not, whom do we blame?

At the end of her essay Neuborne declares, “The next generation is coming,” (Neuborne, 187). It is evident that women have a responsibility to do something, yet whether that means fighting back with words or against each other in jello pits is unclear.