According to this article, no. To be fair, this article also states that: "A woman who takes joy in the health, love, and growth of her children? Not a feminist.", so clearly the author doesn't understand what feminism is. And he is in the same metaphoric boat as many others, because what feminism is and means and wants has been attacked for centuries.
So, if we are to believe the propaganda and what the different media outlets have been feeding us, then no, feminist cannot be happy. But if we dig a little deeper we realise that these depictions are characters - they are not real. Anita Sarkeesian calls them Straw Feminists:
By turning feminism into the opposite of chauvinism not only does one prove that they don't know what feminism means, they also prove to have no media literacy at all. And a general sense of ignorance that particularly irritates me.
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| "you wanna rephrase that, punk? |
They miss the point by a gazillion km and oversimplify a very complex issue. And that's not only true for feminism but for every aspect of life, even established dual categories such as people's sex.
And that's the problem, our inherent need to categorize everything to the point of ridiculousness. Our brains naturally categorize sensory input because otherwise it would collapse. We use categorizations to process all the information and react rapidly to every situation. Stereotypes are a product of this process.
So when mass media outlets use these stereotypes or construe new stereotypes and feed them to everyone, indiscriminately, they perpetuate the "othering" of feminism.
The sad part is that social equality is beneficial (and necessary) to both women and men.
So maybe it's not "can feminists be happy?", maybe it's "can we be happy?"as part of a collective of people ruled by a minority that purposely oppresses the rest? Because to be honest, in this system, no one wins - not even men.
They figured it out: media is the most powerful indoctrinating tool.
Although I believe happiness comes from within and our own ability to put specific situations we find ourselves in into perspective, I wonder if actively pursuing social justice and equality would make me the most miserable person on Earth.
But if I didn't, wouldn't I be equally miserable? Is this the result of tireless efforts to suppress our desire to fight back by the media conglomerates?
I must say that I find that statement about feminists very disconcerting, because you are sadly correct. The media has taken a group of people who fight for the equality of others and reduced them to what is basically (and pardon my bluntness) a group of angry lesbians who cry wolf at any chance they get. As for your question about can feminists be happy I must sadly say that I don't believe they can. But no body who fights a battle with no foreseeable end can be, at least if that is the only thing that you believe you live your life for. But I do believe you can find happiness in knowing that you can help fight this battle, and by doing so you put another chip into the armor of inequality.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the phrase "Can feminists be happy?" should be really questioned as "can we be happy?" because the word feminist in itself is shown in a negative light in our society.
ReplyDeleteThe mass media generalizes the stereotype that we have formed for the word over the past century - and with the increase of feminist "movements" not having a positive media coverage (or any media coverage at all) there is no way to change that.