But Feminism is Good? I'm not a Slacktivist, I'm an Activist.

After reading Anna’s blog post, I just have to respond to her criticisms of the feminist movement and the YouTube video that was shared in our class last week. As a peace studies major, one of the first things one learns is the distinction between positive peace and negative peace. Often times, many of us think of peace as merely the absence of war—and while this is indeed one definition of peace, the idea of positive peace stems from the concept of not only a lack of physical violence, but a lack of structural violence as well. Indeed, I would argue that although the United States today is a relatively peaceful country in the sense that we do not have a war raging on our grounds, it continues to greatly suffer from structural violence and inequalities. One of these structural inequalities is that of women and men. And this is a fact, from unequal pay wages to a lesser number of female executives to the immediate attention and respect a man is paid merely for being male. Our country has, of course, come a long way from the idea of Victorian womanhood in the nineteenth century, however, there are still steps to be taken.

I agree with Anna in that the video that was shown to us focused more on the everyday occurrences of gender inequality, and perhaps not more obvious issues such as female sex-trafficking in our country, or the lack of access to education for Islamic women in the Middle East; however, this does not mean that the video should be disregarded in its entirety. Because while its message came via Carl’s Jr. commercials, it is a larger reminder that the objectification of and lack of respect for women exists. And that is a problem. Just the other day, a friend of mine said that a professor of hers blatantly stated, “I never knew women had an intelligent thought in their head until I began to teach here.” And while my friend tried to explain how upsetting this statement is in any setting, regardless of it being a classroom, there is no changing that this professor’s thoughts are a direct result of a structural problem in our society. This is a professor who teaches here at Notre Dame. That’s a problem. Sure, the video glossed over clips that you may not find very persuasive, but that video exists to remind you that things like this happen everyday in a country that exists as a world hegemon, and who has the power to influence cultures around the world. Sure, it was about ‘our world’, but that does not mean it’s useless by any means. Sure, we live in the first-world, but that does not mean we should be content with our surroundings. Anger at our situation is what will spark action, and that will translate to positive change here and abroad. Not every campaign seeking to address a social justice issue will capture the issue in its entirety. But at least the campaign is addressing a small part. While the content of these campaigns matters only if someone on the receiving end is incited to take action, let us not forget the importance of these campaigns. Media and platforms like YouTube are powerful, and we are lucky we live in an age where we can find videos like the one shown in our class, as well as videos that address issues abroad. Because these videos inform us and push us out of our seat of apathy and privilege.

I am a feminist. I can’t deal with women being objectified on TV. And I care tremendously about the lack of human rights for women facing great gender inequality in their home countries. Because that is what feminism is: fighting for equality in human rights for all women, regardless of where they come from. I am a feminist, and maybe this is idealistic of me, but I don’t believe my hope for gender equality should be exclusive to only one group of women. Human rights are universal. Let us not compare which woman has it worse, but agree that all women deserve the ideals that feminism strives for.