es, okay, I admit- I once called myself a die-hard feminist. At age 15, I supported the aggressive rhetoric, mumbled the mantra of "man equals enemy," perceived every man as an oppressor. I was drawn to what glittered but what turned out to be fool's gold. I jumped on the bandwagon. But, now, I just do not buy it. I can not buy it. What once seemed a legitimate struggle for the emancipation of the female, now strikes me as a delusional, feeble, makeshift movement of middle class white American women who are simply sick and tired of doing what they were biologically and uniquely constructed to do: conceive, birth, nurture, care, lead, understand, sympathize, support, empower, and respect.
So, when I heard the words of Gloria Steinem quoted from every major broadcast news organization last week, my eyebrows furrowed and my head spun; incredulous, I could not fathom one sounding so ignorant, so narrow, so defiant, so, shallow, so lost, so�.self-interested.
In declaring that "gender is probably the most restricting force in American life," Gloria Steinem, a prominent leader in the second wave of the feminist movement, is retreating to what feminists do best: whine. Oppression is a mentality; it does not have to be a reality. On the contrary, my gender empowers me; it has never, is not, or will never restrict me.
Steinem insinuates that "true" feminists should and would vote for Hilary Clinton. She claims that if Barack Obama were a female, he would never be successful. She dares to claim that black people have it harder than woman, but at the end of her article (which was published in the New York Times), she attempts to explain that she is not trying to "advocate a competition for who has it toughest," as she puts it. There are some seriously wrong assumptions in these claims.
Firstly, Steinem has no right to state that I, as a female, should automatically vote for Clinton. Nor can she assume that woman "have it harder" than black people. It is more than foolish to measure -isms, to quantify oppression, to solidify prejudice. Steinem has no idea what it is like to be black in America. She has never been judged by her name. She has never had to defend her identity, her heritage, her history. She probably does not have ancestors who drowned in the Atlantic Ocean, if she does, she probably does not claim them. She does not reside in a cycle of poverty, political alienation and misrepresentation, nor systematic prejudice. She cannot tell me how to vote.
In playing the politics of sexism, she has neglected the pool of non-white females who share allegiances to multiple demographics. Her entire article insinuates that racism is slight, compared to feminism. If that is so, then why did my best friend's mother warn me not to play with her daughter because she did not want me, as a black individual, to negatively influence her daughter? Why did my white neighbor mutter, "nigger" to me and my sisters and tie the opening of our back gate to prevent us from playing with his "pure" white daughters? Why did my friend's supervisor fire her after she refused to fry her hair every day with a curling rod because she instead, chose to keep her hair natural? Why did my math teacher constantly make fun of my name and insultingly asked if I was African? Why did a white classmate of mine adamantly claim that she will never refer to the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport as "Hartsfield Jackson Airport" because she felt that all Maynard Jackson did was "be black" and she did not feel that was important at all? Why do black people all over the world hate themselves, fragment themselves, and produce such destructive images of themselves?
The rhetoric of the feminist, including Steinem's, seems to do more damage than good for women. Steinem titled her article, "Women are never front runners." How discouraging! Steinem's words sound just like those of any arrogant, lazy, male chauvinist! Imagine how distraught an 8 year old girl with hopes of becoming America's president would feel after hearing that "women are never front runners." Even more, how would the 8year old girl respond knowing that it was not a man who uttered this, but a woman who did, a woman who claims to fight for the emancipation of other women? I mean, women are never front runners? Tell that to Carmen Pereira of Guinea-Bissau, Indira Gandhi of India, Radmila Sekerinska of Macedonia, Kim Campbell of Canada, Vigdis Finnbogadottir of Iceland, Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda, Corazon Aquiono of Philippines, Mary Robinson of Ireland, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia, Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka, Janet Jagan of Guyana, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Sylvie Kinigi of Burundi, Pratibga Patil of India, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, Golda Meir of Israel, Elisabeth Domitien of Central African Republic, Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, and Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. These courageous women fight to the end for gender equality, some of them literally�..fight to the end.
Inspired by the spirit of those women, I have long since abandoned the shallow campaign of the feminist and have embraced the ideals of womanism. Most men feel that the two are the same, simply a play on words. No. While feminism is an initiative of middle class white American women who fight for the freedom of middle class white American women and seek only to understand the experience of the middle class white American woman, womanism is a celebration of womanhood. Feminists seem to complain about being a female. They secretly wish to be men. They are uncomfortable with their femininity, their sensuality, their appeal, the sensitive side. They do not like menstruating, birthing, empowering, leading, anything that women were created to do. Womanists are fiercely passionate about their womanhood, their femininity, and their responsibility. They acknowledge themselves as sisters, mothers of the earth, seeds of harvest, protectors, and nurturers. Womanism, a term coined by Pulitzer prize-winning author Alice Walker, embraces the rainbow of women around the world. It is not merely a political interest group, like that of feminism. It is a culturally prescribed level of consciousness. For most women, womanism comes natural, while most others find feminism to be a hard pill to swallow. Feminism is simply not natural. It is a forced mentality and by concentrating solely on women, it has proven itself to be quite a selfish agenda. Woe to the one who thinks of the self and not of the whole. Womanism thoroughly understands the complexity of the human race, that is takes a woman and a man to create peace, happiness, perfection, that the delicate balance of the elements is what conducts progress and nurtures harmony, that I don't have to commit abortion to prove that I can make my own choices, that I do not have to alter my sexual biology to verify my flexibility, that I do not need a man's encouragement to feel important, that I do not need a lunch invitation from my male boss to feel "belonged" or "equal," that I do not need to wear a 4 inch miniskirt to feel beautiful, that I do not need to wear a double-breasted 3piece suit to assert my authority, that I do not need to be in the White House to demonstrate my God-given ability to lead, that hijab-wearing women do not need to shred the hijab to be "free".
Ironically, many of the nations deemed as radically oppressive Islamic theocracies have appointed or elected female heads of state. It is America, the so-called leader of democracy that is struggling with the idea of such. Before a woman can lead the White House, she needs to be able to lead her home, with the support of her husband. Before American women take on political agendas, they need to take care of their womanhood, adopt the young ladies of society and teach them the skills of what is it is to be a woman. What I am saying is that before woman fight for government positions, attention must be directed towards the cultural dimensions of womanhood.
What is America? In the revolutionary tumultuous times of the 1960's in America, women fought for equality, burning their bras and cutting their hair. Some cut their skirts, hiding nothing, while others bought male's attire, exposing nothing. But is gender equality about clothes? Do I need to simply burn my bra to be equal to a man? What a ludicrous idea. How immature! How depressing. What a shame.
Feminists are simply denying themselves of what they need and forcing themselves to obtain what they do not want. They say that want to be respected, not loved. America claims to be the land of the liberated female. Really? Then, why is the disciplined woman scorned and the sexually loose lady celebrated? While sexual looseness has often been cited as an example of woman's liberation, it is really just the opposite. Any individual who satisfies their every craving, is no more than a slave to that craving. A sexually loose lady is no more than concubine, the community slave, the object of satisfaction to men- that is not liberation, nor is it gender equality. A female sleeps with every Tom, Dick, and Harry and calls herself a feminist. That is oppression in the highest order. It's a pity that she does not know the definition of foolishness. America cannot be the land of the liberated female if ladies in this country continue to chase men instead of being courted. Every female in the animal Kingdom dictates their relationship with a male by allowing the male to initiate interests. In this manner, female animals demonstrate power, responsibility, sensitivity, appeal. Look at the lioness, the female birds, a whale cow, etc. However, the American females do not follow this example. They would rather ask for a boyfriend, ask for a hand in marriage, and all the while, they are indirectly asking to be taken advantage of. Once you give your power away, expect to be powered over. They are giving up the power to dictate the relationship. They do not understand the skill of appeal. Women have an innate trait of appeal, and they must be taught to use it. If I am truly appealing, then I can be sitting down, reading a book, wearing 3 layers of clothing, and still get attention from a certain male classmate of my liking. I do not need to run to his face, and flirt like an idiot, like one with low self-esteem who does understand the rules of love, who does not realize that God empowered the female to dictate the relationship because she is the one to be doted upon, showered with attention, beautified, supported. She has the intelligence to craft what she wants without uttering a word, but by simply being the woman of God's creation. But in the "democracy" of America, females are in bondage. It is only an insecure female who would misinterpret the hijab as a symbol of oppression rather than of expression. It is only an enslaved woman who would advocate abortion. She has become a slave to herself and to every oppressor in the universe. No emancipated woman would murder what is growing in her womb, because she would acknowledge that by being able to conceive and carry a fetus, she is fulfilling the most incredible responsibility of existence as we know it, and she would take honor in this. If she did not "want" to get pregnant, she would remember all the many wives in the world who cannot do such and in her sympathy, she would put the child in adoptive care. That is a demonstration of sensitivity, wisdom, and responsibility, which sums to be, the truly liberated woman. It is in America, that females do not know that they are in bondage. The biggest problem that you can have is the problem that you don't know that you have.
Gone in America is the art of female leadership. The integrity of the American woman is difficult to find, but when you do find it, you cannot take your eyes away from it. It is riveting in all its glory. It allows her to honor herself, not despise herself. Physically fighting over a boy? It began in my elementary school, increased to once a week in my middle school, my high school, and occasionally, at my university. Its frequency proves that such is not an isolated action. It is a cultural activity. I've seen countless girls kicking, biting, pulling hair, drawing blood, scratching skin, shouting curses, throwing weapons over one lazy, arrogant, disgrace of a male enjoying the manifestation of his manipulation. It is an awful sight and as a womanist, it is a pitiful sight. These are my own kind, doing what our kind were not intended to do. It was the boy who was supposed to be defending her, not the other way around! But of course, the girls feel that this is okay, because their mothers teach them that it is okay. I've heard countless mothers here in this "democracy" of the "liberated female" tell their daughters to "fight for the man that is theirs."
What kind of�.nonsense�backwardness�debasement�bondage? No man's power should ever be so great that he is able to make a woman reject her identity.
In this great America, feminism has succeeded in dividing women when woman need to be united. In this great America, feminism holds that females should ignorantly vote for a female just because she is a female, disregarding her character. (I am not saying that Hilary Clinton will not be a good president; I am only saying that it is the character, not the gender that counts.) In this great America, feminism scorns the religious piety of passionate Christians and Muslims because they are afraid to acknowledge the God of nature. Hey, if I were not doing what God created me to do, I would be afraid of God, too! In America, feminists engage is pointless discussions to determine the gender of God. It is impossible for the artist to be compared to the art, so you cannot compare God with the human species.
In America, feminists encourage girls to abort their babies because they do not realize that with the application and direction of love, creativity, sensitivity, and leadership, they can raise that child to be the greatest writer, activist, politician, dancer, lawyer, teacher, doctor that the world has ever known and by doing that, they themselves would be just as great, if not greater, because they would be the honorable mother. In America, feminists advocate modernism and condemn "old-fashioned" ideas. But, not every new thing is good, and not every bad thing is wrong. You cannot simply be modern and follow the trend. You must sift through the hype and take out the core, analyze the core, and you can either keep it or trash it.
In America, feminists support girls going to dance every night to rub her butt on every guy because they believe that women can be as "sexually-demanding" as men, but in reality, they are just exposing their sheer desperation and low self-esteem. If a man is sexually promiscuous, then that is his sad error; I do not and will not make the same error. In America, feminists declare that "women are never front runners" and crush the dreams of every young girl with aspirations of being just that, a front-runner. In America, feminists chose to subtract their addition to the equation of balance and take on the properties of the male. A female cannot be a man in order to sustain equality and vice versa. Fire cannot be water in order to sustain balance. Fire needs exist in the same water that water exists. Fire plus fire equals more fire. That sounds like destruction just as water plus water produces a flood. In America, a flood of ignorance in regards to gender is destroying the relationship of the man and the woman and once this is destroyed, the family suffers. In America, females have confused individuality and independence with foolishness, hedonism, and selfishness. They were simply raised that way.
Finally, a woman is not just a physically mature female. She has a definition. She has divinely prescribed dimensions. Most females die as females, never obtaining the title of woman. A woman is wise and passes her wisdom to those closest to her. A woman relishes in the majesty of her natural being and would never dare to give that to another, as uttered by a prophet named Isaiah.
A woman finds freedom in her courage and valor, never limiting herself to gratifying her every desire. She understands the fineness of discipline, because it is only a harnessed horse that reaches the target- a loose horse misses it every time. A woman has a vision, thus will not perish. A woman finds joy in her responsibilities instead of running away from it. A woman uplifts other woman, never scorning her, or betraying her, or cursing her, rather she cherishes her as her sister. When woman fight, the people suffer. Imagine two elephants fighting. Quite ridiculous, eh?
A woman worships God who gave her everything, knowing that she can take her requests, concerns and pleas to God. A woman knows that she is unconquerable because God she serves cannot be chained, defeated, humiliated, dethroned.
So, very few females are actually women, even in old age. There are female pastors, female bosses, female politicians, female mothers, female wives, female lawyers, but few women. But to know a woman is to know royalty. It delights you. When you know a woman, you cherish her. Judith Jamison, Debye Swiley, Mother Theresa, Sherri Lewis, Mfon Ufot, Julie Ajayi, Annette Williams, Cece Winans, have obtained the honorable title of Woman. Least not forget, my mother is a woman and I�..well, I am an aspiring woman.
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