I was gonna blog about women and technology today. BUT: Sex In The City goes into premiere in Belgium this week (oh God, I can't wait!!!), so the topic today will be the much asked question in the media lately (sigh...): "Can a woman be a Sex In the City fan AND a feminist?"
Speaking to women around me and judging by the sighs it induces, this question must rate as one of the silliest questions asked of many modern women - regardless of their age - today.
Why? Because it implies the following:
1. You can't be a feminist and love fashion or shoes.
2. You can't be a feminist and be attractive or dress sexy.
3. You can't be a feminist and have a Brazilian wax.
4. You can't be a feminist and be a single, flirty, vivacious woman.
5. You can't be a feminist and be a career girl.
5. And you certainly can't be a feminist and be a highly-sexed, bi-sexual woman like Samantha!
The problem with this question is that by its sheer composition, it is based on the definition of feminism as we know it from the sixties: grow all bodily hair, burn your bra, debase men and write lots of angry poetry.
But the feminism of today is no longer the feminism of the sixties.
Today's feminist can be a stay-at-home mother of 28, or the career girl of 47 without partner or kids. But she can just as well be an aid-worker in Burkina Faso or the editor of Vogue.
Today's feminist can even be a bi-sexual student, or a grand-mother of 88. And today's feminist can also be the career woman with a husband and 3 kids who wants it all.
Feminism today is all about standing tall, proudly looking the world in the eye and stating:
"I am who I am, and I won't make excuses for it."
Being a feminist today is about the freedom to choose.
It's about living, and letting live.
It's about the beauty of human diversity.
It's about being a woman, and being beautiful...Whoever you are, and just the way you are.
Monday
You are beautiful - just the way you are.
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1 comment:
Hi Sabine,
What a great post. It is indeed funny how I've been coming across this question (can you be a feminist and like SAC) in many blogs, discussion boards, and newspaper articles. Interestingly most of these articles were written by men, and more interestingly I couldn't find a single one that praised the show for any feminist value, quite the opposite. Any comment attempting to give SAC any positive feminist light was immediately dismissed (and heavily mocked, may I say). The verdict is that SAC is against all feminist values, completely destroying decades of hard feminist work. For these bloggers, critics, social commentators, a woman who chooses to look good, a woman you longs for the perfect marriage like Charlotte does, a woman that professes her love for shoes and adores fashion, a woman who gets ahead in her career yet builds a family (employing a nanny and a housekeeper), a woman who is looking for a genuine love with capital letters, is not a respectable feminist (sadly, she isn't even respectable). Life has changed, feminism has evolved. Just because now i am not socially obliged to wear clothes covering me from head to toe, it does not mean that when the pervy office director stared at my cleavage and dared touching me without my permission I deserved because I was wearing the nice blouse, and therefore disrespecting my sisters' historical fight. The struggle is still there, feminism is still there to destroy the many obstacles still present. We simply do not need to burn our bra to prove ourselves to anyone. My mother did that, that was her choice, now it is my turn. And yes, I cannot wait to watch SAC the movie...I've been counting the days.
Love, Jess
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