Despite
harassment and on-line abuse, feminist writers will NOT go gently into the
night. Last week The Washington Post
ran an on-line article about prominent female authors, bloggers, and speech
makers who have been subjected to hateful name calling and death threats—not
just once in a while but every day, around the clock. Jessica Valenti, author of five books and
founder of the blog Feministing.com, admitted that if she could start over, she
might prefer to remain completely anonymous.
“It’s not just the physical safety
concerns, but the emotional ramifications of constant abuse,” Valenti tells
young women aspiring to write about feminism.
While
cyberspace offers feminists unlimited opportunities to speak their minds,
technology also enables misogynists and critics to vent their fury and hatred
easily and publicly. Men’s rights groups
such as A Voice for Men, the misogynist Reddit Forum, The Red Pill, or even
Twitchy, (a right-wing Twitter group) are barraging feminists with so much vitriol that some writers have withdrawn from
the internet. Abortion rights activist, Lauren Rankin, stopped writing online
and (mostly) on Twitter because the continuous on-line attacks against her became
so stressful and exhausting. Rankin continues
her work as a board member of a reproductive rights non-profit, and she still
acts as a volunteer clinic escort, but she no longer engages on the internet.
On the other hand, famous feminist
Gloria Steinem continues to speak out despite—or perhaps because of—the angry
backlash. At Johns Hopkins’ Foreign Policy Forum this
week, Steinem addressed most of the hot-button issues. Violence against women and reproductive
control are root causes of the world’s biggest problems, according to Steinem.
A self-described “hope-aholic,” she says
“humans are linked, not ranked” and that “nature is a circle, not a hierarchy.”
Steinem believes the human race is like a butterfly with two wings (male and
female) and can’t fly if one wing is broken. Taking the long view, she acknowledges that changing
society is a slow process that may take a hundred years but WILL happen.... Bravo, Gloria Steinem, for pushing feminism forward with such eloquence.
Sometimes feminist support pops up unexpectedly.
At the 2015 Academy Awards, Patricia Arquette, recipient of the best
supporting actress title, went beyond the usual boring thank-you list. Capitalizing on her moment before a
world-wide television audience, Arquette
demanded equal pay for female actresses, on a par with their male counterparts
in this country. Meryl Streep—along with other wealthy and powerful
actresses—rose from their seats, to applaud and cheer loudly for Arquette’s
message. Some of my friends might argue
that—feminist slogans or any political messages—should not be expressed at the
Oscars. What do you think?
I’m happy Patricia Arquette kept
her speech short, and since I happen to agree with her values, I didn’t mind
the mini-departure from award etiquette. Besides, she wasn’t talking about
abstract ideas or an issue of interest to a limited few. I found the actress’s brief and unexpected exhortation
on behalf of women(relevant to half of the audience, at least!) refreshing and
inspiring as well as entertaining, a bright moment during the three and a half hour marathon of vanilla
acceptance speeches. Better yet, Arquette
was able to speak her mind safely and leave the stage with her golden statuette
free of the harassment many feminists endure
Some
feminist battles are fought in murky territory. Monday’s New York Times
describes a “he said, she said” case in the article, "A Silicon Valley Harassment Trial Casts a Long Shadow." Former
employee Ellen Pao is suing a prominent venture capital firm. Pao contends that a married colleague
pressured her into having an affair with him, and then retaliated against her
after she ended it. Pao claims she suffered
discrimination and received undeserved poor reviews which ultimately led to her
dismissal. The venture capital firm
fired back, saying the affair was consensual and no discrimination
occurred. Furthermore, the firm contends
that Pao “lacked the ability to lead others, build consensus and be a team
player, which is crucial to a successful career as a venture capital senior
investment partner.”
Who will
the jury believe? The answer may have
far reaching effects. Many women in
technology feel Silicon Valley discriminates against them, failing to hire,
promote or take them seriously.
Confronted daily by sexism and harassment, these women are not treated
with respect and become discouraged. If
the jury decides the venture capital firm is guilty of discrimination, the
verdict may be seen as a broad indictment of the high-tech world. On the other hand, a dismissal might
strengthen the argument of those who insist gender issues are exaggerated.
Perhaps
the most perplexing piece of the feminism puzzle unfolds while trying to
understand why three teenage girls would leave home to join ISIS and become
terrorists. Why would anyone join an organization that would strip them of all
human rights? Yet three British
teenagers—two 15 year olds and a 16 year old—were pictured on the front page of
The New York Times (2/25) departing
London’s Gatwick Airport on a flight to Turkey! It is believed they traveled to
Syria to join the terrorist group, known as ISIS or ISIL. These girls are NOT impoverished or
uneducated; nor are their families proponents of radical Islam. On the
contrary, the families of these girls are ashamed and horrified. Classmates
describe the runaway girls as “studious, argumentative and driven.” A fourth
girl from the same school who left in December was also described as “very
intelligent, very liked, very bubbly, kind, caring.” (?!)
Why would (seemingly) intelligent and
educated young women run off to join a violent Islamic State? Is this an
extreme—and perverse—form of teenage rebellion for these girls?
From the radicals’ point of view,
it makes sense to recruit girls at younger ages than their male counterparts; a
fifteen year old girl makes a good (compliant, disempowered) wife. My
question is why would a girl WANT to marry a fighter in a foreign country and
become part of a violent culture that subjugates women? Instead of fighting FOR freedom they are fighting AGAINST it. I’m completely stumped.
Somehow we MUST develop a powerful
antidote to whatever crazy propaganda ISIS is using to lure young women into
its evil clutches. Feminists around the world need to be part of the
solution. Internet intimidation should
not dissuade us from speaking out. After
all, the internet has proven to be a powerful weapon in the hands of ISIS
recruiters. We women MUST learn to
communicate as safely and effectively in cyberspace as our enemies. We can do it! And if all else fails, women still have one
very significant advantage. We are
mothers; and as mothers we can teach our girls AND boys to love and respect
each other as equals from the moment they leave our womb.
Labels: abortion, Academy Awards, cyberspace, discrimination, Emily Pao, feminism, ISIS, Jessica Valenti, Lauren Rankin, London, mothers, Patricia Arquette, sexism, Silicon Valley, The Washington Post, Turkey
