April 11, 2011

Feminist Failure?

I've been reading Gail Collins's books on the history of feminism in America, and I'm feeling a bit like a feminist failure: I majored in English and taught HS English (she argues that teachers are low-paid because it is/was a traditionally female career path), was married right out of college (I only ever lived in my father's/husband's home, never on my own), and I am currently staying home raising a child and doing all the laundry.

Can I do all this and still be a feminist in my heart and mind? Why didn't I become a doctor or a lawyer? I know I still have feminist beliefs, but am I acting out on them? Just some musings on a slow day of mothering and emptying the dishwasher.

2 comments:

Hannah said...

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/the-hazards-of-duke/8328/

This is an interesting article, only related to your life by the thread of feminism (or maybe you can find more points of connection, but none come to mind).

I think you're doing a good job.

Amanda said...

Very interesting. Originally, I feel feminists wanted to avoid men--to be better than them, not the same, so it is disappointing to watch women degrade themselves, to lower themselves to be like "the worst sort of man", to use a spinsterish phrase.