gawker.com: "I feel very strongly about that: an alternative to the idea of women being a certain way." Janet Weiss, the drummer for Sleater-Kinney, was sitting on a leather green swivel chair three feet in front of me as she responded to a question from Broad City's Ilana Glazer about feminism. "The quiet, demure, soft-spoken sort of stereotype. The three of us get on stage and we really try to break that down and give people who feel differently than that a place to go and a place to express themselves."
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I appreciate women trying to create an impact and saying that no one should be judged on their identity. And to a certain extent I think women are actually changing how our world views them. However, through my own observations of women, they seems to expect some kind of responds by doing one dominate thing that makes them happen, and then going back into this stereotypical "I'm a girl" state of mind. This article is right in women should find that strength, but they need to find it and use it every single day. Even here at CMU I see women asking instead of doing, being behind the sight lines, speaking their mind but not acting upon them. To so degree, there is a limit to what they should and shouldn't do, but most women don't seem to comprehend why men put them in the stereotypical view point that they're a "girl" and nothing else. Talent is talent and if you're committed it will show, and if people are judging you because of your gender, then you need to tell someone with higher authority that you're being treated poorly. With the world we live in now, I don't see why that can't be a possible.
Before I start my comment, Broad City is quite possibly the best new show on television and deserves your viewership, so I was ecstatic to see them interviewing the women in the article.
Honestly, we're going to get rid of the "we need more girls" shtick when we actually get more women in male-dominated fields. Please don't tell me that women are doing it for the attention. Let me tell you: we're not. Entering a boys-club is not something we want to because we "think it would be fun to overthrow the patriarchy". No, we actually care about the job we're doing and expect the same about of respect that everyone else in the profession gets. Female artists are making art because they want to, because they feel something in themselves that drives them to create masterpieces. One great line was the question, "Nobody's ever asked the question, 'Why did you decide to be in a band with all men?'" Because it's so true. Yes, we need more female role models in all aspects of the arts industry, but we need their gender to not be the only remarkable aspect of them.
Women are definitely changing the way that people view them, but in my opinion, it’s not fast enough. Yes, we are going into more and more male dominated areas of expertise, but I don’t think that really makes a difference. Similarly to Katie’s comment, I don’t think anyone strives to go into a male dominated field with the intention of destroying the patriarchy that has been created over the centuries. I think that people go into those fields because they genuinely enjoy what they are doing. But I wish that gender didn’t make a difference in any of these issues. I’m quite tired of being pointed at for being a successful woman for getting into college and going into a risky job line. Yes, I am a woman, but I don’t think that should make me special for what I’m doing. I think everyone in their own way is successful for doing what they want to do. I hope that one day the world becomes gender blind in a way.
This article is pretty cool and I especially like the general message of it, that being a woman is not about making yourself more of a man. And this message resonates greatly in the Nicki Manaj section of the article, which is totally awesome, by the way. The author goes from discussing the inner workings and desires of a female rock band and TV hosts to her own expectations of Nicki Manaj’s new album and her realization that she herself was victim to the small frame of mind that the male society was placing her in. She essentially wanted Manaj to ‘man up’ and come out with a powerful, society smashing album. But instead, Manaj’s new album was about heartbreak and emotion, which she soon came to realize is powerful in its own way. She realized, as we all should, that being strong and formidable is not what makes us powerful and important. Acceptance and self worth is what makes a woman powerful, not ‘man power’.
So, first of all, I've got a confession: I've never listened to Sleater-Kinney. Yes, I've watched all of Broad City's episodes, but the only place I know Carrie Brownstein is from Portlandia. That off my chest, I am glad I now know where else Brownstein comes from and I've got a new band to look up and perhaps fall in love with. I feel a struggle very similar to Dayna Evans', the need to boost women by only and specifically talking about the achievements of women, by only writing about women, by only speaking up for women. And that's all right -- especially when it makes me feel better. But I am starting to understand that my fight as a feminist isn't only about raising women up and making them (and myself) feel better in our skins. It's also about normalizing the idea that no, women aren't men, and yes, we don't need to conform to a boy's club to be powerful and respected. Separating ourselves from that and simply displaying our very human, very real emotions (as Minaj does in her album, very smartly pointed out by Evans) women gain the power we need to have equality.
It is complicated to acknowledge that women are accomplishing something noteworthy and empowering without having that narrative capitalize their artistic presence. While raising awareness that many fields are still an old boys club is admirable and necessary for change, trivializing or undermining someone's work by making their minority perspective the primary focus is also counter productive.
I have noticed that powerful women are torn down if their work or presence is somehow 'not masculine." If a powerful women shows any signs of nuanced experience or "feminine qualities" she is written off as having been a poser. For example Hilary Clinton shedding a few tears during a speech--suddenly she is no longer fit to lead but weak and unstable. We, as a culture, don't see stereotypical "feminine" qualities as conductive to leadership or innovation. That has to change, women have to been seen as nuanced individuals.
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I have always had a conflicting relationship with feminism: while I strongly support the idea that women are equal to men in every aspect and should be treated thus, erasing the standards that had held them chained in decades past, my own reserved and soft personality tends to give others the impression that I am more of the stereotypical “girl.” So, when feminism comes out in the extreme form, women advocating that the only way to change women’s status in society is by acting the exact opposite (loud, forceful) I become uncomfortable. The band Broad City represents this perfectly. If I went to a concert where women rockers were incessantly screaming the woes of the female sex in my face, I would not feel welcome to join in their fight for equality; instead, I would be afraid that they might judge me, seemingly quiet me, as representing the opposite of what a progressive woman should embody. This made me think of a show I saw over break, The Heidi Chronicles, where college women formed a feminist group based on acceptance of all types of women. This is the ideal form of feminism, in my opinion. Making all women, no matter her personality, feel safe.
54101A, Andrew Smith Acting I, Kate Rosenberg
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