Feminism Is...

We seek to provide a safe place for discussion, empowerment and action as it pertains to inequality and the impact it has on both women and men.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fearless Feminist Photo Contest

So these are two of the photographs that I entered into the Fearless Feminist Photo Contest:


"Change"



"It starts here"

I thought I'd talk a little about each one.

In the first photograph I have a Susan B. Anthony dollar in the midst of other coins. As we all know, those on U.S. currency are mostly past presidents of the United States, who all happen to be men, so I thought it was really cool that we had an influental figure in the Women's Movement on U.S. currency. For those of you who are not familiar with Susan B. Anthony, she was a civil rights leader in the 19th century. She fought for women's rights, especially for women's right to vote. Favorite words by her: "Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less"

What inspired me to take the second picture?
I was thinking about how I grew up and what I learned in school, and looking back I realized that I really did not have an education on women's issues, and I definitely wish that I had. I think that the only way we can empower girls is through teaching them as early as possible pivotal moments in history ESPECIALLY the women's movement. I really don't remember learning anything about the women's movement in elementary school or even in high school and that makes me angry! It was not until college that I took a women studies course and I had learned so much, and I had never felt more empowered. It would have been great feeling empowered at a younger age, it would have definitely helped me out a lot more growing up.
Also, I think that we can start empowering young girls even before they are born by not following gender stereotypes (i.e. boys wear blue jeans, girls wear pink dresses.) Parents have to stop creating expectations (based on gender stereotypes) for their children, and let their children pick what they want to wear, what they want to play with, and who they want to be.

- Mari B.

No comments:

Post a Comment