Hannah Ryan
Staff Writer
As a student of English Literature, my reading list includes several texts by “feminist” authors. During my half-hearted perusal of these articles, it has occurred to me, on several occasions, that I am the very antithesis of everything these writers stood for. But in this day and age, is that really such an awful thing? Society has changed, and the way we view ourselves – and others – along with it. I’m curious about the role that feminism plays in the life of the modern teenage girl and whether (if we’re honest with ourselves) we really give a crap about the struggles of our strong, independent ancestors.
It’s a well-known fact that the idea of “feminism” has more bad than good connotations, especially among adolescents. We’ve all poked fun at the associated bra-burning, hairy-legged antics at some point or another. It has gotten to the stage where many men will roll their eyes at the mention of “women’s rights” and young women, too, will bristle when being preached at to “respect” themselves. It is this negative reputation that has led to a sort of defiant backlash from disgruntled (primarily male) youths – and the tidal wave of feminism jokes that has resulted. I’m not going to lie and say that I haven’t sniggered at the occasional tasteless kitchen joke on Facebook. Don’t you deny it! It has embedded itself into our youth culture. The fact that feminism, as a political movement, has become the subject of such ridicule and derision proves that it is no longer as relevant to the younger generation. We have devised our own strategy of dealing with gender issues: humour. “Girls make sandwiches, guys play COD”. But if a guy ever seriously told me to “get back in the kitchen”, he’d be greeted with a lot more than a sigh and a disdainful shake of the head.
So how relevant is feminism to the mindset of the modern teenage girl? Well, half of us are crying and stuffing our faces full of Galaxy as we draw anxious parallels between ourselves and Bella Swan – who has been labelled the biggest setback to feminism, by the way, since the sandwich itself. The other half are grinding and fist-pumping our way along to Beyoncé’s “Who Run Da World?” The truth is, none of this is about feminism. It’s about the image and the beliefs we want to portray, how we want to be seen by those around us. For some girls, no make-up, “natural” beauty is the key; for others, it’s all about the props. It comes down to individual taste. I personally like Twilight’s message (believe it or not, there are several, if you only read closely – and I mean closely – enough) that it’s okay to be non-descript – that a beautiful, sensitive soul may still pick you out of a crowd and fall in love with you, etc., etc. – in other words, that you don’t have to look for attention to get it. But I also can’t get enough of Katniss Everdeen’s character in the Hunger Games. She makes me wish I were that handy with a bow and arrow, that I’d have some hope of survival in a place without an Aldi or a Costa nearby. So both characters have something to offer; there’s no right and wrong.
But then, feminism isn’t just about image; it’s about equality. It is this aspect that I think most people – young women in particular – do approve of. I was intrigued recently by an article in the University Times about a “Slut Walk” which took place in Galway, a protest which criticises the idea that women are victimised because of their clothing. Students of philosophy will understand the importance of challenging hegemonic ideas- ideas that have become so deeply-entrenched in society that we have ceased even to question them. When did it become our responsibility to prevent rape? How are the clothes that young women wear going to make the streets any safer? The word “slut”, to my mind, epitomises the transformation of “victim” into “criminal”. We are told “If you dress this way, you will be raped.” Victims are told “Well, if you hadn’t done THAT, it wouldn’t have happened.” How about, instead of focusing on what we shouldn’t be doing, we focus on the root of the problem: the attackers themselves? “Hey you, don’t be a rapist.” Even this would seem far more beneficial in my eyes. After all, feminism isn’t just about women anymore; it’s about equality. We should all, at the very least, be able to dress the way we want to, without having our judgement and morals questioned.
In the everyday experiences of the teenage girl, feminism rarely enters the equation. For example, the dance-floor: a place of complete equality, where all disparities of gender are abandoned. You get lucky or you don’t; it’s that simple. Some guys will argue and moan, when you arrive home after a successful “shift race”, that it’s “Waaaaaay easier for girls to get the shift.” I say it’s about effort and, admittedly, no small amount of perseverance. Maybe girls just put in more prep-work, ever think about that? On another note, we find it perfectly acceptable – and in no way demeaning – to produce the occasional baked good for that guys’ apartment next door (as long, of course, as it’s of our own accord). It comes down to the simple fact that we are more inclined towards culinary success. If they happened to be more capable in the kitchen, we would happily eat their cooking. As it is, they are not. Play to your strengths, people. (However, I will draw the line at cleaning their disgusting kitchen).
I know, I know – a lot of you are probably tutting and muttering at your computer screens, “Betty Friedan wouldn’t stand for this crap!” But there’s no denying that teenagers nowadays are far less focused on gender discrepancies and far more concerned with enjoying themselves. I’m not saying that feminism as a political movement is no longer necessary- a glance at the comments on most online articles will disprove that. However young women now enjoy the same freedom of self-expression that men do, so that feminism itself has become largely irrelevant in the life of the teenage girl. There can be no denying that our generation has disregarded many of the principles of our predecessors, but it strikes me that the results, all in all, have been pretty successful.
