It’s Time to Come Together

It’s been written about over and over again-the divide that remains between older and younger feminists. And I think this struggle is being nowhere more clearly pronounced than in the controversy over Ms.’s new cover featuring Barack Obama. Though I can’t speak for all college age feminists, I feel like there is a general consensus that we love Barack Obama. A lot. It’s hard to imagine that after watching his twenty-minute speech given to the Planned Parenthood convention just under a year ago, any feminist could walk away and not be inspired and comforted by the knowledge that soon our country will be led by a pro-choice, pro-woman president. Even typing those words is emotional for someone who, at 18, does not even really remember the Clinton years-only the George Bush ones. And just because we are in awe of and in love with our soon to be president does not mean we have completely lost our feminist lens. Yes, we realize that he has not appointed a proportionately equal number of women to his cabinet. Yes, we realize he won’t just come out and say he supports gay marriage. Yes, he has his faults.

But to hear the criticism given by the women whom young feminists are taught to look up to and admire of the man that is giving women of my generation hope for the first time in a very long time, is kind of hard to swallow. Ms. has been pushing the envelope since it’s inception, because, dare I say, simply publishing a feminist focused publication is pushing the envelope. And Ms., perhaps feeling the same sense of hope that my peers and I feel, felt that it was time to feature a man, a man who IS a self-proclaimed feminist. I was thrilled when I heard about the cover. So many Americans who love Barack Obama and probably feared the word feminism, can now see the two ideas as one. It’s hard to imagine this cover doing anything but strengthening the movement.

Unless you ask the old-schoolers. Yes, we understand you fought a very hard fight that won us many rights that we now take for granted. Yes, we understand that you know men can be feminists, but it’s hard for you to swallow a man being featured on the cover or OUR magazine. But to you, I say this. Relax. Breathe easy. Just for a little while, and feel the hope that we feel. Feel the excitement that we feel. We have a president who calls himself a feminist. Feel the excitement. Feel the hope.