Feminism: Essential Questions

In the recent post Feminism Over the Phone, fellow Feministing blogger Barley Jane describes her experience talking with a younger cousin who remains skeptical of feminism and the whole idea that women are oppressed at all, even though she’s in a college course learning about these issues.  I think many of us could relate to the experience. It is frustrating and borderline bizarre that many women just don’t seem to understand why feminism is good and necessary, even when they are reading the works of our best and brightest.  I am suggesting that this is not the fault of other women, but of us feminists. Thus, some questions:

Why have we failed to convince or motivate most women to become feminists? 

What is fundamentally amiss with our feminist ideologies that they are so widely unappealing or unconvincing?

Of course we all immediately think that the problem is not with us, it is with them. They are misogynist, their belief system is based on patriarchy, they are dimwits and shortsighted. But why haven’t we succeeded in converting the misogynist, in dismantling patriarchy, in demonstrating the truth?  Is that not our task as feminists? It is clear that the barriers are complex, but are we not better than barriers? If our ideas do not ring true, can it be that our ideas are just not that powerful? 

If a student dismisses the women’s movement, is that their personal failure or ours?

A thoughtful blogger commented that exposure to women’s ideas, literature, and academic work is limited. This is true, and surely more people would be engaged in the work of feminism if women were more visible or widely read. But why such a strong connection between feminism and academia?  Does it seem to anyone else that “becoming a feminist” largely fits under the umbrella of the undergraduate educational experience? Why should feminism be mainly the domain of college-educated women? And if our movement is only accessible and convincing when encountered in literature and academic work, doesn’t that mean we are failing?

I suggest that the term “feminism” only applies to women as understood academically.  

Maybe that is another post.