Monday, December 23, 2013

6 Gifts for a Feminist New Year


Every year I write a holiday gift list. Here's the one this year needs.

Fair and decent representation in the media

In 2014, I'd like to open a magazine without worrying about my thigh gap or my six pack. I'd like to see women of all shapes and sizes and colours represented on my TV screen and in my movie theatres. I'd like the Bechdel test to become obsolete, because of course women talk to each other in movies and of course  its not only about men. In the news, I'd like women to be treated as equals by their male counterparts and not have themselves or their opinions degraded, shamed or belittled simply because they are women. When women run for office, have babies, wear dresses, eat food or exist in the public realm, I'd love if we didn't shame their bodies, dress choices, food consumption or general behaviour based on their gender. When Hilary runs for President in 2016, I can only pray I don't read a million articles on her pantsuits, her haircuts, and how she can be so 'manly' or, conversely, so 'womanly'.

Women are not victims

Under my Christmas tree I'd like an absence of victim blaming. When a woman gets raped or abused in 2013, I'd love if we didn't hint that maybe alcohol/short skirts/flirting or, more generally, having a vagina made him do it. Lets not state that because the woman is fat/skinny/black/white/etc. she should enjoy it because no one would look at her otherwise. Please stop making the streets, stores, busses and clubs I enter into soft war zones: I can do well without the catcalling, the general harassment, the touching and the leering. I know its difficult: many men grow up being told that power and strength are the most valuable assets, that women are possessions to be taken and controlled and that their maleness is defined by their last dollar or last sexual encounter. But these things are simply not true. I promise to respect you as a being capable of the full range of human emotions; so please respect me as one too.

More female superheroes (or:A seat at the table)

When Hilary Clinton runs for the Presidency in 2016, women in the United States will rise in such unprecedented numbers, the government will have to retake the census. We need more women in visible positions of power, more women who have decision-making power: who are part of political, economic and legislative processes from their inception to their implementation and beyond. We need strong women from all walks of life to be seen as capable and powerful so that young girls can grow up knowing that women can access many different ranks, that there is no glass ceiling that impedes them, that they really can do anything, be anyone. When young girls stop wanting to be president by the time they are 15, when they fail drastically at maths and sciences due in large part to external factors, when their chief concerns turn to body image and getting a man's attention, we have failed future generations of female leaders by not showing or giving them opportunities or images of female success. And by doing this, we have failed future generation of boys and the relationships, friendships and partnerships they could be having with equally competent, intelligent, ambitious and successful women. Never underestimate the power of mentors, heroines and superheroes. (My current favorite is Qahera, a Muslim feminist superhero.)