Letters to the Editor: Letter on Feminisim
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Forum
To the Editors of the Mountain Echo:
The Echo's reporting of Brigid Sweeney's comments regarding the feminist movement of the 1960s evoked strong responses from a number of men and women on campus. Her comments, if accurately reported, do not resonate with the experiences and views of faculty who hold a differing account of the influence of this period's feminist movement in their lives and our society.
Many persons of Christian, Jewish and Muslim belief were drawn to feminism because of their deep conviction that all persons are made in the image of God, encouraged to develop their full human potential, and expected to critique social mores and conventions that work against such convictions. Feminism was seen as consistent with faith commitments which called all persons to both develop their talents and capabilities and use them in a vast multiplicity of ways to promote human well-being and the common good. Feminism was seen as encouraging women not to succumb to society's limiting and problematical images and ideals of physical, and often sexually provocative, beauty and very narrowly defined social roles. What drew us and many other persons to be committed feminists had absolutely nothing to do with the sexual revolution. In fact, the attraction to feminism was rooted in the desire to escape the demeaning reduction of women to sexual objects and the debilitating cultural pressures that reduced male-female relations to (as currently phrased) "'friends' with benefits." Many men and women were called to feminism because of its strong counter-cultural critique that demanded that women be taken seriously as persons of human worth and dignity deserving of respect and equal treatment. They saw feminism as deeply rooted in broader concerns of social justice that called on them to affirm the intrinsic worth and equality of all persons and to critique racism and sexism which challenged such affirmation.
To reduce such commitments to the support of moral corruption and a sexual revolution in which feminists wanted women to be just like men misrepresents and risks trivializing such strong concerns for social justice, respect, equality and human well-being. Reasonable persons may disagree about men and women's commitment to being feminists and the identification of a range of viewpoints within feminism, but the debate should more accurately characterize the basis of such commitments. To do otherwise, simply sets up a straw man argument that can so easily be dismissed.
Sincerely,
Drs. Trudy Conway, Sue Goliber, Carol Hinds, Teresa Rupp
The Echo's reporting of Brigid Sweeney's comments regarding the feminist movement of the 1960s evoked strong responses from a number of men and women on campus. Her comments, if accurately reported, do not resonate with the experiences and views of faculty who hold a differing account of the influence of this period's feminist movement in their lives and our society.
Many persons of Christian, Jewish and Muslim belief were drawn to feminism because of their deep conviction that all persons are made in the image of God, encouraged to develop their full human potential, and expected to critique social mores and conventions that work against such convictions. Feminism was seen as consistent with faith commitments which called all persons to both develop their talents and capabilities and use them in a vast multiplicity of ways to promote human well-being and the common good. Feminism was seen as encouraging women not to succumb to society's limiting and problematical images and ideals of physical, and often sexually provocative, beauty and very narrowly defined social roles. What drew us and many other persons to be committed feminists had absolutely nothing to do with the sexual revolution. In fact, the attraction to feminism was rooted in the desire to escape the demeaning reduction of women to sexual objects and the debilitating cultural pressures that reduced male-female relations to (as currently phrased) "'friends' with benefits." Many men and women were called to feminism because of its strong counter-cultural critique that demanded that women be taken seriously as persons of human worth and dignity deserving of respect and equal treatment. They saw feminism as deeply rooted in broader concerns of social justice that called on them to affirm the intrinsic worth and equality of all persons and to critique racism and sexism which challenged such affirmation.
To reduce such commitments to the support of moral corruption and a sexual revolution in which feminists wanted women to be just like men misrepresents and risks trivializing such strong concerns for social justice, respect, equality and human well-being. Reasonable persons may disagree about men and women's commitment to being feminists and the identification of a range of viewpoints within feminism, but the debate should more accurately characterize the basis of such commitments. To do otherwise, simply sets up a straw man argument that can so easily be dismissed.
Sincerely,
Drs. Trudy Conway, Sue Goliber, Carol Hinds, Teresa Rupp
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