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THE GUILFORD IAN
Feminism: Not Just a Female Issue
Sarah Black
Guest Writer
The impetus of this article lies in the
reactions to feminism that I have observed
here at Guilford. To b -specific, it
stems from one particularly incident.
I was taking, with a friend, about a
project relating to feminism that I was to be
presenting to my IDS class. He grunted
knowingly and replied that he understood
feminism and proceeded to equate the fe
male liberation movement with male bash
ing.
Unfortunately, I have discerned this at
titude among other men here, too. Now, I
consider myself to be a feminist, and I do not
hate men. Indeed, none of the other women
that I know who are feminists hate men
either. The problem here seems to be a
singular lack of information.
To begin with, let us examine the under
lying beliefs of feminism. The American
Heritage Dictionary defines feminism as the
"advocacy of the political, social, and eco
nomic equality of men and women." It is,
perhaps less than eloquent, but it touches on
an important idea namely that feminism
is not a fight for female supremacy, but
rather, the struggle for female equality.
Although there will always be women
who use the feminist movement to legiti
mize their own sexism, it is important to
remember that this is not the stance of most
people involved.
Vegetarianism and feminism mix well
>- continued from page 3
undigested, rotting meat is found in surpris
ing quantity in our intestines after we die.
Nor is meat necessary for strength. In fact,
studies have been done in which vegetarian
athletes have shown longer physical endur
ance under many conditions than meat-eat
ing ones. Nonetheless, meat-eating has come
to symbolize power and masculinity in our
society.
"My becoming a feminist had seemingly
little relationship to my vegetarianism... now
I understand how and why they are inti
mately connected..." (paraphrase from Carol
Adams). When I began studying feminism,
I began to realize how dependent meat
eating and sexism are upon each other. And
how they bring with them racism, classi
cism, homophobia, and other systematic
subjugation of what is considered "Other"
than the norm. And this is not a new concept.
Women in feminism have been connected
with vegetarianism since at least the 1800s,
and can perhaps be traced back to a prehis
toric civilization in which a vegetarian diet
was the norm, and in which "survival of the
fittest" could have implied a strength to feed,
nurture, and heal, rather than a strength to
dominate over and to kill.
Our participation in the food chain re
quires us to use this intellect we claim differ-
Another frequent misconception that I
have found here at Guilford about the femi
nist movement is that only men are capable
of being sexist.
From my own personal experience I
know that for every male chauvinist there is
a female one, too. On the surface this can
appear to be an oxymoron. However, it is
not. There have been countless occasions
that I have been told by other women that I
was not capable of doing something because
I was a woman.
The flip side of this errant idea is the
belief that only women can be feminists.
This is not only false but damaging to the
movement as a whole. It is my opinion that
the only way to achieve complete equality
with men, is to work with them. Without
mutual cooperation the ideal of equality that
the movement hopes to achieve will remain
a dream.
Men have a stake in the feminist move
ment also. If the movement succeeds, it will
liberate men from stifling gender stereo
types, too. Society will no longer demand
that a man behave like Tarzan and a woman
behave like Jane. Men and women will be
judged on the basis of their personality and
abilities and not by their sex.
Men, like women, have been entrapped
by the Cult of Domesticity. This philosophy
suggests that men must be all powerful,
aggressive and dominating providers. The
ability of men to escape this stereotype
hinges on the ability of women to free them
entiates us from non-humans to realizes that
we do not have to eat animals, and in fact are
degrading ourselves and our environment
by doing so. We are assuming that non
humans, by definition, should be controlled
and used for our purposes precisely as a
result of their differences from us (they are
not sentient, they do not have souls, what
ever).
This type of "Otherness" thinking makes
it easy for us to subjugate whoever does not
fall into the"normal" human category, which
is, realistically, the white male.
Also, accepting this type of abuse, torture,
and violence toward non-humans facilitates
its acceptance toward humans. There are
many connections to be made between meat
eating societies and their violence within
society. A common justification battered
women give as to why the husbands beats
them is that they failed to put meat on the
table.
I see a link between systematic oppres
sion on a human level, and systematic op
pression on a non-human level, and I don't
think we can speak of global liberation while
ignoring the suffering on our plates.
Whether or not you agree with my posi
tion, it seems that given the many and varied
reasons for becoming a vegetarian, the de
fense of one's dietary habits would be more
appropriately left to the meat eater.
Perspectives
selves from their corresponding stereotype.
Therefore, it is safe to presume that men
have a direct interest in seeing the female
liberation movement succeed.
It is galling that in a country that pro
fesses to be a bastion of freedom that I, a tax
paying American citizen, should be dis
criminated against because of my gender. It
sickens me that my movements are limited
I cannot go out to a restaurant at 10 p.m.
without fear of sexual harassment, or worse,
rape. I am told, by the media, that if I am
raped it is my fault because I was wearing a
short skirt or, God forbid, had flirted with
the offender.
The mere idea that I am somehow infe
rior to men because of my sex is not only
offensive but ridiculous. Yet the point of
this editorial was not to catalogue the crimes
committed against me as a woman, but to
point out that the male perpetrators of these
offenses are hurting themselves, too.
Feminism, if successful, will liberate
both males and females from constricting
and debilitating gender stereotypes. I will
briefly indulge myself in a cliche and say
that I hope that one day people will not be
judged by their gender, but by, in the famous
words of Dr. Martin Luther King, "the con
tent of their character." Yet this dream will
remain just that, a dream, if men and women
do not cooperate with one another to combat
sexism in its every form.
FURTHER READING
Environmental and health issues:
Diet for a New America. John Robbins.
Animal rights:
Animal Liberation. Peter Singer.
Feminism and vegetarianism:
The Sexual Politics of Meat. Carol J. Adams
Writers Needed
for death penalty forum
Chris Ward x 3293
Corrections
In the interest of getting the story correct, The Guilfordian compiles corrections of errors
in previous issues in this space. The Guilfordian regrets all errors that happen.
In the Nov. 8 issue, The Guilfordian inaccurately reported that the Justice and Policy
Studies Department supplied the highest percentage of A's and B's among the departments
on campus. JPS does not rank as the hightest provider of A' s and B' s but is one of the highest.
Also in the Nov. 8 issue, Heinz Seltzmann's phone number was incorrectly listed in the
computer services announcement. His phone number is ext. 2339. Also in the same
announcement, Kim Johnson's number was incorrectly listed. That number is ext. 3976.
Contact:
November 15, 1991
Cambodia
>► continued from page 2
overthorwing the Khmer Rouge and
resisting the Vietnamization of the
Cambodian people.
Finally, after 21 years of insur
rection, genocide, and war, the right
ful ruler of Cambodia Prince Sihanou
has returned to his battered country.
With the announcement that free elec
tions will be held in 1993, a real hope
for democracy has finally arisen in
Cambodia.
However, the dreaded Khmer
Rouge have returned to the political
scene. These murderous self-pro
claimed nationalists, supported by
the People's Republic of China since
the earliest days of the civil war, have
demanded a position in the new coa
lition government that will rule the
nation for the next two years.
Pol Pot, the eternal villian, is back
with his blood-drenched cronies. The
people of Cambodia will never for
get the atrocities committed in the
name of Khmer Rouge, and Pol Pot's
group is still very much alive. Re
ports from the coutnryside state that
the Khmer Rouge have stockpiled
weapons in with certain backing from
China, would have a relatively simple
time of overthrowing the disorga
nized national forces.
Instead of allowing the Khmer
Rouge to regain their power base in
the current disorganized political
arena, the people of Cambodia must
support the efforts of Prince Sihanouk
and the Khmer People's National
Liberation Front to suppress these
butchers. Peace must be allowed to
take hold in Cambodia before being
prematurely halted by the resurgent
Khmer Rouge.
If the hopes of the Cambodian
people for their first peace since 1970
is to become a reality, the democratic
forces of Cambodia must unite to
crush the Kmer Rouge before the
killing fields again dot the Cambo
dian countryside.