Feminism

Amidst my poetry unit, I decided to push my progressive agenda. Last summer, Jennifer had given me a packet of lesson plans developed by the United Nations. Though most of it was useless to an English teacher, there was a poem about gender that stood out to me.

"Today"
Denise Levertov

Just feeling human
the way a cloud's a cloud
tinged with blue or
walking slow across the sky or
hastening,
but not a Thursday cloud
formed for the anxious glance of Thursday people,
simply a cloud, whose particles
may fall Tuesday, just as well,
on anyone's springy hair, on any
taciturn winter buds it chooses
and no one say no. Human,
free for the day from roles assigned,
each with its emblem
cluttering the right hand,
scroll of words in the left.
Human, a kind of element, a fire,
an air, today.
Floating up to you I enter, or you
enter me. Or imagine
a house without doors,
open to sun or snowdrifts.

It's actually a remarkably difficult poem: I'm not sure even I understand it completely. The metaphor of being just a cloud makes sense, I suppose, but I think there are better ways to convey the message, particularly when there's no such thing as a "Thursday cloud." The part I like is when it gets to "Human, free for the day from roles assigned" since I'm all about the genderless existence. The state of being a human before a man/woman/etc is beautiful to me.

Unsurprisingly, the students didn't understand the poem or the gender connection. In actuality, the poem is about all societal labels and not just gender, but since it's paired with an article on gender inequality, I hoped they might be able to put that much together. After a lengthy period of time without a decent interpretation, I tried to provide a clue: "What if I told you that the poet is a feminist?" "What's a feminist?" someone responded. "What is a feminist?" I posed back to the class. The responses were varied, but all frightening. "They think they're better than men." "Bitches." "Don't they not shave their legs?"

I need a more accurate definition of feminism, so I picked up a dictionary and read to them that feminism is the movement for equality between men and women. I actually stole this impromptu lesson from my high school U.S. History teacher. She was widely renowned as a "feminist" and I recall thinking it was a dirty word at that age, too. When someone expressed a similar sentiment in class, she immediately went to the dictionary and pointed out what it really meant. Even if we were still skeptical about feminism, we didn't want to cop to thinking men and women aren't equal.

Back in present time, I asked, "So can men be feminists?" "Gay men can," someone guessed. Sigh. That really undermined the next statement that I tried. "Yes, men can be feminists -- of all sexual orientations -- and I consider myself a feminist. [In actuality, I never use the term to apply to myself since I feel the word suggests Feminists are people who believe that all genders should be equal. And since I believe that, I am a feminist. All right, so who else here is a feminist?" I got a couple of reluctant hands. "You don't think men and women are equal?" I pressed, anticipating at least the girls to concede this point, but it didn't happen.

These kids have some pretty antiquated views toward women.

Student: "How can they be equal? Men are stronger."
Me: "Maybe on average they're stronger, but there are some women who are stronger. I know for a fact that are women stronger than me."
Student: "But what if your life is at stake? Do you want a woman to really be a fireman."
Me: "Sure, a woman could be a firefighter. If she's strong enough to do the job, she should be hired, right?"
Student: "But no woman is strong enough."
Me: "Have you seen American Gladiators? You don't think one of those big, strong women couldn't be a firefighter?"
Student: "I'm not letting them save me!"

Student: "We already are equal, this is stupid."
Me: "I think we assume we're equal because we've made a lot of progress, but there's still plenty of inequalities."
Student: "Like...?"
Me: "Women don't make equal wages to men. Women aren't elected to political office at equal rates. We've never had a female president."
Student: "Would you really want a woman as a president?"
Me: "Of course. If half our population is women, then half of our presidents should be women."
Student: "But women are too emotional. They can't lead us through war."
Me: "You say that as though all women are emotional, and that no men are. Plus, the job of president shouldn't be to take us to war all of the time."
Student: "Women cry all of the time."
Me: "Sigh."

In all of my classes, I only have one white female student, who we'll call Erin. She's blonde and fits the airhead blonde stereotype almost too well. That said, Erin also is one of my best students. She completes all of her homework and studies, putting her at a solid A, in spite of her airhead moments. In some ways, I respect Erin because she's the only one too take an active role in the discussion about women's rights. In other ways, I want to vomit at how quickly she attempts to limit her own rights.

Erin: "I think men are better with money. When I need money, I go to my dad. My mom has to ask for money like me."
Me: "Okay, well that might be the setup in your household, but lots of families have different systems."
Erin: "But that's the way it's supposed to be! Daddies work and mommies stay at home."
Me: "What if a mommy wants to work, she should be able to, right?"
Erin: "I don't know... maybe. But a mommy's a mommy!"

One of the biggest obstacles was trying to establish the idea that feminism does not deny a woman the right to stay home and be a mommy, but instead gives her the option to do something else if she so chooses. The class' ultimate sentiment was something along the lines of "I guess, but why would you want to?" I took the slight amount of progress I could get, but wanted to hear what Erin felt before moving on.

Me: "Do you believe in equality for the genders now?"
Erin: "Um... I have to ask my Dad. I believe what he tells me to believe."

I shit you not, that's what she, verbatim. In some ways it shows a certain level of awareness, since at least she is upfront about how she forms her opinions, but certainly not total awareness, as she seems to not recognize the irony of deferring her beliefs to her male superior. It might be most frustrating since she, out of anyone, with her high grades, will actually make it to a prestigious college. She will take her education and... be a mommy. For the record, that's great, but I also wish I had a top female student who aspired to one day be the president.

As discouraging as this day was, I hold out hope; I thought feminism was crap throughout high school, and I've certainly come around on the topic. I'm crossing my fingers that life experience will help these kids to grow -- maybe Erin will one day be our first airhead president!