rad

In tuesday's class we discussed the differing paradigms of feminism. One of the notable differences between radical feminism and liberal feminism is that the former believes they must work outside the system in order to instigate change. They believe that since this is a inherently patriarchal world, simply changing the laws in place won't accomplish anything, we must re-program our society into a completely different way of thinking. Initially I was unsure of who I believed to be correct. At first glance it appears as if those who have been working inside the system have accomplished a lot; equal pay for women, voting rights etc. But after reading this articles I've begun to rethink my initial assessment. The three works we read for tomorrow were written quite a long time ago. A few of these women's dreams have come true, but the truth remains that women are still not treated as equals, exemplified by the subject of this course and the discussion/debates we partake in. There is still much work to be done. But how is that possible, after all this time that the issue remains prevalent? It appears to me that the radical feminist were right. We can change laws, but that will not change the rebirth of the same mindset. Men may go along with the "idea" of treating women as equals, but how many of them actually believe in this idea? I guess the problem remains that the radical feminists have a much more difficult time creating concrete change since its not easy to work outside the system we have in place. 

I, like emily, enjoyed the "Aint I a woman?" speech. I remember my 6th grade english teacher reading it to us all that time ago. Obviously my interpretation and response to the speech then is quite different that it is now, having gone through adolescents and had some experience in the "real world". This may be cliche to say, but there aren't enough conversations such as this in todays world. I'm starting to understand a bit more why Levy is so disappointed in our generation's outlet for "rebellion" ...