A renowned feminist author challenged women to seize power in a speech Friday night.
Naomi Wolf, author of two popular books about women's roles in society, "The Beauty Myth" and "Fire with Fire," spoke to about 1,000 people in Page Auditorium. Wolf's speech was the keynote address of a two-day symposium celebrating the women's studies program's 10th anniversary.
In her address, Wolf said that political events, beginning with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' controversial confirmation hearings in Oct. 1991, have brought renewed attention to issues of female power and political equality.
A law professor from Oklahoma State University, Anita Hill, accused Thomas of sexually harassing her when she worked for him. The Senate confirmed Thomas by a narrow margin.
"Since [the hearings], we've seen our first pro-women president, new statutes against harassment in the workplace [and] women fly combat planes," she said.
Wolf said women, who now comprise 54 percent of the electorate, must take advantage of their power as voters.
However, before women can fully utilize their power, they most overcome obstacles that have been placed before them, Wolf said.
Some women have low self-esteem dating from their upbringing, Wolf said. Beginning in their adolescence, girls do not learn the leadership and cooperation skills that boys do.
"Women have been deprived of images of women winning," she said.
The tide may be changing, she said: there have been more positive portrayals of women in the media recently, including advertisements for athletic shoes and films such as "A League of Their Own."
Wolf also warned women against merely seeking revenge for the obstacles which limit their power.
"There is a cathartic pleasure in saying you're not going to take it anymore," she said, citing the case of Lorena Bobbitt, who sliced off her husband's penis after she accused him of raping her. But she cautioned that such rage rarely can be used productively.
"There's very little you can do with rage and resentment when you're in a state of victimization, so you turn it against yourself," she said. Eating disorders and other maladies often result from this attitude.
Feelings of revenge are best funneled into political and economic channels, Wolf said, citing Sen. Dianne Feinstein as an example. Feinstein is sitting on the Senate committee reviewing allegations that Sen. Bob Packwood sexually harassed women who worked for him.
All of the activities geared toward promoting women's causes are feminist, Wolf said, but many women are hesitant to label themselves with the term because of its negative connotations.
"Only a minority of women are willing to call themselves the f-word," Wolf said. "There's a rift between the majority of the female population and the movement that's representing them. Many women long for a movement that can speak to them but feel alienated by the feminist movement."
Feminism has become too overloaded with ideologies, Wolf said.
"Feminism is now a checklist of attitudes. People feel they have to swallow the whole package or else be rejected by the movement. This betrays the best definition of feminism, a civil rights movement," she said.
Feminism should only be invoked concerning broad issues such as pay equity and increased funding for breast cancer research, instead of being used to promote divisive issues, Wolf said.
Instead of considering their sex a detriment to their well-being, women also must convert to "power feminism," a more open-minded, sexually tolerant form of feminism that allows women to revel in their femininity, Wolf said.
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