I was reminded of these words and the reasons for the Faces of Feminism project at a Monday night reception for those involved. These events always energize and inspire me even, as they remind me that feminism and actions based on feminist views are still very much needed in our society.
Perhaps I should start this with my definition of feminism: "Feminism is advocating for equality regardless of gender. It is the understanding that all PEOPLE are created equal and the actions that stem from that understanding, whether those include actively and openly fighting for equality or quietly resisting stereotypes."
Despite what some may think, there are certainly still many obstacles to equality. I can speak mostly to those in science, but they exist in all fields. Let's start with cultural stereotypes. Ask any child to draw a scientist, and chances are that the picture will be of a man. Request a picture of a hospital scene, and I'd bet that the doctor will be a man and the nurse a woman. Try CEO of a company or a lawyer.
Once children reach school, many girls are discouraged from pursuing math and science, while boys are encouraged. How many women do you know who will simply state that they are bad at math? How many men? In college, many classes, especially in math and science, are considered "weed-out" classes, encouraging competition. In general, men are encouraged to compete from an early age, while women are taught to be cooperative. Thus, competition tends to turn off women more than men.
(As an aside, remember the discussions in The Chronicle on the lack of female leadership in undergraduate student government last year? Many female leaders I talked to said that they didn't want to run because of the competitive nature of the campaigns.)
The women who do make it to graduate school still face challenges that men don't. Men are socialized to speak up, put ideas out there, right or wrong, a skill rewarded in science. In general, women are more likely to wait to speak up until they absolutely know that they're right. Women are also much more sensitive to negative feedback, and much of the feedback grad students receive is critical, from paper reviews to comments on presentations.
Women's tendancy to be more sensitive to criticism became very clear in the results of the recent Duke Women's Initiative. Students' confidence levels drop soon after entering Duke, and the magnitude of that drop is much more significant for women.
You might think that beyond graduate school, there would be such demand for female faculty members that it would be easy to find jobs and reach tenure. Unfortunately, there is still very noticeable discrimination in many departments.
Even though plenty of women are entering graduate school, many don't make it to tenure. Several departments have more female than male graduate students, but very few female faculty. At least one department I know has tenured several men but has yet to tenure a woman from its own ranks (except for a case in which one woman sued for tenure and won but decided not to stay at Duke).
This doesn't even bring in the childcare issue that many female faculty face. Administrators, among others, have told me that having children while on the faculty slows down a woman's productivity, so that even those women who show great promise as new faculty are less likely to be seen as superstars seven years later if they've taken time to have children. Parenting does not seem to affect the careers of men in nearly as dramatic a way.
The 1999 Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT showed that in many departments, tenured female faculty often felt marginalized and faced differences from men in salary, space, awards and resources. Women in science face challenges at all levels.
These issues are relevant to all women, not just those in science. One speaker at the Graduate and Professional Women's Network just last week told attendees that when she was pursuing her Ph.D. in business, she was told that she couldn't be given an internship because they had to be given to the men, since men had to support their families. These attitudes are still around today and likely to affect women in all fields at some point in their careers.
So: "I am a feminist and- I firmly oppose discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, socio-economic status, age or place of origin. I resist stereotypes and prejudice, speak up when I observe actions or comments that promote inequity and actively work to oppose bias in my community and beyond."
Check out the Faces of Feminism at the old Perk and update your views on feminism and feminists.
Heather Dean is a graduate student in neurobiology. Her column runs every other Wednesday.
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