I grew up in New York City, and relatively recently moved to Baltimore County. Something I've been coming to understand a little more every month is the difference between my understanding of what feminism is and what other people's understanding of what feminism is. To me, being a feminist means being not-sexist, and thinking that sexist things are unfortunate, in much the same way that being a normal person means being not-racist and thinking that racist things are unfortunate. It has been my experience that sexism, like homophobia and Islamophobia but unlike racism or ableism, is often accepted in quasi-professional circles. I think that none of those things should be accepted.
I understand that many people's perspective of feminism is that it is in some ways man-hating or implies the superiority of women. As there is no official Feminist Institution with a Feminist Charter giving out Feminist membership cards/tattoos, I understand that what people think feminism is will be dictated by the literature and rhetoric with which they grew up.
I think that the real issue is not that people are 'not feminists' but that people dismiss legitimate issues concerning equity as 'being feminist'. There is an attitude that caring is for 'social justice people' and that real technical people don't concern themselves with these issues. I personally think that it would be positive for people in technical fields not to dismiss a critical approach to these issues. I personally think the 'he' thing is somewhat damaging (as is the tone in the department that 'easy problems are for girls' and the charge leveled at me by my TA that 'you only got to skip prerequisites because you have tits') but I am open to disagreement on the subject. Refusing to be critical about sexist or potentially sexist perspectives at all because feminism is an ideology you don't like is a far deeper problem.
I grew up in New York City, and relatively recently moved to Baltimore County. Something I've been coming to understand a little more every month is the difference between my understanding of what feminism is and what other people's understanding of what feminism is. To me, being a feminist means being not-sexist, and thinking that sexist things are unfortunate, in much the same way that being a normal person means being not-racist and thinking that racist things are unfortunate. It has been my experience that sexism, like homophobia and Islamophobia but unlike racism or ableism, is often accepted in quasi-professional circles. I think that none of those things should be accepted. I understand that many people's perspective of feminism is that it is in some ways man-hating or implies the superiority of women. As there is no official Feminist Institution with a Feminist Charter giving out Feminist membership cards/tattoos, I understand that what people think feminism is will be dictated by the literature and rhetoric with which they grew up. I think that the real issue is not that people are 'not feminists' but that people dismiss legitimate issues concerning equity as 'being feminist'. There is an attitude that caring is for 'social justice people' and that real technical people don't concern themselves with these issues. I personally think that it would be positive for people in technical fields not to dismiss a critical approach to these issues. I personally think the 'he' thing is somewhat damaging (as is the tone in the department that 'easy problems are for girls' and the charge leveled at me by my TA that 'you only got to skip prerequisites because you have tits') but I am open to disagreement on the subject. Refusing to be critical about sexist or potentially sexist perspectives at all because feminism is an ideology you don't like is a far deeper problem.