Feminism, sheminism

Feminism talks
Reveal age gaps in thoughts, ideas
Generations change?

For my womens' studies class today, we had a slightly strange assignment: ask three people what the first three words that think of when the hear the word "feminist." Just for background, this class is conducted online, so there is only asynchronous communication in a forum. I got my answers last night, and wrote up my forum post before heading off to my other class this morning. When I had a chance to look at the other posts this afternoon, I was genuinely surprised. There was a very clear distinction between positive and negative reactions amongst my classmates, but the breakdown wasn't what you would think. Instead of there being an opposition between genders, there was a very strong opposition between generations*.

Those of the older group, especially the women, had negative thoughts about feminism. One mentioned something her brother said about all feminists being lesbians and man haters, and agreed with him. Another woman mentioned that she was all for equality "but absolutely not a feminist." To me, that is exactly what a feminist is; someone who believes in equality between men and women. I was more than a little surprised by the obvious discomfort these older women had with the term "feminist."

Among the younger posters, including the men**, were much more genial opinions. One was positively shocked that his brother-in-law used the word "dyke" to describe femininists, another was horified that his younger sister (who he mentioned was in middle school) said something about angry man eaters. One of the men acknowledged that he was a feminist, and received some rather negative feedback from some of the older female posters.

This brings up several questions for me. While I don't actually know anyone's age, why is it that the seemingly older posters have a negative reaction to feminism? Why are we accepting of the negative reactions of older men, and unhappy with the positive reactions of the younger? This generation gap puzzles me. Aren't these older posters part of an enlightened and liberated generation of women?

I will be happy to say that I am a feminist. As a female scientist, I dislike the portrayals of scientists as men. How many people know that Rosaline Franklin took the first pictures of DNA and that her lab partners, Watson and Crick, stole her work? As a student at a womens' college, I find it particularly aggravating that I, as a scientist, am not taken seriously by the faculty and administrators at my own college. As a physicist, I resent the snide comments I get from the more socially acceptable female chem and bio majors.

So my big question is, what happened here?

When did we stop caring, and when did we start again?

When will no one care about gender anymore?

*This is of course, entirely based on speculation. Those who mention children or nieces or "my 80 year-old mother" I assume are of at least one generation previous to mine. The same is true of the guy who mentioned he's a resident at a hospital and the woman who used the phrase "back when I graduated."

**Again, some speculation. Some first names are obviously masculine, so I assume they're men. There's also the mysterious Terry, who I haven't decided on yet...