Feminism Rerailed

It was recently brought to my attention that someone published an editorial in my campus newspaper titled "Feminism Derailed" (page 11 for your curious minds) where the author discusses the backlash British physicist Matt Taylor received for wearing this shirt.

If you can't tell, it shows various blonde women wearing almost nothing in different poses. Whenever I first read the article, I found myself rolling my eyes again and again because of the ignorant, uneducated, and sometimes offensive things this author had written. After much internal debate I decided I was going to write a letter to the editor. I sat down at my desk fingers ablaze ready to completely tear this article apart when I realized I didn't know where to even begin on writing a letter to the editor. After a few Google searches, I knew all of the basics and I began. One thing I noticed is that a letter to the editor should be clear, concise, and under 300 words...my first draft was a few words short of 800.

Dammit.

So I began cutting, pasting, rewording, and omitting. Next thing I know, I was tearing my own article apart. I realized that if I wanted myself to sound educated, knowledgeable, and slightly snarky well-written, there was no way I was getting below 300 words. I settled on 450 words and was ready to submit. Sadly, the paper has already been finalized and my submission will not be published so I am sharing it with you all.

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Dear Editor,

I would like to address an article that was recently published in the Vista regarding feminism. The author expressed confusion regarding the opposition and offense taken by a group of "feminists" when a male scientist wore a shirt with females drawn in little clothing and promiscuous poses. The author was also sure to include some of his personal views on feminism as a whole. As a feminist myself, I would like to take this as an opportunity to share some information regarding feminism and discuss a few of the author’s theories written in the article.  The term “feminism” is commonly misunderstood and misinterpreted as women bashing men and wanting men to feel the same oppression that many women have felt and are still feeling. Anyone who claims or believes that this is feminism is unfortunately ignorant to the topic, as feminism is fighting for equal rights for all genders. At one point in the article the author suggests that if the tables were turned and it was a female scientist who made the discovery instead of a male and “wore a revealing outfit”, would the same backlash happen to her as it did to Taylor? The answer is no. The author is comparing apples to oranges. In one case, we have one gender wearing something that objectifies another gender. In the other case, we have one gender wearing something they are comfortable in and in no way objectifies anyone else. Additionally, that is not the culture of our society. It would be considered very wrong and very inappropriate if a female wore a shirt with men wearing so little. I felt that your author thought that because this man has does something notable, he should be pardoned for what is considered wrong. The change of culture does not and will not happen overnight. By looking at “small” issues and changing the way we view things is considered progression, something we desperately need even in 2014 (I think the author made this very apparent). In closing, I agree with only one thing the author has written. He says that there are bigger things feminists could be fighting for, and believe me when I say we are. I was member of a team that organized and dedicated an entire week to gender inequalities outside of pay wage of reproductive issues here at UCO. I would love to sit down with you and/or the author and discuss why this shirt is an issue, “bigger” fights for gender equality, and how we as individuals can stand together and fight for equality for all genders as true feminists would.

Thank you for your time,

Alex Baker, Senior at the University of Central Oklahoma

Ultimately I am so glad I did it. I was able to relieve some of the stress and frustration I had acquired by reading the article in the first place. I hope that this will cause a conversation or two to happen and that slowly the change will come. Until then, keep fighting the good fight and remember to always use your voice.