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Feminism is about humanity, not domination
OPINION
Nicole
Knstai
Image of
feminism
suffers from a
bad reputation,
in part because
of societal
misconceptions
My first apartment was a com
plete dump. Bass boomed
through thin walls.
Every time someone
ran upstairs, the entire build
ing quivered. But the most
unnerving part of my liv
ing environment was
not the structure of
the building itself. It
was living above
members of the
Lane Community
College baseball
team. At first, I
tried not to pre
judge them as
stereotypical
“dumb jocks.”
They wouldn’t
fall into that
category until
at least four
hours later.
The first night,
I slept for one
hour. The baseball
players played rap
loudly all night long.
I could audibly hear
one or mem rerer to ms
“bitch." The
girlfriend as
next morning, my room
mate and I complained to the
manager.
not domination.)
Possibly, the prospect of a number of
organized women in power frightens
them. Possibly, the reality of a
number of organized men in
power since the beginning ot
time frightens us.
If you assume that femi
^ nism equals male-bash
ing, you lazily accept a
stereotype about a mi
^^k nority’s cause with
^^k out really examin
ing the issue. Do
you also lazily as
sume that if you
■ are African-Amer
ican, you’re a
■ great dancer? That
? if you’re Asian,
■ you’re good at
■ math? That if
you’re homosexu
al, you convert
straight people?
And that if you’re a
Jew, you’re stingy?
Generalizing about
these minorities results
/
rpmrwc
m uemg viewea as igno
rant — we hope. Yet men
and women label a moody
woman as “PMS-ing.”
A sympathetic man who can
remove himself from his personal
i nt; luiiuwiiig evening, a lew
drunken team members pounded on our
apartment door, screaming: “Why’d you
tell on us? Why won’t you party with us?”
With racing hearts, we sat silently. Passive
ly. My roommate opened the door to see
what they wanted. They yelled from the
floor below, “Can we see your ass?”
Later that evening, we left to walk a
friend home. The drunken boys ap
proached and entered our personal space.
“Hey, don’t tell anybody, but we heard you
guys were lesbians,” they said. I was infuri
ated — not because someone thought I was
a lesbian, but because these boys believed
lesbians were inferior. I angrily turned and
with a fairly idiotic comeback yelled,
“Well, you heard wrong.” Then their
leader, king of the ignorant, yelled, “Oh, so
you will give us head then.” His friends
chuckled, then spit at us.
Right then I should have called the po
lice. My roommate restrained me, claiming
it would ruin our relationship with our
new neighbors. God forbid! But deep
down, she feared being assaulted. 1 did,
too. I never called the police. I still regret it.
Those pigs not only considered homosexu
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
als inferior, but the entire female gender as
well.
Most of you probably read the above pas
sage and were outraged by the actions of
the baseball players. But how many of you
who felt their actions were wrong label
yourselves as feminists?
A major discrepancy exists concerning
the definition of feminism. The Oxford
English Dictionary defines feminism as the
“advocacy of women’s rights and sexual
equality.” The entry does not read, “the art
of male-bashing.” All those who believe
that feminism combats the existence of
men need to educate themselves.
Likewise, the entry does not read, “the
state of being feminine.” Many men who
label themselves pro-woman will not label
themselves feminists in fear that the title
implies that they are less masculine. Men
often perceive feminism as a threat because
they are unclear on the definition. (Femi
nism’s main purpose is to achieve equality,
biases and attempt to perceive the
world through a female point of view can
understand the reason why the fear and
anger harbored by feminists exists: Im
provements have arrived slowly, and
women have a right to be concerned.
The millennium approaches, and 75 per
cent of working women earn less than
$20,000 per year. Yet over half of the hu
mans on this planet are women. Feminism,
like any other equal rights cause, is about
humanity. Ideally, everyone should re
ceive equal treatment.
I am aware that feminism has a bad repu
tation, mainly because of media, societal
institutions and male-bashers fighting in
the name of feminism. One equal rights
cause does not carry more importance than
another. However, if you assume that
equality has been reached, you need to ed
ucate yourself.
Nicole Kristal, a sophomore majoring in
journalism, is a columnist for the Emerald.
Her column appears on alternate Tues
days. Her views do not necessarily repre
sent those of the newspaper. E-mail:
nkristal@gladstone.uoregon.edu
LETTERS
Back burden
On May 20, Oregonians will be
asked to vote on Measure 50, the leg
islature’s alternative to the ill-con
ceived Measure 47. While this
rewrite may lessen some of the im
pact of Measure 47 and clarify some
of its confusing language, it does
nothing to address the shift in Ore
gon’s tax system.
Over the last several years, the tax
burden in Oregon has been steadily
shifting from businesses — especial
ly large corporations — to individual
taxpayers.
Measure 5 and 47, coupled with a
low 6.6 percent corporate income tax,
has resulted in Oregon having the
lowest business tax burden in the
West. This has shifted the tax burden
onto the backs of working people, im
posing more taxes on family budgets
while cutting funding for public ser
vices that are essential to our com
munities.
If you are tired of seeing public ser
vices cut and are interested in restor
ing tax fairness to Oregon, you can at
tend The Tax Fairness Now!
Conference on Wednesday, May 7 at
6:30 p.m. in the Eugene Hilton. This
conference, sponsored by the Lane
County Labor Council, will mark the
starting point for all those interested
in creating a fair tax system in Ore
gon.
Lee Lasse
Springfield
Get involved
Have you ever wanted to get down
and get dirty? Well, Streamwalk is the
safe and fun alternative to all your de
sires. We partake in a number of fun
activities ranging from tree-planting,
conducting litter cleanups along wa
ter ways, removal of non-native plant
species from recreational parks, water
testing, salmon restoration... the list
goes on and on.
It’s a lot of fun and the weather is
just right, so get involved! We have
weekly meetings at 6 p.m. in the
EMU, Suite 1. For more information,
call the OSPIRG office at 346-4377.
Gil Koresh
Environmental Studies
Great difference
Thanks to all of the Emerald read
ers and University students who
turned out to participate in the 13th
Annual Hunger Cleanup on April 12!
It was a huge success, thanks to
everyone involved!
I would like to also express my
thanks to the coalitions, endorsers,
donors and media who helped us
reach out to the campus and commu
nity. The time, effort and donations
are all appreciated. This work has in
deed made a great difference in
someone’s life.
We are still accepting financial
contributions, which will be donated
to local, national and international
hunger relief causes. We are also
looking for students and groups inter
ested in being a part of the committee
for next year’s cleanup to make it an
even bigger success.
In addition, the Hunger and Home
less project will be performing com
munity work throughout this term.
Please stop by the OSPIRG office in
Suite 1 of the EMU or call 346-4357
to get involved!
Laynah Tan
Business Administration
WINNERS
President Clinton |
The President I
struck a major vie-1
tory for bipartisan |
politics working |
out a 5-year bal- |
anced budget. |
CyndiLauper |
The girl who just 1
wanted to have fun |
is expecting a child I
in 6 months and is 1
also touring with 1
Tina Turner.
AT&T Users
A federal plan to 1
help subsidize lo- 1
cal phone compa- I
nies will allow I
AT&T to pass
some of its $1 bil- |
lion in savings on l
to customers. |
Patrick Stewart I
The Star Trek cap- |
tain will be back in |
action, starring in a
new Star Trek l
movie due out in
the fall of 1998.
LOSERS
Donald Trump |
The 50-year-old |
billionaire an- 1
nouncedhisal- §
most four-year |
marriage to
beauty queen
Marla Maples is |
coming to an
end.
Bilingual
Programs
California may |
soon be scrap- |
ping bilingual
programs for im- 1
migrants in favor |
of English-only
programs to
boost non-Eng
lish speakers’job 1
prospects.
Garry Kasparov f
The Russian
chess champion §
was defeated by |
an IBM super- |
computer, which 1
evened their se- f
ries at one game I
to one,
Marilyn Manson |
The self-pro
claimed Satan- |
worshiping rock |
star is involved in |
yet another law |
suit—this one 1
with the Mead- |
owlands in New |
Jersey for a can- 1
celed concert. 1