Ask Hecuba: Feminism? It’s All Greek to Me!
Who came up with the stupid feminist statue? F*** this statue. I hope somebody tears it down.
— Sexist in South Central
Dear Sexist,
In the winter of 2014, USC President C.L. Max Nikias first invited me to campus, but it took a few years for me to arrive! I’m thrilled to finally be here, not only because I have the privilege of watching over hundreds of inspiring, diverse scholars in the University Village but also because I have the opportunity to help educate students like yourself about feminism.
On one hand, there’s the dictionary definition of feminism. However, even my cold bronze heart can recognize that “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” does not inspire much further understanding of the belief. To me and many others, feminism is a movement for the pursuit of equality and fairness for all people. (One common misconception about feminists is that they hate men or believe women are superior. This is not true and the people who believe that are actually called misandrists.)
One important aspect of feminism is supporting the freedom of choice. As a feminist, I believe a young woman should be celebrated and supported whether she chooses to pursue a career in mathematics or marketing and a young man should be celebrated and supported whether he chooses to pursue a career in dental hygiene or dance. Stereotypes about what is appropriate behaviour based on gender is sooo 424 BC.
Another aspect of feminism is the importance of recognizing the misogynist elements of our society and seeking to quash them. In just this past week, employees at Google found that female employees are paid less than their male counterparts for doing the same jobs. And earlier this year, the Harvard Business Review shared research that found venture capitalists spoke differently about entrepreneurs based on their gender: “Many of the young men and women [entrepreneurs] were described as being young, though youth for men was viewed as promising, while young women were considered inexperienced.” These are just two out of many more examples of ongoing inequality. Clearly, there’s lots of room for improvement and feminists are bravely taking it upon themselves to fix things themselves.
S, I do hope this was helpful in understanding what I stand for. If you’re still confused, I’d recommend reaching out to the USC Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment for additional information. My good friend Athena speaks very highly of them and I’m sure you would benefit from their companionship!
Here to stay,
Hecuba
Got a question for Hecuba? Submit your questions using the form below or at this link. Her advice column will appear here every other Tuesday.
“This is not true and the people who believe that are actually called misandrists.”
Dear reverse-sexist bigot,
This is breathtakingly shameless feminist doublespeak. Fortunately, you are about to go for good because everyone with more than one brain can see through your twisted tales of woe. But just keep giving us more of the same because it will seal your fate and hasten the day when your evil ideology is tossed back on trash heap of history from when it came to paraphrase misandry scholars Nathason and Young.
You are attacking the writer because she said, “To me and many others, feminism is a movement for the pursuit of equality and fairness for all people.” To regard this belief as evil under the pseudonym FreedomFirst is both hypocritical and cowardly. Moreover, to feel threatened by the mere placement of a statue of a woman is a sexist sentiment. If you have a reasoned, logical, and value-driven argument against equality of the sexes, I would love to hear it. Until then, stop defending these baseless attacks.
No. I’m attacking the writer because she lies shamelessly about her favorite female supremacist hate movement. Feminism has nothing whatsoever to do with fairness or equality which can be seen clearly by observing the feminist response to Betsy Devos’ speech on how Obama’s OCR weaponized rape. Feminism IS evil both in ideology and application. We are not going to tolerate totalitarian tyranny cloaked in the sheep’s clothing of ‘equality’. Instead, we are going to give women the equality they so richly deserve as MP Phillip Davies is doing in England. If you were any kind of real man, you’d have done your due diligence already, given up you traitorous and suicidal chivary, and gone on the offense to cure this deadly socio-political cancer once and for all. Cassie Jaye’s Ted talk and film are must sees for men like you.