Today in one class we discussed La autenticidad de la mujer en el arte, the essay by Rosario Ferré on writing as a woman. I used to find this piece flat, but today I found it illuminating. I learned from the discussion that none of the students had been raised to believe women must make a choice between marriage and a career. Indeed, their upbringing appears to have been far more feminist than has that of many people only a little older. This was very interesting.
Our featured post this evening is from Absurdist Paradise, on the professional situation of the contemporary T.A.
Tomorrow, of course, is Friday. Wear white. AUM shantih shantih shantih.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
i know it’s surprising but i think i might have a few reasons for ‘their upbringing appears to have been far more feminist’
seems more and more young men and women were being raised by single moms…like my daughter and son — which created a new generation which appreciated the sacrifices and independence of these moms.
children used to think their father was god and mom was secondary — but this shifted when a lot of fathers were out of the picture and their goddess became mom
Very interesting, azgoddess, and I’ll bet that is indeed the reason.
Were I to hazard a guess as to the feminist outlook of the younger generation, I would place the accountability on the obsession we have recently acquired over being politically correct.
Whereas this is certainly a better side effect than, say, the misappropriation of government funds, nowadays even if a student HAD been raised to think that a woman needed to make a choice between having a career and raising a family, said student would be too afraid of the judgment of the more “open-minded” and “progressive” students in the class to voice such an opinion. Unless, of course, said student simply wanted to draw a reaction by making a statement that is so culturally impermissible.
WOW, Zing, do you really think so? Culturally impermissible? So this is why students I am sure were raised that way (or more conservatively) look shocked when I say I was?
Personally, I think that single parent mothers is a only a secondary cause to the more feminist generation that exists today. I believe that it has more to do with the push that has been augmenting socially since the 16th century (according to my primitive knowledge) with the appearance of more female authors, poets, and activists. Take for example the religious activist Santa Teresa de Jesus, who made a scene in the church world in the 1500s and made it into poetry anthologies with her writings. Other writers like her, such as Bazan, Sor Juana, and others, made their debut into society’s spotlight in the same way, and with each passing century becoming bolder and bolder with their opinions of woman’s destiny. 1920s introduced women’s suffrage in the USA and the shocking works of Frida Kahlo. In the 1930, Garcia Lorca – a man – wrote a drama revealing the oppressive lives of a family of women in Spain. World War II in America forced women even more into the workforce. Activists such as Rosario Castellanos and, of course, Rosario Ferre have spoken out brazenly on the behalf of women and have taken a stand for their rights.
All this to say, women have been pushing for their rights and fighting for centuries. So, it is no surprise that someone born a few decades ago would have had a different experience and possibly a different mentality of females than someone who was born in the 21st century. We’ve progressed in incredible strides and I am thankful to the women who put themselves on a limb so that I can work a job, vote and make my decisions like viable human being.
I also don’t think it’s “culturally impermissible”. I am from the South, so I do encounter quite a bit of the old mentality. It’s not extinct and people that I’ve talked with have no problem telling me that the woman belongs in the kitchen, if that’s how they really feel. However, those are people belonging to the older generations.
As a student, I can say that it doesn’t have anything to do with fear of others’ opinions. Classrooms encourage such open-mindedness and allow for all opinions to be spoken, whether popular or not. I’ve found that if a student disagrees with the feminist view, then he says so and I’ve also found that most hold to the feminist view not out of fear but out of influence from family, friends, etc.