Response #1

I had a total of eight faculty responses to my questionnaire and will post the responses of one, anonymously, each day. [To lighten your reading load and to give reflection time.] I have bolded the text of statements I heartily agree with.]

1. Because of my mother’s past, I don’t identify as a feminist, but rather as someone who is interested in women’s studies/rights. I do realize that, living through the second wave, people needed to be radical and needed to get noticed because early voices had been lost to us until then. Women’s studies wasn’t something brought to me in high school or college so it wasn’t until literature emerged around the second wave that abilities of women recognized. I didn’t have an appreciation for what was going on at the time and feel I have missed earlier voices – they were ignored. Now that I’ve taught a course on women’s lit, I feel educated in what I should have been. You’d think that type of education wouldn’t have been hard to come by at an all-girl school. During the early days of the second wave, women activists were seen as judgmental; there wasn’t appreciation for the wide range of possibilities for women because it was viewed as an angry movement. But I now understand why this was the case.

2. I think it was a deterrent in the sixties/for my generation. It was seen as a limited-focus, angry group of people. I think it’s making progress because the feminist movement now does show an appreciation for wide range of choices that women. I think it’s getting much more acceptable.

3. Women studies programs in education. As women are becoming more prominent on Supreme Court and in political positions, like Hillary Clinton, they are living feminist values and people identify with that/them. It has been hard and is still really hard to emerge as a female leader. Education is always a good place to start. I don’t know what’s going on in high schools now to help young women start appreciating/start identifying with feminist values. I think employers are getting better about knowing the importance of having those values being a part of their teams. It’s often the woman who are able to bring people together, who are not as tied to their way of doing things. They are added as consensus builders; they note consequences of business actions. People are appreciating women more in the workplace.

4. I am hoping that they show the breadth of women’s possibilities because there is so much out there and a lot of educated women in different areas are blogging.

5. Locally, employment. Larger picture – international rights of women, or lack thereof. I don’t understand why there is such a lack of rights. Even here at Maryville we have international students with arranged marriages. I am concerned about where women really still stand. I’m amazed by how many women still don’t have a voice.