2.08.2006
Post-Mortem
My boss pointed out how much more attention the death of Corretta Scott King has gotten in comparison to Betty Friedan's. Certainly, King deserves the honors bestowed upon her, but why doesn't an revolutionary like Friedan?
I hope he doesn't mind being quoted:
I hope he doesn't mind being quoted:
She [Friedan], too, helped remove shackles. She, too, helped force major changes in civil rights, in society and, in some cases, in individual behavior. She, too, altered the fabric of the nation, in a great and positive way. My goddaughter and my nieces are in a better place because of her.There is a lesser awareness of the women's movement than of the civil rights movement that brought racial politics to the forefront. I think that is for several reasons:
- Inequalities among racial groups are still painfully evident to anyone who has seen an inner city or who paid attention to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, while unfair advantages still exist for women, it's often more subtle, and it's hard to separate what differences are by choice and which are imposed from without.
- The Civil Rights movement is remembered in a national holiday, Martin Luther King's birthday, and is a part of children's education from a young age. But we seem to forget that women have been voting nationwide for less than 90 years, and that so many strides have been recent. And we lack a face with whom to connect the movement, its ideas and its accomplishments. I don't know why that is, though I wonder if we as a society are more skeptical of women leaders. Or if perhaps, they are just more easily demonized. Or perhaps our memories of leaders are improved with time. Being 24, I don't know how Americans, white or black, perceived King or Friedan in their heydays.
# posted by even the rain @ 00:26 
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Yes, there's internet in Wyoming. It's just really sloooow.
Coretta Scott King was portrayed as the obedient, lovely wife and strong woman who carried out her husband's movement.
Betty Friedan started her own movement. She was divorced, opinionated and wasn't always "pleasant."
Would Martin Luther King be as revered if he where a she? I don't think so. Society, it seems, still can't accept a strong, opinionated female figure. Look at how many people revile Hillary Clinton. And she's probably the highest-profile American woman political leader. Also, Cindy Sheehan. If Cindy Sheehan was Carl Sheehan, would he have received so much vile condemnation? I don't know. It just seems strong, political women are just not "liked" by the public. Betty Friedan was that, and as a consequence her death did not receive the idol worship someone more amiable, like Coretta Scott King, did. I'm not saying I like it, I just think that's the way it is. What do you think?
Coretta Scott King was portrayed as the obedient, lovely wife and strong woman who carried out her husband's movement.
Betty Friedan started her own movement. She was divorced, opinionated and wasn't always "pleasant."
Would Martin Luther King be as revered if he where a she? I don't think so. Society, it seems, still can't accept a strong, opinionated female figure. Look at how many people revile Hillary Clinton. And she's probably the highest-profile American woman political leader. Also, Cindy Sheehan. If Cindy Sheehan was Carl Sheehan, would he have received so much vile condemnation? I don't know. It just seems strong, political women are just not "liked" by the public. Betty Friedan was that, and as a consequence her death did not receive the idol worship someone more amiable, like Coretta Scott King, did. I'm not saying I like it, I just think that's the way it is. What do you think?
Okay, so I too am totally saddened by the lack of attention given to Friedan's death. But, unfortunately, I think part of the problem lies with the women's movement itself. If one were to compare the history of the women's movement with that of the Civil Rights movement, one would find a series of mistakes, blunders, petty arguments and problematic political approaches (the women's movement) versus a cohesive movement that forged a cohesive social group (the Civil Rights movement). In short, for everything that the Civil Rights did right, there is something that the women's movement did wrong.
This is not to say that Friedan isn't important or to suggest that the women's movement failed, but if you look at empirical research on the topic, the problem lies in the fact that the women's movement never really included many women, it never found a common voice and it never really forged a cohesive social and political agenda.
So, in order to stop procrastinating and conclude this comment: I think Coretta Scott King meant a lot to more people than Friedan. I don't think this is because King was a supportive wife or because Friedan was unpleasant. I think its because the Civil Rights movement was just a more cohesive movement than women's rights. Much ink has been spent on this, and unfortunately, empirical research has little positive to say about the womens' movement post-suffrage (for example, see Mansbridge, "How We Lost the ERA")
Now, back to the big D. Or watching the Olympics. You know, whatever.
This is not to say that Friedan isn't important or to suggest that the women's movement failed, but if you look at empirical research on the topic, the problem lies in the fact that the women's movement never really included many women, it never found a common voice and it never really forged a cohesive social and political agenda.
So, in order to stop procrastinating and conclude this comment: I think Coretta Scott King meant a lot to more people than Friedan. I don't think this is because King was a supportive wife or because Friedan was unpleasant. I think its because the Civil Rights movement was just a more cohesive movement than women's rights. Much ink has been spent on this, and unfortunately, empirical research has little positive to say about the womens' movement post-suffrage (for example, see Mansbridge, "How We Lost the ERA")
Now, back to the big D. Or watching the Olympics. You know, whatever.
Well, there's also the numbers...the Civil Rights movement had the support of African Americans, many other minorities, a few white males and many white females.
The Feminist movement? Pretty much, supporters were white females and a few white males.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, part of the success of the Civil Rights movement came because it was supported by those outside of the group it was helping. Non-African-Americans felt they could relate to that oppression. The Feminist movement didn't elicit that same type of feelings in others...
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The Feminist movement? Pretty much, supporters were white females and a few white males.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, part of the success of the Civil Rights movement came because it was supported by those outside of the group it was helping. Non-African-Americans felt they could relate to that oppression. The Feminist movement didn't elicit that same type of feelings in others...
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