The class so far for me has really brought into focus the
times that I experienced or heard of sexism. Oftentimes these issues would come
up in the form of articles in my Facebook feed or conversations with friends,
but I had no real historical or academic context to put these situations in.
One such instance was earlier this year, when a friend of mine became the
center of a scandal that happened at a debate competition in England. As a
student of the Cambridge University debate team she had experienced sexism
before, but things went from bad to worse after her and her female debate
partner were heckled and yelled at while trying to compete, by male on-lookers,
including a former ex-president of the debate association. Onlookers made
obscene comments about the girl’s appearances and abilities. As a former
debater myself, I was appalled that anywhere it would be acceptable to heckle
women as they debated and that men who held positions of authority were doing
this made it that much worse.
I think that this is the exact reason that we need feminism
today, to prevent things like this from continuing to happen. After this
happened a group on their campus started a campaign about why Cambridge needs
feminism. I thought it was great how the school rallied around these students
and how she used it as an opportunity to raise awareness about inequality and
sexism. Here’s the link to the group:
Although I did not do much debate in high school, I competed in my school's Speech and Acting Team, and I would have been both mortified and pissed if someone began to heckle me simply because of my physical appearance. It kind of goes back into that politics talk...Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin are usually only in the spotlight because of something to do with their outfit, not to do with their actual accomplishments or policy standpoints. It is a shame to see that it also happens at the high school level as well. Nevertheless, I love that you bring up this story because it is not the typical "men heckling women" story. When I picture a man bothering a woman, I picture myself riding the Metro every day through low income neighborhoods. But in reality, sexual harassment can happen to the most privileged of people at any time. Thank you for bringing up how pretty much anyone can face sexual harassment, regardless of race, gender, class, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is beyond infuriating, I did a lot of debating in high school and I most definitely would not have reacted with as much grace as your friend did if I had received the same treatment. Just reading this made me so mad but it did remind me of something that happened this past summer in the Texas legislature during Wendy Davis' filibuster. During the last few minutes of the filibuster Leticia Van De Putte was attempting to make a point and was interrupted by a male colleague, whose right to speak was taken in priority. She then said something that I think encapsulated the entire filibuster: http://freethoughtblogs.com/biodork/files/2013/06/LeticiaGraphic.jpg
ReplyDeleteTo add onto what Kirstin is saying, it's really disappointing that female political figures are constantly being ridiculed or criticized for their appearance. Most of the news outlets the day of the filibuster that Wendy Davis did focus on her appearance- namely her pink sneakers-despite the fact that she was bringing up well-researched and compelling points. It's one of those moments where I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in frustration.
In my experience with high school debate in St. Louis, I have never seen anything quite like what occurred in the article. What I have seen commonly is restriction of what constitutes correct speech or action among different genders. Both men and women have to be conscious of the hegemonic expectations for their gender so as to not appear "bitchy" or for men "too sensitive."
ReplyDeleteResponding to above thoughts about the dress of political figures: I think the high cost in maintaining a socially favorable/fashionable wardrobe constitutes even more difficulties for those women who are not financially privileged. At the intersections of gender and class, poor women could not stand in the public arena without great scrutiny.