By Lee Markison
When one thinks of feminism on the Bucknell campus, the first thing that comes to mind is vagina. Yes, we all got the e-mails. I’m from San Francisco and I have never in my life seen anything as vulgar as the wild-eyed “feminists” at Bucknell who seem to think wearing a shirt that says, “I Love Vagina,” is akin to sexual liberation and gender equality. These women’s idea of feminism is all about burning bras and going commando.
Modern day ?feminists? seem to think that promoting the vagina, the female sex organ, will gain them some form of respect.? Apparently, when they scream ?C*nt, c*nt, c*nt,? during the Vagina Monologues they actually expect men to think, ?Gosh, what a delightfully sexually liberated woman; I see her as my complete and total equal.?
Bucknell’s “feminists” need to explain what they stand for. Perchance the message of the Vagina Monologues is not fully conveyed by the “I Love Vagina” shirts. The message of their organization is supposedly to prevent violence against women. The t-shirts are disgusting and don’t express the message of non-violence at all.
Guys are flocking to buy the shirts and with good reason, when they wear the shirt they aren’t proud to not be violent against women, they are expressing their love for an organ that provides them with sexual gratification! This promotes non-violence in what way? Maybe the shirt should read “Would you treat your mother like that?” or “If you win a fight with a girl you’re still a loser.” Shirts such as these would get the message across without being vague and vulgar.
Of course, the culture the Vagina Monologues propagates is not really about preventing violence against women. It’s about transforming women. As one character from the play put it: “I had to be it–be my vagina.” The Monologues and the surrounding antics, from graphic shirts and slogans to chanting obscenities, are at their core about an obsession with defining women by organs in an effort to “liberate” them sexually.
The sexual liberation only starts with the chanting. It ends with the fact that many women think they gain equality by sleeping with as many men as they want without fear of social reprisal, as some men do. The V-Day crowd has fundamentally changed what it means to be a feminist.
To be clear, I don’t hate what feminism was, I hate what it has become. Feminism was about equality and now it is about emulation. The “feminist” elite wanted to be men’s mental equals and instead now aspire to be their sexual carbon-copies. Women used to want the same fundamental rights as men; they wanted to be allowed to enter the workforce and earn wages similar to those of their male counterparts. Women wanted to be able to come home and not fear the abuse of their husbands.
Feminists at one point had reasonable goals that would result in the betterment of women. “Feminists” are now “bettering” a lot more men than women. The rational, forward-thinking women of the early 1900’s feminist movement would be appalled at what the movement has become.
The real question is: are these promiscuous women bettering women as a whole and advancing us to a level where we will have the respect that we deserve? Absolutely not! Sexually available women are helping men! What could delight a man more than an easy lay who wants nothing to do with him after they hook up? I can’t name a man who would turn down such a no strings attached sexual encounter.
What are these women thinking? To promote the idea of sex with multiple partners as “sexual equality,” and then claim that women don’t need men to raise their children is counter to what real feminists sought to achieve for so long. Real feminists wanted to thwart unwanted sexual attention, not invite more sexual encounters. Women fought for rights to property and the right to work and vote so that they could contribute to their families, not so that their husbands could leave them.
With these “sexually liberated” women parading around calling themselves feminists, they are not only besmirching the name of the movement, but trying to take it over. I was what used to be called a feminist, but since I don’t scream “C*nt” at a play on Valentine’s Day and don’t engage in random sexual encounters because “I want equality,” apparently I am no longer for the cause. Real feminists fought for the ultimate goal of gender equality. They would be disgusted to know their hard work has been used to promote the cause of hooking up, all in the name of “feminism.”
Lee Markison is a freshman at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.