March 30th

“Hi! Welcome to Lee’s, how are you doing? What can I get for you today?”

It’s a typical Sunday for myself; I wake up at 9:45 AM, brush my teeth, hop in the shower, get dressed, and prepare myself mentally for work at Lee’s Burgers in Coolidge Corner. Working at a fast-food restaurant, I see a variety of customers every day. I see the young, I see the elderly, I see couples, and I see lonely single people eating their feelings away. Despite the tight and restrictive food codes of Brookline, such as restaurants not being able to sell foods containing trans fats, I sometimes still feel bad about selling a product that does not necessarily promote a healthy lifestyle.

Don’t worry, we don’t sell fake meat, we don’t have a dirty kitchen, and we certainly care about all of our customers. But when I say that I feel bad selling a product that doesn’t promote healthy living, I mean that I sometimes regret selling food that is high in sodium, calories, carbohydrates. Don’t get me wrong, the human body needs all of these things, but in moderation.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/24/you-don-t-hate-feminism-you-just-don-t-understand-it.html

http://www.newsweek.com/2013/07/24/when-rape-goes-viral-237742.html

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-political/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_Man

John Locke believed that men are born with natural unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the property. Although at the time, Locke may have had a more liberal view of women, by today's regards, he falls short of feminist ideas and beliefs. He preached that women are not property, but at the same time, he only believed that they had authority over children, and only children would be forced to love and respect women. In a sense, he believed in giving women power; since he preached that women are not property, that means that he believed that women had the right to own property. Locke clearly had an overall liberal view when it came to politics, he failed to include everyone in his "natural unalienable rights".

Another philosopher, Thomas Paine, believed that if the government is not fulfilling its duties, then the people have the right to overthrow it. Unlike Locke, he was a true feminist; he believed in pretty much complete equality among men and women.

Single women with children make 60% of the money that man could make; why are we giving someone who works twice as hard, slightly more than half the amount of mornt they should be earning? This information really hits home for me because my aunt Helen had raised three kids all by herself. And, although I didn't realize this at the time, I now see that she is one of the hardest working women that I know; working anywhere between ninety and one hundred hours a week, putting three kids through college; it's inspiring. Growing up, I would always visit my cousins at their house in Framingham, and I would always wonder why there mom wasn't home.  It was always because she was working in order to support her family.  Now, some might ask,  "Where does feminism  play into this?". Well, if she was earning the amount of money that she should have been, she wouldn't have as much ware and tear on her today.

Anecdotes:
“When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.” 
― Bette Davis

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” 
― Gloria Steinem

“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. ” 
― Roseanne Barr

Questions:

Why does it seem that you're either for or against feminism? There's no middle ground

How can there be one "definition" of feminism, when there are so many different opinions regarding the topic.

What would we change from our society today in support of feminism?

Facts:

Source: A Room of Her Own: A Foundation For Women Writers and Artists

• Only 9 out of 52 winners of the National Book Award for Fiction are women.
• Only 11 out of 48 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction have been women.
• Source: MomsRising.org
• Women with children make 73% of what men make

Book List

Feminism : opposing viewpoints / Jennifer A. Hurley - available

Feminism : a beginner's guide / Sally J. Scholz - available

Feminism / Nancy Dziedzic, book editor - available 

Who stole feminism? : how women have betrayed women / Christina Hoff Sommers - available

Gaga feminism : sex, gender, and the end of normal / J. Jack Halberstam - available

Feminism / J. Hannam - not available

Feminism / Kaye Stearman - available

Taking on the big boys, or, Why feminism is good for families, business, and the nation / Ellen Bravo - available

Feminism and its discontents : a century of struggle with psychoanalysis / Mari Jo Buhle - available

Feminism and women's rights worldwide / Michele A. Paludi, editor - available

Feminism is for everybody : passionate politics / Bell Hooks - available

Feminism, Inc. : coming of age in girl power media culture / Emilie Zaslow - not available

The death of feminism : what's next in the struggle for women's freedom / Phyllis Chesler - available

Feminism with men : bridging the gender gap / Steven P. Schacht and Doris W. Ewing - not available

Voices of feminism : past, present, and future / JoAnn Bren Guernsey - available

Response to a Question

Question: "I've seen the video and one one hand, yes it does show how woman are objectified as solely sexual beings, but on the other hand, the entire video only shows african american men cat calling her. How can we speak about feminism, when the prejudice of african american men is clearly there?"

I completely agree; not that I don't support equality for both men and women, I believe that this video was extremely bias. According to an article, the video was made by a promotional company by the name of Hollaback, that specializes in making viral videos. They chose only to walk through a predominantly black and latino neighborhood, which was extremely bias of them, as, obviously, the first thing many people noticed was that it was only African-American and Latino men being portrayed as "catcallers". At the same time, just because there is racial bias, it doesn't mean we can't address both of the problems at once. I believe that this video has one major beneficial impact, as well as a very controversial portrayal; the beneficial impact being that this video did reach a huge audience, and did somewhat portray what many women go through on a daily basis. On the other hand, of course, the video showed the bias and prejudiced views that many people still have today.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/10/29/catcalling_video_hollaback_s_look_at_street_harassment_in_nyc_edited_out.html