BBC News published an awesome article today on women in the technology industry. One woman named Judith Lewis was interviewed on the movement and feminism was brought up.
"To her the word feminist means something different. In a sense [Geek Girl Dinners] is a feminist movement as it aspires to a lot of the same ideals but I don't want it to be seen as something that is feminist as this can be seen as something marginal or negative.
"We're not trying to be radical or disruptive, but to show that women have a place in technology." (Emphasis added)
Ms. Lewis, you are a feminist. You don't' need to be "radical and disruptive" to be a feminist. Your act of speaking at a girls and technology camp telling women that "they have a place in technology" makes you a feminist.
It's too bad people buy into what the media and patriarchal influences tell them about feminism instead looking into it themselves. Feminism is not negative. It's one of the most positive movements out there.
(From dictionary.com)
fem·i·nism /ˈfɛməˌnɪzəm/ Show Spelled[fem-uh-niz-uhm] Show IPA
–noun
1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.
2. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) an organized movement for the attainment of such rights for women.
3. feminine character.
Hello Amanda:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. People get too caught up in the myth that feminists have hair armpits, hate men and love k.d. lang. I'm trying to break this perception, with many unsuccessful attempts.