Blog 3

Iron Jawed Angels
This movie is great for getting across the fact that the fight for women’s rights was not easily fought. The movie does an excellent job of showing the struggle between black and white women and between the National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Women’s Party (NWP). Both of these struggles show just how large and important this movement was. I seems as though it was hard to decide how big the movement was going to be. Fighting for the vote of black females would have been twice as hard, if not harder. It would have brought up both the question of whether or not a woman was a full citizen and whether or not blacks were full citizens. In some ways, the feminist movement still deals with the blending of human rights issues. One that I am interested in is women’s issues in the scope of low income households.
Another way that it seemed as if it were difficult to decide how large the women’s suffrage movement was going to be was shown in the discrepancies between the NAWSA and the NWP. Several instances leading up to the imprisonment of many women from the NWP showed that much of the American public and many women part of the movement did not want a very radical protest about women’s suffrage.
Of coarse the most moving scene is during the first force-feeding of Alice Paul. This scene really reminded me that the vote that I have today should not be taken without regard for the people who won it for me. That scene made the freedom to vote far more personal and important than any speech could.

Readings
I love the introduction of this book. The author clearly communicates why she needed to write this short book explaining what feminism is. My favorite quote, “Imagine living in a world where there is no domination, where females and males are not alike or even always equal, but where a vision of mutuality it the ethos shaping our interaction.” plays on a very key idea –mutuality.
I don’t entirely agree with the author’s definition of feminism given in the first chapter. The definition is given only in terms of trying to end sexism. While this is by far the most important foundation of what I think feminism is, I feel as though it is missing something. I feel as though the definition does no promote the uniqueness of females.
I do, however, think that the author makes a very valid point in addressing women’s role in sexism. In today’s society, I think that it can actually be very difficult for a woman to take a very active role in trying to stop sexism in their own lives. In particular, lack of education in certain areas can make it almost impossible. The author’s point also calls for women to start acting more responsible about sexist issues. For example, if anyone wants to be treated professionally in the work place, they should dress accordingly. It is a fact that men are visually stimulated far more than women, so when a woman wears very revealing clothing, it shouldn’t be surprising that her male colleagues look at her differently.
I was able to relate to the author’s story of attending Stanford for the first time and her experience with male dominated classrooms. I think that she made an excellent observation in that “sisterhood” is still a powerful tool in all situations.