Feminism - A Discussion

I stumbled upon this interesting Flickr photostream today. Basically, the idea is that people get their picture taken holding a piece of paper. On this piece of paper is their own view of feminism. It ranges from the intriguing to the humourous to the somewhat backward. In sort, what does feminism mean in this day and age?

For me, it was never an issue. My mother was the boss in our house. If I so much as spoke out of turn, my head would be buried in the wall. Now, I'm not saying she was abusive, but you get what I mean. Coupled with the fact I had a big sister, it meant that I was pretty much thought to think of women as equals, or as the case may be, my betters.

I'm older now, and I still think the same. Any relationship I've had with women, be it platonic or romantic, has always been based on mutual respect. "K", for instance, is FAR smarter than me. She's an NUI graduate with a 2.1 degree, ridiculously clever and comes from a family of academics. So there's that. Granted, I could beat the crap out of her when it comes to film trivia, but in everything else, she wins. Hands down.

It amazes me that, in this day and age, discrimination occurs. My own opinion is that it's an age / generation thing. I'm not saying my own generation is completely devoid of discrimination, but it's a lot less prevalent. Older men were brought up to believe that women were frail and delicate. Science has pretty much proved this to be completely false, given the fact they have a higher pain threshold and all the rest of it.

I'm a huge fan of 'Mad Men'. I always wonder how accurate its description of male/female interaction in the office environment. Was the sexism really that blatant? And what, exactly, did it stem from? Misogyny? Upbringing? Pack mentality? And does this still occur today? For me, feminism means women having choice. They have a choice to be mothers and wives or be academics or business women. And being respected for making a choice.

I know one or two feminists who, for lack of a better word, look down on women who have chosen a more "traditional" lifestyle. I've always thought that was wrong. If a woman wants to be a housewife and raise a family, that is entirely her business. If she wants to go on and be successful in her chosen field, she can do that too. It's choice - she can choose to do whatever she wants. And, for me anyway, that's what feminism boils down to - being able to choose and being respected for it.