Andrea Schroeder Blog #1

How do I define feminism? If I hadn't ever read a word of bell hooks' book, I would have defined feminism as "The movement to make women equal to men in the social, political, and business world." However, being that I'm no expert on the topic of feminism or what it entails, It think that bell hook's definition is probably much better than mine. Surprisingly, the urban dictionary definition #1 seems to fit in pretty nicely with what hooks sets as the definition. The second definition that urban dictionary gives isn't quite as reliable, since it's clearly an opinionated definition, rather than one sticking strictly to fact.

Do I consider myself a feminist? As a woman devoted to my Catholic belief, I decided to see what some Catholic authors had to say about the issue of feminism. Turns out that I'm not the only one who was confused about what all the details of feminism politics were. As one Catholic blogger states,

"On underscoring the fundamental secularists of most feminist goals, I am passing no judgment on the inherent worthiness of the goals themselves. Many of those goals, notably equal pay for equal work, are not merely admirable, but necessary as a matter of simple justice" (Fox-Genovese, 2003).

She then goes on to talk about the politics of feminism that directly contradict the Catholic faith, such as the pro-choice stance that it has. I then wondered to myself, "Couldn't I still be somewhat of a feminist and keep my pro-life beliefs?" Bell hooks had an easy answer for that. Hooks' blatantly states in Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, that "She cannot be anti-abortion and an advocate of feminism" (Hooks, 2000). Hooks answers the debate for me. If we're sticking with what the author believes feminism to be, then I cannot be a feminist.

I'd never given much thought to how patriarchy really played out in our country, mostly because I never thought I really had a reason to. The most obvious answer I can think of is the taking of the man's name in marriage. I know that this is kind of a hot-topic lately in a world where women are yearning to become increasingly independent, but I've never had a problem with the issue.

If anyone wants to check out the article I quoted from, here's the link:

http://catholiceducation.org/articles/feminism/fe0025.html

Peace!

Andrea