I had the enlightening opportunity to interview the creators of the Podcast, Promoting Secular Feminism on the state of Feminism today. Please listen in and share!
Tell us a bit about the podcast. What/Who inspired its beginning? What kind of topics do you explore on the podcast? Tell us a bit about the website.
Promoting Secular Feminism is inspired by our experience as women in the secular community. At local humanist meetings and larger national conferences, it became obvious to us that, not only was the secular community comprised mostly of white males, but that many men in the secular community felt feminism was a frivolous endeavour comprised of man-haters.
We wanted to communicate with this group through the medium many atheists prefer, podcasts. We also want there to be a space in the secular community where women's experiences are represented. More personally, Ms. Bea Haven missed the podcast, Godless B*tches, and she wanted to create her own feminist podcast. As the only other female atheist in the vicinity, I, DeManda Wright, was conscripted.
What does it mean to be a secular feminist? What differentiates a secular feminist from a traditional feminist?
A secular feminist recognizes that Abrahamic religions are patriarchal and promote binary gender roles. Our secular feminism is rooted in our personal and local experience of evangelical Christian fundamentalism. This version of Christianity promotes a biologically determined existence for women who must marry a man to intercede for them with God.
Women do not inhabit any leadership positions in the church, and this view of women's second-class citizenship extends outside the church to political and social positions as well. Many fundamentalist Christians in our local community do not believe that women have the ability or should be able to have any leadership position in the community. Second wave feminism failed to impact their existence. In addition to the work most feminists do, a secular feminist promotes the separation of church and state.
In your view, what is the state of feminism in the West today? What is the state of feminism in the East today?
A United Nations working group recently reported that "In the US, women fall behind international standards as regards their public and political representation, their economic and social rights and their health and safety protections." In short, we do not have equal access to the American Dream, and this problem is greatly amplified for women of color and for LGBTQ people.
Although many people can see anecdotally that women are better represented in society through the number of women politicians we have to the feminist portrayals of women in media, gender equality does not mean settling for improvement. It is not enough that women's lives are better in 2015 than in 1950. Feminists strive for equality and do not stop with incremental improvements. When half of the people in your country still do not inhabit half of the leadership positions in your country, then the work of feminism is not done.
As white women in the US, we are wholly unqualified to pontificate on the state of feminism in the East. First, "the East" is a construct that covers a diverse set of people and experiences. Second, there are feminists in and from "the East" writing about the state of feminism, and I would not want my voice to speak for theirs. A good place to begin for those interested in learning more about non-Western feminism is Chandra Talpade Mohanty's Feminism Without Borders, or you could listen to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk that discusses the state of feminism in Nigeria and why we should all be feminists.
Our support and refusal to speak for these voices does not mean that we do not morally object to culturally based practices harmful to women such as female genital mutilation. To be clear, we strongly oppose practices harmful to women no matter the length of time they have been rooted in religious practice or cultural tradition.
Do you think religion has had a detrimental hand how women have been viewed and treated
throughout history?
Yes.
Is patriarchy the only enemy to feminism? What other issues need to be addressed?
The metaphor of enemies is problematic because it assumes an "us" vs. "them" mentality and
presumes feminist activism targets individuals. The version of feminism to which we aspire
recognizes social pressures that impact both women and men. We think of patriarchy as a
foundation that supports economic, religious, and cultural structures.
Our goal is to make these structures more inclusive to all people who identify as women and to help men realize that the version of masculinity that these structures require can often be harmful to them. The primary issue that influences all others is a binary conception of masculinity and femininity. If we address that then all the inequities that stem from that concept can be changed.
Rebecca West once said: "I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat." - Is feminism just a response to patriarchy? Is the media at fault for all of the stereotypes forced upon women and their bodies? How can we better remove social pressure on women? What are our options?
First Wave feminism was a direct response to the patriarchal assumption that women did not have the mental capacity to cast a vote. There was a distinct movement within Second Wave feminism that promoted a gynocentric view of the world. However, that position seems a bit binary to me. I presume, however, that your question seeks to discover whether there will be a role for feminism if gender equity can be reached. I view feminism as activism rather than as a culture. At the point where gender equality and the recognition of gender fluidity are normative, then I will happily relinquish the label of feminist and will call myself a humanist.
Your question about media would take more space than I have at the moment, but I will say that I am particularly encouraged by complex media representations of gender like that in Orphan Black or Sense8. Our primary focus on how to correct misconceptions about gender is through educational outreach. Individually, you can interrogate your assumptions about what makes a woman or a man.
I think it would be particularly helpful to begin with early childhood education that focuses on critical thinking skills that teach children to interrogate the social and cultural pressures around them.
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Find out more about Promoting Secular Feminism and subscribe to them on Itunes!
www.promotingsecularfeminism.com
Twitter: @SecularFeminism
Facebook.com/promotingsecularfeminism
Youtube: Promoting Secular Feminism
Find our podcast on ITunes, Spreaker, and Stitcher