Dot, Cixous and Butler

Although I do believe the men and women should be treated equally and that both genders should be given the same opportunities, I have never considered myself as being a feminist in any sense of the word. In our society, there is a very negative connotation associated with feminism and most people, in my generation at least, strive to not be called one. Our culture largely sees feminist as being dirty women, who hate men and do not shave their armpits, but after reading the article by Cixous and Butler, I have found that there may be more to that assumption. 

Sure there are some feminists who fall into the previously mentioned categories, but as Butler mentions, "the term women denotes a common identity" and even if all women are not self-proclaimed feminists, we all do have similar notions of how women are treated and should be treated (193). I was surprised how easy it was for me to relate to numerous things said in both articles, as I do not normally agree with radically feminist viewpoints I had originally thought that I would not like the things said by these authors. However, I found many of their claims easy to relate to. 

I especially liked Cixous' quote which states that "every woman has known the torture of beginning to speak aloud ... because for women speaking - even just opening her mouth - in public is something rash, a transgression" (163). I found this insight to be extremely enlightening and sad at the same time. I have definitely felt this fear, mostly in male dominated class room settings, and I know the reality of it. However, I have never really thought about it as a universal feeling and am sort of glad to know others feel it. It is however, discouraging that all women are affected by the power that men seemingly hold over us and even fear what will happen if we voice our own points of view.

Thinking deeper on this point, and examining the males around me, I wonder if they even realize the power they have over us. I am sure my guy friends would not agree that women should not speak up in classrooms, but still there is something intimidating about speaking out in front of strange men. 

What is it about our inferiority that makes women feel so threatened by merely speaking? In a culture as accepting as ours, it seems silly that such a thing would be so scary, but really it is. I would hope that one day all women can get passed this fear and loudly voice our opinions to males... Maybe I am a feminist after all.