Justice not Equality

I've decided to post weekly aha moments (for myself) from our weekly classes. While my classmates who are probably the only ones reading this blog, I apologize for the redundancies, but I see this as also a record for myself -- a place to look back and reflect on my development. It will mostly be comprised of quotes, and as a result of my poor recording skills, they will probably be neither entirely accurate (think paraphrased) nor accurately cited (but if you recognize your quote, please comment and take claim!). Also, disclaimer: I realize by using the terms "man" and "woman" in my post I erase the existence of those who identify on the spectrum of gender, or who do not identify with a gender, but for the purpose of the conversation, I must operationalize the definition of gender as defined by our culture at large.

This week I posed the question of why as a movement, feminists are not necessarily advocating for equal spaces, but instead aim create spaces that seemed biased towards women. To myself feminist creation of spaces made sense, but I could honestly not vocalize the reasoning. My biggest "aha" moment was that it is about justice not equality (Megan and Prof. Ng). The idea of equality in the feminist movement was created by 2nd Wave feminists, which is when a lot of legislation was put forth like the Equal Pay Act and Title IX, and so the movement became framed as advocating for equality, and no longer for justice. What we want IS social justice (Megan). Creating spaces specifically for women is the feminist response to our patriarchal culture (Sam). When we can truly have equality then we will have reached a point where equal spaces can be created and succeed as such.
For those (often men) who feel left out or wronged by the feminist "response" to patriarchal institutions, it is important to realize that the oppressive forces acting on women are institutional (lack citation), and that institutionally women are oppressed. While feminists recognize that men also experience oppression through masculinity, within our patriarchal society they are the privileged population. For everyone to be institutionally oppressed, would mean no oppression (Prof. Ng), but this is not the case. Creating spaces for women places women in the picture, and without these spaces, we risk the danger of women being left out (Prof. Ng). To argue that feminists are not trying to create a world of equal chances, is to shift the discourse and become intransigent (lack citation). The problem feminists often face is that [as women] we are damned if we do, and damned if we don't -- the system is not set-up for us to succeed (Megan).

On another note, regarding researching "less privileged" (or those who we view to have less institutional power than ourselves) populations, it is about providing the means for empowerment instead of empowerment (Sara).

This is a link to that feministing article I referenced in class, and hopefully I make more sense now if you read it. If your thoughts are still the same let me know them in reference to the real post.

Also, if you find I have attributed something to you that you have no recollection of saying TELL ME! Thank you!