Yulieth Hassan
Blog-5
Claiming an Education by Adrienne
Rich
Having read the 1977 convocation speech
by Adrienne Rich, entitled “Claiming an Education”, I realized that the fight
for women’s rights have gone a long way since then.
In her speech addressing a class of graduating women at
Douglass College, the overall tone comes across as being anti-male. For example, she says
“What you can learn
here (and I mean not only at Douglass but any college in any university) is how
men have perceived and organized their experience, their history, their ideas
of social relationships, good and evil, sickness and health, etc. When you read
or hear about "great issues," "major texts," "the
mainstream of Western thought," you are hearing about what men, above all
white men, in their male subjectivity, have decided is important.”
Considering that the first women’s
rights movement was started in 1848 as a side issue to that of antislavery,
today, in 2014, that is 166 years later, women enjoy a great amount of freedom
of choice. Invariably, any gains made
throughout the years were a direct result of their courage and persistence. I do think that rather than paint “man” as an obstacle to women’s rights, she should have made a more positive impact on
the graduating class by reinforcing their need for courage and
persistence. After all, most, if not
all, of the graduating class of women would be working in environments alongside
of man.
Since 1948, women’s rights
movements have pushed for equality in different areas where men have an established
track record. Among these areas are
politics, economic and social status. In
2014, I can see many examples of how much women have accomplished since 1848 –
not necessarily by battling man but by shear courage and persistence. Take for example,
·
- The freedom of choice to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. While not sanctioned by all women due to different ethical, religious and social beliefs, it remains to be a right that is available for women that so choose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act)
- There are 36 women governors that have served, or are serving, as governors of US States - this is a published public statistic as of 2013. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_governors_in_the_United_States)
- Hillary Clinton, a US Senator representing the State of New York, served in the current Obama Administration as Secretary of State until she resigned her position to potentially seek the presidency of the US in 2016 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/hillary-clinton) –this is the highest position a female can attain in the US.
- The number of women Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) leading major Fortune 500 companies (such as General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, etc.) is 23 – this is a published statistic as of July 2013 (http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24696574/23) -female-ceos-running-fortune-500-companies Traditionally, these positions would have been occupied by men. These unique women are in these positions as a result of their courage, perseverance and unparalleled skills in management.
- The number of women serving as presidents of Universities and Colleges is now 23% of all University/College Presidents (http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/06/female-college-presidents-forbes-woman-power-women-tenure.html)
- In my opinion, there is no better example of women achieving more equality with men than them serving in active duty in the more recent wars involving the US. Women are seen as fighter pilots fighting side-by-side with male pilots – having the same responsibilities and duties as their counterpart men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_military)
In conclusion, being a woman
myself, I strongly feel and believe that women will continue to succeed in
their quest for their voice to be heard in issues that have for many years
being debated. Only through persistence
and courage will they be able to accomplish their goals.
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