By Kathy Blessin
The last time I heard, university was supposed to be a place where people, and in particular, women, would be allowed to express their opinions without being ridiculed. I don’t know what made me think such a thing. It must have been my youthful idealism.
Ironically, my disappointment lies with my fellow female classmates, not with the men of Ryerson. I’ve found that it’s the men that are willing to debate the issues while my fellow females look at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted a penis. It’s sad, but most women I’ve encountered on campus seem to believe that we aren’t supposed ot have formulated opinions about anything. The debt, political parties and social policies are foreign territory, and best left that way. It’s just not proper to think about these things. Leave it to the men.
Why are the women at university so unwilling to talk about the issues? Is it unladylike? Does it require too much thought? I think that it all comes down to the ol’ popularity contest I thought I left behind in high school: Women want friends. They want a social group. They want a man and they want to be accepted. The best way to get this, they think, is to shut up and look pretty, content with petty chit chat as conversation.
Women are still being suppressed. The sad thing is, it isn’t men who are suppressing them. It’s my fellow women who are now constructing the social barriers. This may be a hard concept to grasp being as it seems many Ryerson women are still stuck in the dark ages, but men today are attracted to women who can think for themselves. The best erogenous zone is between the ears, and women today don’t know what they are missing by not gearing up their brain cells.
These women need a good dose of reality. They’re living in a fog. When I mentioned in a class recently that women are still paid only 72 per cent of men’s salaries, the students—especially the females—freaked. “Oh no,” they said. “It’s not like that anymore!” Bullshit. Wake up and smell your foundation. In reality, women are still getting less for more. Still. And you thought this was 1995.
There’s nothing like being shunned for what you believe. Since coming to Ryerson, I’ve had many comments about how “not proper” I am and dthat often what I say is “not expected.” Oh, to be ostracized for speaking my mind! Well, I’d rather have someone comment on my metaphorical “balls” than be stereotyped as a “chick” in the corner checking her hair for split ends. I paid over $2,500 to speak out and learn at this university and I plan on using my power. I demand and expect equal pay (or respect) for equal work and if I have to have “balls” to get it, then so be it. Is that so monstrous?
Women have to start pushing the envelope. Our mothers fought to give us a better life and a respectable position in what, in reality, is still a man’s world. But the repression is still there, and it’s more subtle. And now, unfortunately, it’s coming from the inside, perpetuated by women who can’t or won’t speak up for their rights. Sickening. Not only is this regression distressing, it’s also very sad.
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