We Stand On The Shoulders of Giants

When I was in my twenties, I, too, was a reluctant feminist.

The women of the television network at which I was employed were organizing to advocate for equal pay for equal work. Not long ago that was an issue in almost all news organizations and we were the first major network to take up the cause. There was self-interest involved in my joining, of course, but there was also a feeling of shared purpose and empowerment which permeated the atmosphere at those meetings. We were, initially, a pretty small group, although as we began to succeed it grew exponentially.

But in my private life I was much more ambivalent. I was in a very traditional relationship and enjoyed the benefits of being a pampered and adored little china doll. In addition, I was not raised in a consciously feminist family, although, looking back, I can see that my mother was sending out signals that she was not completely satisfied with her role in the family and in her life. She had quit work quite readily to become a wife and mother. That was her dream and she had enjoyed none of the jobs she had held. Still, she resisted teaching me any household skills. I asked her to teach me to cook many times, but her answer was always that it was easier to do it herself than to show somebody else how to do it. That, and the occasional aside that she hoped I would have much more important things to do with my life. She didn't say that often, though. For the most part, I was raised in a very "traditional" family as far as gender roles were concerned. There were some women teachers whom I emulated, but for the most part I had few liberated models on which to pattern my life.

All that was not that long ago, but probably longer than I would like to admit. As far as many of my women students are concerned, though, it's ancient history. I see them waffling in many of the ways I once did--liberated when it suits them and uber-feminine when that has an advantage. Many of them are bored or contemptuous when issues of particular importance to women are raised. It's easy for them to be that way. All their battles have already been fought for them.

President Obama, who has taken the words from numerous predecessors, likes to point out that he has gotten where he is today because he "stands on the shoulders of giants." It is true for him, and it is true for me as a woman, and for all my students who now can toss off the benefits and rewards that others have fought so hard for them to achieve.

It was not even a century ago that women, after at least a hundred years of struggle, finally got the right to vote. My great grandmother told me with pride that she never let my great grandfather know who she voted for. That was her little secret, and one of the ways she could exercise her independent judgment. Neither my students nor I had to march and struggle or be force-fed in prison because we had the right to vote given to us, giftwrapped, from our forebears.

Because of people like me, my students won't have to struggle as hard to receive equal pay for equal work. That issue still hasn't disappeared entirely, but significant inroads have been made.

Women today no longer accept that they have to suffer abuse at the hands of a spouse or family member or submit to rape, afraid to report it because of the consequences. Women today take it for granted that they may pursue any career they are qualified to pursue.

Women today are free to disdain or ignore the struggles and triumphs of their predecessors.

Women like my students and I are standing on the shoulders of giants.