The feminist fight at home and abroad

I never thought it would be possible to talk about Governor Sanford and the Iranian protests in the same breath, but here I go. They are both examples of how sexism adversely impacts our lives, not just the lives of women who live in Islamic countries, but women who live in capitalist, democratic societies as well. Excuse me now if this sounds didactic.

Let me start with Iran. I was blown away when I saw many women protesting the elections in chadors! Given the propaganda about the Middle East disseminated by the United States, you would think this was impossible, unthinkable. Indeed, Iranian women were involved, organizing, and at the front lines of this political movement and have not necessarily backed off. Indeed, they've even taken their licks on the front line by the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij! My hats off to these sisters and let's never again that it's the chador that's oppressive. It's the society we all live in (I'm getting back to the U.S. shortly) that's oppressive. No item of clothing can stifle the voice and desires of any woman!

Now let's return to our Atlantic shores. Recall that during the Bush administration, American women were supposed to take a deep breath because we didn't have to wear chadors and were allowed to go to school. How generous! However, how can we ignore the pay differentials between men and women; how can we ignore the fact that women's pay is permanently handicapped if a woman decides to have a child; how can we ignore the fact that many men (not just Sanford and Ensign, or Jon from Jon and Kate + eight) refuse to "man up" to the responsibilities of raising their kids because of their extracurricular activities - yes, raising children is work and they should do some of it. How can we ignore that many women are paying tons of money to implant breasts that look like everyone else's? How can we ignore that women starve themselves to be sexually attractive? How can we ignore that some women will never have access to the educational and living opportunities they deserve because they come from a non-White socioeconomic background. If this doesn't smack of sexism, I don't know what does.

Ultimately, what a particular fight to eliminate sexism is in a society is situational, dependent on time and place. We cannot afford to look abroad and ignore the sexism we experience in our own borders. Yet we should support and cheer on our sisters in countries near and far as they try to alter their lives so that they can have no limits. The struggles go well beyond what we put on our bodies (although these are symbols of what we might be up against - and putting little on our bodies is just as oppressive as covering them up). Let's not forget the lessons of our Iranian sisters!