Q: What is a Liberated Woman?
Question:
10-11-2005
Please tell me what a liberated woman is. I keep hearing it and I want to use the term correctly. I would pay you but you are a Hi5 friend so you'll tell me free right?
Cris T.
Answer:
10-11-2005
The basics to being a “Liberated Woman” are stated in our mission statement. You can also read my article "A view from within the shadows" which is posted under “Liberations” on the side menu in order to give you a better idea.
To me, being Liberated involves many different things including feelings, ways of thinking and social issues. Mainly it involves changing my way of thinking and acting towards others and myself. It is not the same as being feminist because a feminist is someone who thinks women deserve equal rights as men. Being Liberated is more than just believing in equal rights and equal treatment, it is changing the way you think. A Liberated man or woman tries not to judge people on the basis of gender or race. We try seeing people for people—for who they are.
There are many factors that affect men and women today that we try to correct. Among them are that many men and women call themselves Liberated or Modern; however, they still feel that it is the woman’s job is to cook or clean and/or they think that the man is the head of the house. For example, my father helps around the house, he cleans and he cooks every once and a while. He does it because my mother works and it is too much for one person to handle. The problem is that, he feels that it isn’t his job to do those things but he does it because my mom makes him. My mom makes him help out because it is too much for her; however, she thinks that the man is the head of the house and that my father should have the last word. As you can see neither one of my parents is “Liberated”. Being liberated is not just changing what you do but also what you think. My parents are working together and sharing the chores. This is the right course of action but they do not have the right mentality; thus, they are NOT Liberated.
In my opinion, when two people get married they become one, not one ruling over the other. It should not be that the man has the final opinion, but that both parties come to a mutual agreement as partners—as equals. Also, we refuse to feel guilty for having a family and a career. We believe we can have both, but we need to have balance and we need to share responsibilities in order to make it work.
Society has an ideal for the roles of a man and a woman. Being Liberated means changing these ideals within yourself and not living by them. We dislike these generalizations and we try to not allow them to affect us. We want to change bias, stereotypes and double standards within ourselves so that, through us, we can change these factors for future generations.
Sincerely,
Ana M. Rivera
LWC
posted by anbiator @ 12:25 PM
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