Generation M: Misogyny in Media & Culture - Trailer - Available on DVD

The other day I was studying the face of George Washington on a dollar bill and made the simple revelation: there are no representations of women (with the exception of Susan B. Anthony) on any U.S. currency. Certainly not a new revelation, I know, [nor is the absence of female presidents] but a heightened awareness for me nonetheless. The thought prompted my reflection on an article I read in the Washington Post (Sunday 2/21/10) written by Jessica Valenti about equality for women in America still being an illusion:

Every day, we hear about the horrors women endure in other countries: rape in Darfur, genital mutilation in Egypt, sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. We shake our heads, forward e-mails and send money. We have no problem condemning atrocities done to women abroad, yet too many of us in the United States ignore the oppression on our doorstep. We're suffering under the mass delusion that women in America have achieved equality. And why not -- it's a feel-good illusion. We cry with Oprah and laugh with Tina Fey; we work and take care of our children; we watch Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice proudly and sigh with relief, believing we've come so far. But we're basking in a "girl power" moment that doesn't exist -- it's a mirage of equality that we've been duped into believing is the real thing. Because despite the indisputable gains over the years, women are still being raped, trafficked, violated and discriminated against -- not just in the rest of the world, but here in the United States. And though feminists continue to fight gender injustices, most people seem to think that outside of a few lingering battles, the work of the women's movement is done.

Valenti goes on to paint a very grim but real picture of the statistics of violence against women as well as more subtle forms of oppression happening: women only holding 17 percent of the seats in Congress, abortion being legal but with 85% of counties in the U.S. as having no provider (and now certain states traumatize women even further by making them view an ultrasound before getting an abortion -- btw, where is the impregnator's responsibility in that one?), and the continuance of the gender pay gap - women work outside the home, but make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and, according to Valenti, 'make up the majority of Americans living in poverty.' She calls it an epidemic of sexism or "enlightened sexism" as author Susan Douglas puts it.

It's not just women talking about this epidemic of sexism either (thank God). I am praising the work of professor Thomas Keith after discovering his 2008 documentary called Generation M: Misogyny in Media & Culture. In it, he tracks the 'destructive dynamics of misogyny across a broad and disturbing range of media phenomena: including the hyper-sexualization of commercial products aimed at girls, the explosion of violence in video games aimed at boys, the near-hysterical sexist rants of hip-hop artists and talk radio shock jocks, and the harsh, patronizing caricatures of femininity and feminism that reverberate throughout the mainstream of American popular culture.'

He gets it. And I know there are a lot of wonderful men out there who get it too.

Jessica Valenti is stern but she is right:

We act as if the hatred directed at women is something that can be dealt with by a stern talking to, as if the misogyny embedded in our culture is an unruly child rather than systematic oppression. Yes, women today fare better than our foremothers. But the benchmarks so often cited -- the right to vote, working outside the home, laws that make domestic violence illegal -- don't change the reality of women's lives. They don't prevent 1 million women from being raped, female troops from being assaulted or the continued legal discrimination against gay and transgender people. And seriously, are American women really supposed to be satisfied with the most basic rights of representation? Thrilled that our country has deigned to consider us fully human?

There is so much more work to be done. The truth is, most women don't have the privilege of being able to look at gender justice from a distance; they have no choice but to live it every day. Those of us who are lucky enough not to have to think about sexism, racism, poverty and homophobia on a daily basis -- those of us who have the privilege of sending money to an international cause via e-mail while ignoring the plight of women here at home -- have a responsibility to open our eyes to the misogyny right in front of us. And then to stop it.

I realize this notion of feminism and the idea of equality for other genders could be alienating and threatening especially when you're not used to sharing power. But it really doesn't have to be. There really is enough for everybody and wouldn't the world be a completely different place (and better in my opinion) if we tipped the scales a bit? Guys, we need you, we need your help to stop this violence and oppression against women…it starts with you.