Monday, January 27, 1997
By Suzanne Karpilovsky
Daily Bruin Contributor
"Because a woman’s work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid
or boring or repetitious and what we look like is more important
than what we do …
Because if we stand up for our rights we’re aggressive and
‘unfeminine’ and if we don’t we’re typically weak females … for
lots and lots of different reasons, we are part of the feminist
movement."
The reasons outlined above constitute the mission statement of
FEM, UCLA’s feminist newsmagazine. FEM defines feminism as the
"not-so-radical belief that both genders are equally capable to
make their own choices."
Women fought for that equality of choice in the voting booths in
the 1920s. Having won the right to participate in the election
process, they shifted their focus in the ’60s to challenging sexism
in a largely male-dominated work force. In the ’90s, feminism
focuses not only on maintaining the right of equality in the
working world but also on lessening the gap between men and women
over wages and personal treatment.
Since it is now illegal to discriminate against women, it is
often difficult to see direct evidence of injustice or
repression.
"As a movement, feminism seems to have lost its sense of
urgency. Women are becoming doctors, engineers and lawyers now
 this was rare in the ’60s," said Marcia Long, a third-year
economics student.
While more and more women are hired for executive positions each
year, it might be tempting to say that there is a growing trend
toward full-scale female representation in the work force; however,
this is an assumption Ruth Bloch, chair of the UCLA women’s studies
department, feels is premature.
Bloch cautions, "We shouldn’t act as though it’s a trend.
(However) women’s gains in Congress are a powerful illustration of
something different from the ’80s. It’s very unusual for our state
(California) to have two women senators (Diane Feinstein and
Barbara Boxer), something no other state in the union has."
Currently, Congress has nine women out of 100 members of the
Senate, the same number as last year. In the House of
Representatives, women gained three new seats this year, allowing
females 51 of the 435 seats available.
When it comes to climbing the rungs of the socio-economic
ladder, Bloch said, "When you look at the broad picture, there are
very few women at the top (of corporate organizations)."
Bloch’s declaration is reinforced by the statistic that 95
percent of all executives in this country are white men. And
despite the fact that it is illegal to determine wages on the
exclusive basis of gender, federal statistics show that women still
earn the equivalent of 72 cents for every male dollar.
However, while women’s gains are surfacing at a slow rate,
recent efforts have been notable.
Women constituted 22 percent of the campus-wide total of UCLA
faculty members during the 1995-96 school year, according to the
Office of Academic Planning and Budget. While this number may still
sound low, the advancement of large numbers of women into academia
was something relatively unheard of even a few decades ago.
As with any large-scale social movement, the women’s movement
advances on a relatively slow and steady pace from year to year.
However, the gains from the past that determine women’s equality in
present-day society suggest that feminism is vital today not only
for the preservation of current rights but also to improve those of
future generations.
"Some women feel they have reached their positions solely based
on individual merit and not (on) the women’s movement. However,
they wouldn’t be where they are were it not for the women’s
movement," Bloch said.
Although the origin and continuation of feminism serves to
ensure women’s equality, the movement has been portrayed to center
on male-bashing and is a favorite target of Rush Limbaugh, as
exemplified by his use of the word "feminazi."
Bloch confirms that "many women don’t classify themselves as
feminists because they are afraid of being perceived as man-haters
… Many men are threatened by the prospect of independent
women."
Robert Kaplinsky, a first-year applied mathematics student,
rejects the idea that feminism is anti-male.
"I define feminism as a belief in the general equality of
women," he said. "I would consider myself a feminist."