The Feminist Bandwagon

Forgive me for jumping on the bandwagon, and most of you are probably tired of hearing the arguments from this so called feminist debate, but I just couldn’t resist having my say as well after reading the article and comments that appeared on the Guardian website, along with the comments from CUSU representatives.

As a woman I feel I have the authority to say that I find Miss Rowenna Davis’ ‘argument’, or lack there of, and the various comments supporting it completely ludicrous. They are vilifying the young male founders of the Tab for ‘promoting’ sexism by posting scantily clad women on their website, and making out that the women themselves, specifically, ‘the pink bikinied model’, are victims of their misogynistic regime. This I find much more insulting and degrading to women. Are we so pathetic, naïve and easily led that we need the so called minority of intelligently sound women, like those within CUSU, to protect us by taking away our personal freedom, not even allowing any young woman to have the choice of whether to take her clothes off or not for a publication? Are we so subjugated that when we choose to do something that perhaps another woman wouldn’t do, it must be because a man influenced us in our decision? For god’s sake, can we not give ourselves some credit? We need to face the fact that some women actually want to pose provocatively for the cameras, for whatever reasons, while other women find it repulsive. For those in the latter category, it is not your place to tell these women what they can and can’t do, particularly those intellectuals from Cambridge who actually might have made an informed decision. For those in the former, you need to take responsibility for your actions and try not to pass it off as someone else’s mistake.

I find it a real shame that the integrity of women has been undermined, not by other women taking off their kit, but by those women who think that they shouldn’t even be given the opportunity to. By those women who believe the models have been coerced by much more powerful, influential men than themselves (three of the richest students in Cambridge my arse).

I find it a real shame that these women feel so powerless in combating the real feminist issues within Cambridge that they attack a student run tabloid paper and the men and women who have worked hard to make it happen – but then again, I suppose it’s easier to tackle the little people than it is the establishment.