A branch of the feminist movement has a new marketing strategy: Exploiting young girls.
FCKH8.com, a t-shirt company that promotes human rights, recently released an appalling video featuring five young girls dressed as princesses spewing feminist ideology and prolific profanity to promote female empowerment. The f-word (no, not “feminism”) was thrown around carelessly to advance a simple thesis: The war on women is more offensive than children constantly repeating the f-word.
Other feminists are much less severe. In her September United Nations speech, Emma Watson provided a more reasonable form of feminism. But regardless of its intensity, feminism possesses an inherent paradox that tries to empower women in a way that is actually destructive. The “Potty-Mouthed Princesses” video demonstrates this paradox.
On one hand, feminism portrays women as independent figures. Women do not need men; women are fully equal to men; women possess their own person. The video showed this asserted independence through the brash attitudes of the young girls. Girls cannot be princesses because princesses need a knight in shining armor to save them. Instead, the video argues that girls must employ vulgar words and sassy attitudes to assert their independence.
On the other, feminism portrays women as victims of a sexist, male-dominated society and, thus, worthy of multiple consolatory benefits. This mainstream view of justice, as articulated by John Rawls’ “A Theory of Justice,” seeks to elevate the least advantaged in society. They must receive equality through the redistribution of goods such as wealth and respect. Because women are oppressed, the feminists say, they deserve these social goods. Women need men to ignore immodest clothing; women need equal pay; women need society to pay for the consequences of unrestrained sexual activity. Thus, the empowerment of women comes through the satisfaction of these needs.
Relying on both dependence and independence is a shaky foundation for feminist ideology. Nevertheless, the little potty-mouthed princesses cite skewed statistics about pay inequality and rape, calling on society to give them their appropriate social goods.
My heart aches for these young girls. In these formative years of their lives, they have been taught that foul language is empowering, that they can dress however they want, and that their empowerment will ultimately come from outside of themselves. They are starting to believe that society must change for women to reach their full potential. Yet this video — and feminism generally — lacks actual measures to advance female empowerment.
The video commands the following reform: “Stop telling girls how to dress, and start teaching boys not to f—ing rape.” Though rape is certainly a heinous crime, this feminist teaching doesn’t empower women. Instead, it turns women into victims without any constructive advice on the problem of sexual assault. What, then, is empowering? Women can exercise their 2nd Amendment right and dress in such a way that protects their dignity. Both of these measures are empowering because they are things women themselves can control.
On a more decent note, the video urges society to value women’s intellects more than their bodies. Though I agree with this thinking, I fear that when these young girls become older, there is a good chance that they will be highly pressured to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As a female pursuing a STEM major, I am supposed to be in favor of this movement. But pushing girls to enter STEM fields can oppose their true good. Young women and men — for this is in no way limited to women — should pursue careers that interest them, satisfy them, and comport with their abilities. These decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. If they find that math makes them miserable, then why should they give in to society’s pressures? Instead, these girls should know that they have the power to cultivate their talents and pursue disciplines in both the arts and the sciences. More important, a woman’s career is not the sole panacea of society’s oppression; marriage and family life bring happiness.
If the feminist movement actually wants to empower women, then it must focus on the things which women can actually control. Though I am not a feminist, I certainly support educating girls about respecting themselves, protecting their dignity, and cultivating their talents. When FCKH8.com demands that society must conform to feminist ideals, especially with an unnecessary bombardment of profanity, they only advance anger, frustration, and hate, not empowerment.
