sexism, feminism and falling from the sky

It has been too long since my last post; this is partly due to long hours at the music school and partly due to the fact that I have been trying to figure the best way to write about my field trip. Last week, our history prof took us two hours from Cape Town to a Moravian Church mission site. Feeling more hungover than enthusiastic about the day, we were as positive as we knew at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning. Upon arrival, we were taken to the first museum, where tea and coffee sat awaiting consumption. In the museum was an exhibit dedicated entirely to women. Wonderful! So I thought before I read the blasphemy covering the walls. 

As (hopefully) you know, I am a Gannon Scholar and the focus of the Gannon program at Loyola is to empower and help develop strong women leaders on campus. Leaving that environment and coming to a place in this world where women have entirely different roles, I had to prepare myself to be an active learner, all the while being respectful of the new cultures to which I was going to be exposed. 

Looking at the exhibit, my stomach turned. Museum guests are greeted by a cardboard cutout of a Barbie-like figure churning butter with a sign that read “Welcome to my kitchen.” Taking a deep breath, I continued to explore the room. I came across a poster of what the Christian Bible says: “Let women learn in silence with all submissiveness. Permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent, “ 1 TIM 2: 11-12. “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church,” 1 COR 14:34-35. These were just two of ten displayed. I didn’t think much of this because I learned of this years ago. What I was extremely offended by was the exhibit on feminism and the modern woman. It read:

“The feminist movement of the twentieth century assaulted traditional Christian values for women. Whereas women traditionally fulfilled support roles and gained their greatest joy and sense of accomplishment from being wives and mothers, today many have abandoned their homes for the higher-paying and supposedly more prestigious jobs of the work force outside the home. Traditional sexual morality has given way to promiscuity with women often in the role of the aggressor. Gentle, quiet women have become self-assertive and hostile, boldly demanding their “rights.” Divorce is rampant, with women frequently initiating separation and divorces…”

The images of “the modern woman” were thin, but hour-glass shaped women in flashy gowns with idiotic captions. “I can make a dress out of my traffic tickets,” one read. And another, “Too much socializing left me feeling like a hangover queen.” Some more offended than others, all of my classmates were shocked. This was the beginning of my longest day in what I conceptualized as my hell.

After an hour or so, I broke my silence and respectively attempted to engage in intelligent discourse with the museum manager. I thought perhaps we could learn from one another. False. I was getting nowhere with him and he couldn’t understand why any woman could ever be offended, assuming she knew her true role. As our discussion continued, I felt him concentrating his misogynist eyes into mine so deeply that he might burst me into flames and ash. During and after our lunch, he made several condescending remarks to my female peers and myself. Two o’clock didn’t come fast enough for us to embark on our journey home and never turn back.  

While not my ideal Saturday, I think it was important for me as a Women & Gender Studies student and Gannon scholar to experience this. I did learn a lot that day, and it was actually humbling. I still think about how that man made me feel, and put that into context when examining race relations in South Africa post apartheid. While I have learned of South Africa’s progress since 1994, racism is everywhere you turn. The townships, the night clubs, the schools: segregation seems almost natural to a lot of people here. What I felt that day was not even 1/10 of what people here experience on a daily basis. I believe it is important to remind ourselves of issues like these to put things into perspective. 

On a lighter note, that weekend capped off better than it started. A group of us went skydiving on the most beautiful of days. My friend Diana and I went together with our instructors in the tiniest plane I’ve ever seen. It must have been one of those “laugh at funeral” nervous days because I was hysterical the entire 20 minute plane ride up to the drop point. I couldn’t stop laughing for the life of me for absolutely no reason. My instructor kept asking me if I was nervous, but I wasn’t. I just couldn’t believe what I was about to do: and I found it hilarious. The door opened and he whispered in my ear, “I bet you’re nervous now…” We did a flip out of the plane and even more flips and twirls after. Falling from the sky was as incredible as the view: the mountains, the ocean, Robben Island, the sand dunes…I can’t wait to do it again.