It's time for another video post. This is the first time I've EVER used imovie to edit a video so it kind of sucks. But I promise, I will practice :)
This is a continuation of our discussion about sex week, and specifically about an event at the end of sex week where men are asked to walk in high heels for a mile so that they can better understand women (and women's issues).
So what do you think? Do you think this event will achieve what it sets out to? What might be a better way to help people better understand women's experiences?
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I've seen the same type of event organized in other cities (and other countries, for that matter). Needless to say, I absolutely agree with you on how essentialist it is reduce women's experience to walking in high heels. There are better ways to make people think about gender privilege, and this is certainly not one.
I deal with a similar problem when I teach my Gender and Women's Studies classes, and students expect an intro. course to cover the entire spectrum of gender. Yes, we do try to touch on as many issues as possible, but there's a reason for which we have a major in GWS, as well as graduate courses. Taking an intro. class doesn't make you an expert (which some people assume). It only offers you a glimpse into the most relevant discussions about gender, sex, sexuality, etc.
On top of the gender essentialism and emphasis on binaries evidenced in the idea of "walking a mile in women's shoes" I think it's important to emphasize the class bias inherent in identifying high heels as "women's shoes." I'm not an expert or anything, but I think that high heels have been a mark of class status and have typically been worn by working class women only on special occasions - church, holidays, weddings... Just a thought...
I know several years ago some feminist group at UK did a bake sale where they charged more for baked goods to men to demonstrate the unequal pay rates for men v women. I think this very small narrow example is way better than the 'walk a mile in her shoes thing' which doesn't make any point other than high heels suck for everyone.
Maybe next year they can go a cat calling gauntlet of shame walk. Or a 'I carry weaponry or mace or *insert protective item* and stay hyper vigilant at night when I leave bars because some dude could attack me at any moment' maze. Or a 'your physical ailment is really just in yer mind b/c everybody knows women are crazy and emotional' roller coaster ride since women's health issues have never been a concern to the medical community.
Or we could just keep laughing at dudes in heels and pretend that it means something.
Since it is loosely related to the original post, I thought I should bring up something that was on the news today: The new dress code for Morehouse College students. Among other things, I'm really concerned about how this new code discriminates against transitioning MTFs, for example. You can find out more at http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/17/college.dress.code/index.html. The link also includes a video from CNN.
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