L'homme est l'avenir de la femme

Fifty years after Simone de Beauvoir's revolutionary work, where does feminism stand today? First were the years of flamboyant militant feminism, then the decade of the triumphant career woman, followed by several dark years of backlash and the more recent emergence of a feminism of the working class. Today we are witnessing the "return of the macho" as the male of the species seeks to regain his hypothetical loss of masculine pride. The popular female image seems to vacillate between innocent victim or sexual object and heroic icon who promises to renew politics, business and world humanity. Women, it is said today, can save the world. What most seem to forget is that the greatest form of feminism is humanitarian. A feminism that accepts and rejoices in the differences between men and woman while proclaiming these differences do not define everything. A woman has a lot more in common with a man who shares her ideas than with a fellow female who does not. Our identities are not confined to a single mold. They are varied and fluctuate with our times. The gentle, inviting, passive male is no less a man nor is the aggressive, headstrong woman less feminine. The most exciting thing about feminism today should be in our efforts to embrace the greatest possible number of ways to be a woman, and a man.