entitlement

Entitlement-for my generation (“Y?” or are we just unnamed?), there has been a lot of negative talk about how we feel entitled to everything. If I am part of the “Y” generation, my understanding of it has been that it is Y in a sense of the question- why? Or why not? Especially said in a whiny tone. We assume we should be handed things- jobs, money, happiness. In the readings this week entitlement was mentioned a few times in reference to the 3rd wave. I am thankfully part of a generation of women who grew up with a lot of overt feminist influence. Overt in a way that I can yell back at my harassers on the street, I can choose to flaunt my sexuality for my own pleasure or not-depending on who I am portraying that day. I do feel entitled to my rights as a woman, but I don’t see this as a negative thing. I don’t think that means that I passively accept my role as a woman and I do feel strongly about moving women’s rights forward. And if the things my foremothers fought for (voting, the right to choose, equality in the workplace) were threatened, I do think there would be a vocal outcry.
All of this was in mind while reading about the “Bad Girls” show(s) of 1994. Although, I don’t remember this show, the idea of “bad girls” and riot grrrls and even girl power all influenced the way I grew up. Some of the criticism for this show written by Jan Avgikos seemed to ring false to me. Avgikos has a problem with the idea of putting together art by mainly women artists that is funny. My understanding of this criticism is that Avgikos believes the art won’t be taken seriously if it is funny. I love the idea of funny art made by women, in our culture women are never considered (or allowed) to be funny the way that men are. In a recent pop-culture podcast I listen to, 2 female comedians started a group for women comics called “Offensive Women.” They felt they had to do this because there is a serious shortage of female comedians who are taken seriously. Another piece of criticism that Avgikos offers is that the didactic of good girl/bad girl doesn’t exist anymore, so the show is put together on a false premise. The idea that girls don’t have to worry about this didactic anymore is ridiculous. I realize that it may be better now than in 1950, but it is still an issue. Just last week an article in the NYTimes discussed how this topic is still relevant. The grown up version of this- whore/prude is still active too, why else would women who dress in a revealing manner get blamed for getting raped? But that leads to a whole different discussion….