My Daughter, the Free Thinker

My youngest daughter was over recently to get some help with a car deal she has going on. I made her some food, she turned on the nickelodeon cartoons, (I guess they won't outgrow it) and we spent some time together. Sometimes I have conversations with my daughters that make me think, DAMN!!!! I did all right! This is one of those:

E: Mom. Do you think I am weird because I think the Women's Plaza of Honor is a stupid idea?
Me: What the heck is that?
E: We went there during class the other day. It's this plaza, and it has flowers and benches and stuff, and it has stories of women who did different things.
Me: Huh. And you didn't like it?
E: We went to see it and when we were walking away, everyone was saying how great that the U of A did that, and it's so great to see women who did things, and I said Well I think it's stupid. Then everybody looked at me like I was crazy and I said, Why should it have to be because they are women?
Me: That's my girl!! :::clapping:::
E: So I'm not crazy? Because they were all looking at me like I was anti-feminist or something.
Me: No, you are probably the only one that knows what feminism really is.
E: I was trying to explain why I thought it was stupid, and I said that they made it a big deal because they did these great things and EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE WOMEN. (said with eyes wide and dripping with sarcasm.)
Me: That's exactly right. When you single out a group of women and make a big deal about how they made certain accomplishments, that's the patriarchy in action.
E: It's like it was shocking they did important things, we have to make a plaza!
Me: Yep. It is an outright insult, and it's demeaning because what it says is, You are not equal. If you do great things, and you are a woman, you must be recognized separately, because it's not normal for women to do great things. So as long as we keep doing things like this and drawing attention to the fact that these are exceptions to the rule, then our role as women remains "less than."
E: But why didn't anybody else see that? Why were they looking at me like I was crazy?
Me: Because they aren't conscious of the patriarchy. They aren't AWAKE.
E: My professor seemed like he kind of got it. He said hmmm, I see what you are saying.
Me: That's good!

Both of my daughters have told me stories like this - observations they have made that something is ridiculous or insulting, and when they point it out, all they get dumbfounded looks of what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about. So I say keep making those observations! Keep talking them out with people, and keep thinking them through! When you look at something, and your gut says, This isn't right! Keep thinking about it and talking about it until you can articulate what's wrong! If ever there is a time when our culture doesn't notice someone's gender, whether they have or haven't done something remarkable, then we will know we're making progress toward equality.