Newswise — Author and social commentator Barbara Ehrenreich, in a speech to the Class of 2004 at Barnard on Tuesday, May 18, called for a "new kind of feminism" to counter the images of American female soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners in Iraq.
Ehrenreich said photos from Abu Ghraib prison, which she described as sickening, demand a response by women that includes a moral vision. She said the goal of gender equality remains an important one but it alone will not help women who hope to change institutions like the military through their presence and accomplishments.
"Secretly, I hoped that the presence of women would eventually change the military, making it more respectful of other people and cultures, more capable of genuine peace keeping," she told the 580 graduates and their families at the commencement ceremony on the New York City campus.
But she concluded "sadly and irreversibly" after seeing the pictures of Pfc. Lynndie England and Specialist Sabrina Harman humiliating and abusing detainees in Iraq that: "Women do not change institutions simply by assimilating into them."
"What we need is a tough new kind of feminism with no illusions,' said Ehrenreich, who noted that three of the seven soldiers charged with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib are women. "We need a kind of woman who doesn't want to be one of the boys when the boys are acting like sadists or fools."
She urged the graduates, as the brightest of their generation, to become tough-minded activists for change. "It is not enough to assimilate," she said. "We need to create a world worth assimilating into," noting that feminism is under attack around the globe. "We cannot successfully confront that threat without a moral vision that goes beyond gender equality. To cite an old - and far from naïve - feminist saying: 'If you think equality is the goal, your standards are too low.'"
Ehrenreich's dozen books include the 2001 bestseller about poverty among low-wage workers, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America.
Barnard President Judith Shapiro presented the Barnard Medal of Distinction to two women of outstanding achievement, oceanographer Sylvia A. Earle and Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Glück. Click here to read the citations honoring these women.
Shapiro urged the graduates in her commencement address to use their diploma as a starting point for "responsible and meaningful participation in a democratic society" and to consider running for political office to increase the number of women among the country's top leadership.
"You are graduating from college in no ordinary year," Shapiro said. "It's 2004 and there's a war going on. It's 2004 and the level of unrest in the world far exceeds the level of the calm. It's 2004 and there's a presidential election in six months. It's 2004 and you are in charge of your lives in ways you've never been before.
"As involved citizens with much at stake, you must aspire to be good leaders and you must choose leaders whom you can respect and be inspired by. The liberal education that that piece of paper - that diploma - represents is an excellent start."
The graduates received the B.A. in several dozen fields, many of them with double or even triple majors, from anthropology, architecture and dance to economics, environmental studies, neuroscience and theatre. On average, Barnard graduates 27 percent of its senior class in the sciences. The most popular fields of study are Economics, Political Science, English, and Psychology.
Earle and Glück joined an impressive group of past Barnard graduation honorees, including Annie Leibovitz, Madeleine K. Albright, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Maya Lin, Marian Wright Edelman and Mario M. Cuomo.
To read Ehrenreich's full speech, please visit: http://www.barnard.edu/newnews/news051804d.html
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