- Telling a woman she should do something
is actually anti-feminist.
(participant laughing)
We're told all the time
from so many people what we should be, how we should act.
So the question in itself goes
against what I believe is a feminist, anyway.
(upbeat music)
- [Producer] I know how to change a tire, three, two, one.
(bell ringing)
- I know step one through five
but to actually do it,
I don't think I could be confident enough
to just do it, you know?
- [Participant] Yeah, I didn't know
there were five steps anyway, so
that's why I'm here, no.
- I have changed my tire multiple times.
(group applauding and cheering)
Just just shows that I'm not a great driver.
But I learned myself and I had to
because I popped my tire a lot.
- [Producer] Boys and girls should be raised the same way.
Three, two, one.
(bell ringing)
- There shouldn't be any difference
in the fundamental life things that we all should know.
And I think that if we were all raised the same,
there wouldn't be pay differences.
We'd all be on the same slate.
So maybe I'll switch it to agree.
(group laughing)
- I actually don't want kids, but if I were to decide
to do that, I would want them to grow up
in that environment where there's no difference
between you two.
You don't have a curfew that she doesn't have
or vice versa.
- I agree with you.
But I also think that we have...
Where we are now, we wish there was a perfect world.
So we wanna raise our kids
and say, "Treat everyone the same."
Yes, absolutely, you treat everyone the same
but recognize that not everyone believes that way.
And if we teach our boys the responsibility
that they have, not taking advantage
of someone when they've had too much
to drink, I just think that there's an awareness
that you have to teach boys being men
and also girls, becoming women.
- [Producer] Every woman should be a feminist.
Three, two, one.
(bell ringing)
- I just think that feminism
in recent years have just become extreme.
- Well it's like the sixties.
It's like if you're a feminist
then like you're anti-man, what?
- I don't think it should be anti-man,
I think we should all be empowering men
to support women too.
- Right.
- And bringing them into the conversation
and I think right now, feminism is like,
"We don't need you," but we do.
- I agree with that.
But also, I think that women have been put down for so long
that we kind of need to go a little bit extreme
in the opposite direction just so that we can come
to the middle,
because otherwise the men aren't going
to meet us in the middle.
- Well feminism by default is sort of the idea
to make decisions for yourself
and what fuels you
and telling a woman she should do something
is actually anti-feminist.
(participant laughing)
So (chuckles), because we're told all the time
from so many people what we should be, how we should act,
how we should address, how we should communicate.
So the question in itself goes
against what I believe is a feminist, anyway.
- [Producer] I believe abortion should be legal.
Three, two, one.
- Oh, here we go.
- Hi, guys.
(group laughing)
I think it's circumstantial
because I do believe there are instances
where if the mother is going to be severely harmed
by a birth where abortion would be okay, in my belief.
And I think the exception also, would be
in the cases of rape.
But all other circumstances where you made a choice,
I'm pro-life, I think we all deserve a chance at life.
- So I definitely second that, I agree with that statement.
But I feel like the heavier restrictions
that are placed on it
by our government, just dictating what we can do
with our bodies is really infuriating.
And then seeing people who have kids
and resent it for the rest of their lives
and raising children
that they never wanted, it's frustrating.
- So do you think that those parents
that are struggling with raising their children,
that they didn't have the option for adoption
or other ways?
- It depends, for a lot of cultures, adoption is not okay.
So they would not be able to do that.
- [Producer] I don't mind strangers flirting with me.
Three, two, one.
- Tastefully, is the word that comes to mind.
I enjoy a tasteful, "You look fantastic," right.
- That's true, if it's wanted, it's fine.
But then, you can't mind-read, how would you know?
We've all had bad flirting experiences.
But then, I'm thinking, there's a couple I've had
where they're like,
"Excuse me, I just wanna let you know you're very beautiful.
Please have a nice day."
And I'm like, "Okay, thank you," (chuckles) you know?
Something like that, that's short and sweet
and there's no expectation.
I think that's the thing.
- I mean, and I'm from New York
so I'm just like automatically
on autopilot like, "Don't talk to me, don't look
at me," my whole life you have the cat calls
but you have the derogatory cat calls
or if I don't look at you, if I don't speak to you,
I'm a B, I'm all these things.
But it's like if I did give you the time of day,
then what would I be?
- And I don't think every guy is like that
but it's just so much easier and safer to just assume.
- Yeah, to assume that nothing is...
And it's not a good way to live, obviously.
But that's just-
- Well, because then my question is,
is who gets let in
and how do you determine who gets let in
and how do you function in-
- If they start the, I guess relationship
in a non-romantic or sexual way.
If it's not like a flirty-
- Yeah, it's not a threatening-
- You just meet people at places
and they just talk to you, yeah.
And just talk to you like a normal person.
- [Producer] I support the #MeToo movement.
Three, two, one.
(bell ringing)
- Well at the heart of it, I think
that the #MeToo movement is about women
that have been in situations, whether it's work
or personal, where they haven't been
in a safe space to speak up or share.
And the burden that's on us
to protect men or other people
by not speaking what has happened
to us can be like PTSD.
It's like traumatic to your system.
I experienced going through being sexually harassed.
And this happened in 2013
and I still have never come out about it.
- Statistically speaking, the number of women
who are raped, there's exponentially more
than who will actually report it.
So when I think about the #MeToo movement,
there's strength in numbers.
You know, when it started, I was like,
"I don't know if I wanna post about this.
I don't know how I feel."
But what it did do was, it gave me the strength
to actually share with someone else.
- I'm realizing as everyone's talking, the reason I'm not
in that line is because when #MeToo was a big movement,
I didn't have the strength or courage to be a part of it.
So in my mind, it's like still there of like if I...
I didn't have the courage to be a part of the movement
and I still don't have the courage to stand in that line.
'Cause that's almost admitting
that I've had multiple things happen, you know?
- And so, you're representing all the other women
that feel the same way.
And so they see you and they relate to you on that.
So you're helping other women by saying that.
- Yeah.
- [Producer] I believe the world would be better
if it were run by women, three, two, one.
(bell ringing)
- Ooh, how is it any different
than saying, "I believe that the world would be better
if it were run by men"?
If we're gonna say that on this token, we get that
on that token, that's not even balanced at all.
- I think what my thought process is, is
in the current state that we're in right now, then I think
that it would be once we get
to the place where we are able
to raise our children the same way
and women aren't afraid to go outside
and guys don't have toxic masculinity
then it's like anybody can run the country
and it's all gonna be the same
because we're all raised the same.
But I think for right now in the place that we're in,
I think women have a better understanding of that.
- But I think it's hard 'cause
when you have little boys that are growing up
that are just not even accountable nor should they be
for things that men, their fathers might have done
or their grandfathers
and then saying like, "Women should be running the world,"
it's the same thing, where how is
that different than
in the 1950s, seven-year-old little girls were told,
"Men should be in positions of power."
- Maybe if we had more women
in leadership in C-suite, in Congress.
If we had more women in leadership, period, it doesn't have
to be running the world maybe,
but if we just had more women,
and women of color, different backgrounds,
if we had more diversity in general
in leadership around the world, it would be a better place.
- That's why I chose this one too
'cause I don't think it should be one or or the other.
I definitely think that
when it's only man-run, they're missing the rest of society.
You can't really operate the world or any government
or leadership if you're not embracing
the second half of society.
- I think the problem
with what some people think feminism is, is
that you have to bring people down
in order to raise people up.
But you don't have to do that.
You can raise women up to be
in positions of power without pushing men down.
And I think that, that is a misconception with feminism.
(group cheering) (group murmuring)
- Hey guys, I'm Kendra.
Thank you so much for watching that episode of Spectrum.
If you like what you saw,
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and we'll see you next time.