The Peripatetic Feminist Activist/Professor Spends One Day in a Small City in Albania

A class in Albania in 2011 began with the often counter-intuitive idea among students that women are people in the same sense that men are, with their own subjectivities, motives, griefs, and desires which extend beyond their connection to men. The most interesting moment comes after the lecture when one young woman explains why she is loyal to patriarchal culture, why she wants to serve her brothers as they expect to be served: They love her, send her to school, protect her. Must she give this up to be a feminist? Snitow is moved and responds that a feminism that demands breaking with those we love is a poor feminism indeed. One must understand one’s situation with a feminist sensibility and find entry points for change to build rather than destroy deep human relationships. Feminism is about the good life.