ROCHESTER, NY – Many feminist campaigns urge workplace reforms to allow women to attain upper-level positions in America’s companies. Other groups study gender roles and definitions at the scholarly level. Rochester resident Ashleigh Kelling and founder of the Rochester Area Women’s Dating Rights Association (RAWDRA), advocates feminist reform in the social sphere, citing it as the point where “the rubber meets the road.”
Kelling, despite donning a smart pinstripe jacket, is no stranger to jocularity and maintains that both sexes should do their part in “breaking the ice” in preparation for “hooking up,” terms meaning, respectively, “lightening the mood” and “dating.” According to Kelling, dating is “Easier and more fun for everyone if both parties join in the joking.”
When asked what this had to do with feminism, Kelling replied, “Women have too long been passive recipients of largely uncreative pick-up attempts. Many have accepted that role as normative, when the truth is that women possess the capability to initiate contact and deserve the power to determine their own dating agendas, rather than wait on the whim of some man.”
“It’s an issue of social equality. Women want equality in the workplace, but that equality starts here, in basic social interactions,” Kelling continued, “This is about changing attitudes.”
Critics of Kelling’s position mainly regard it as insignificant. “An empowered woman can easily change a social situation. Institutionalized problems ought to be the focus of serious feminist activity,” said one. Others see Kelling and RAWDRA as counter-productive, attacking Kelling’s approach to empowerment, which entails women paying for dates and buying men gifts equivalent to jewelry such as video game consoles.
Kelling, known as AJ to his friends, responded to these accusations in a recent interview by saying, “Hey, chicks should pitch in too, that’s all I’m saying. I’m not putting out for some girl who only wants me for my wallet. Unless she’s really hot, then maybe.”
He adds, “I hope this message gets out so some ladies show up to the next RAWDRA meeting. I’m sick of just playing beer pong with Mark and Kevin.”
