| Am I a feminist? You bet I am! |
| 28/01/2005 |
Am I a feminist? You bet I am!I often get asked whether I am a feminist - this question always surprises me as I really don’t understand how someone can be an advocate for women’s rights without being a feminist…
feminism
feminist Taken from: dictionary.cambridge.org When I look at those simple definitions, I always fail to comprehend exactly why it is that feminism has got such a bad name, and why it is that we are forced to spend their time justifying why they’re feminists, rather than getting on with campaigning for women’s rights and making a real difference to the lives of millions of women… To me, being a feminist is simple - it means that I recognise that women still don’t get a fair deal in society, that I am opposed to things like the pay gap, violence against women, rape, sexual assault, and so on, that I believe in things like a woman’s right to choose, that No means No, that women should have equal representation in Parliament - and, of course, that I want to do something about it. Surely there’s nothing wrong with that? I don’t think so - but then I guess you could say that I’m slightly biased, being National Women's Officer and all that. I don’t understand how someone can look at the facts and statistics about women in our society and can then claim that “women are equal now”, as though the campaign for equality was won in 1928 when women were finally granted universal suffrage. Women’s inequality is so much more complex than legislation. Yes, women’s rights and lives could be drastically improved if, say, access to abortion was legalised across the world or if mandatory pay audits were enshrined in law, but sexism comes from individuals’ and society’s attitudes towards women. All the issues we campaign on and care about are interlinked - the pay gap, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, body image, the way we bring up girls and boys and treat them differently from birth, maternity rights, access to childcare, representation in politics, access to healthcare and services, poverty, minimum wage, etc, etc, etc… Everything we talk about in relation to the women’s campaign links in with another topic, and that’s what makes feminism so interesting and vibrant and, at times, difficult to win. Essentially, if we are ever to gain true equality for women, we are going to have to look at every aspect of our lives and our society, and rebuild them in a way that doesn't disadvantage women. People make the mistake that feminism is about being opposed to individual men, and individual men's actions. It's not; every feminist I know has men in her life - as brothers, fathers, partners, sons, friends - who are deeply important to her, and many men are allies in the fight for a fairer world. Feminism is about opposing the structures of society that institutionally disadvantage women. Institutional discrimination can be described as: "The customary ways of doing things, prevailing attitudes and expectations, and accepted structural arrangements that work to the disadvantage of a particular group" Eitzen and Baca-Zinn (Social Problems, Alleyn & Bacon, 1994, p174). In practice, this means things like the long hours culture, that disadvatages women because they more often have caring responsibilities and so can't take part, but as a consequence may be denied or overlooked for promotion. It means the choice of subject at school - where 90% of modern apprenticeships in haridressing are held by women and 95% of those in plumbing and engineering - with a far higher later earning potential - are held by men. Combating institutional discrimination means understanding that rape and violence against women aren't about sex or relationships - they're about power, and are a symbol of a system of institutionalised acceptance of women's less important position. Things are changing, because women activists have fought for four generations to change them, but still women aren't getting the full protection of the law. Getting more women into Parliament is about ensuring that it is representative of the UK population. Getting more women into top positions in business is about ensuring that direct and indirect discrimination in the workplace is dead. Women in general are not less capable or less able to hold these positions successfully than men in general; the reason they haven't held these positions is because women as a group have been held back and disadvantaged by factors beyond their control. Factors such as the stereotype of what a businessperson or MP looks like; factors such as the long hours culture and women's caring responsibilities; factors such as women's relative poverty compared to men. Individual women have succeeded: well done to them, but this is in spite of these disadvantages, which have meant that women in general have not been able to break through to senior management and the House of Commons in great numbers. And as for people who feel sorry for the men having to face the "unfair" competition and "advantages" of all these women, well, for years women had to overcome huge barriers to succeed, and all that's happening now is that these are being removed, so that the best person truly can win, regardless of gender. At the moment, despite the many changes that have already taken place, society and finance and industry and politics and power are all tilted in favour of men, and we’ve got a long way to go before the scales are truly equal. So when people ask me if I am a feminist, of course I say yes - I am a feminist and I’m damn proud of it! Jo Salmon The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students. All links in blogs will open in a new browser window. The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/josalmon/270386.aspx |
