Firstly, feminism is not a radical, lesbian, man hating movement. It's primary purpose is not to make women the dominant, powerful sex. Feminism is about making genders equal, in all aspects of our society.
For many, they see feminism as "having had it's day" when the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 meant that women over the age of 21 could vote. However that is far from the case. There are so many spheres within our society where women are treated as second class citizens and our thoughts and feelings are disregarded on the basis that we are not men. It is because of this that we still need feminism as a movement to aid us in achieving the equality we, and so many women before us, have fought for.
Politically:
Women are completely underrepresented within Politics. With over half of our population in the United Kingdom being women, you would think that within parliament we would be fairly portrayed. Yet, less than 25% of parliamentry seats belong to women (thats 147 of 650), only 32% of councillors and 12.3% of council leaders are women, which is in fact a reduction since 2004. Sadly, the face of British politics is overwhelmingly male, and this creates an image to young minds that unless you are an old, white man then a career in politics is highly unlikely.
The sexism and sexual harassment that in recent years has become a highlighted issue for Westminster, also seems to have trickled down into our local councils. Such as in Llanelli were women were excluded from a dinner for fears they would be offended by 'blue humour'...because obviously women do not have a sense of humour and the slightest joke may just make us combust.
It doesn't seem to end there. As reported by the Guardian, a child born today (August 2014) will be drawing her pension before she is equally represented in parliament - or has an equal chance to be elected to it.
Since 1918, 92% of MPs have been male. Only 369 women have been elected to parliament since 1918 and it wasn't until 1979 that we saw our first lady PM.
Economically:
It is not a secret that economically, women are worse off. In full time employment, women earn 10% less than men, and in part-time employment the gap jumps to a huge 34.5%, and it is estimated that 70% of people in national minimum wage jobs are women.
Pregnancy does not help this. Up to 30,000 women are sacked each year just for being pregnant, as well as 440,000 women missing out on pay rises or promotions as a direct result of their pregnancy.
However, if we were to utilise women and the skill they posses, it is estimated that the UK would gain 23 billion pounds a year (2% of GDP)... so why aren't we better harnessing womens skills?
Sadly, feminism isn't just about equal pay and political representation. There are darker issues, with deeper consequences that also need addressing - such as FGM and the ever growing rape culture that we are seeing amongst our youth.
Every year in the UK, 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation. This is the procedure that restricts pleasurable sex for women by mutilating the female genital organs. FGM has absolutely NO medical benefits although has plenty of side effects, including the massive mental trauma of being wide awake during the course of the procedure. It highlights the deep rooted inequality and extreme discrimination against women, as well as being a violation of fundamental human rights.
We have also witnessed in recent years a huge increase in what is known as "Rape Culture" and many peoples absolute denial for it being a real problem, with real consequences. Rape culture is the social conditioning that tolerates and accepts sexual violence in all capacities. It is situations where sexual assault, rape and general violence are ignored, trivialised, normalised and made into jokes. Rape culture is completely counterproductive to eliminating sexual violence.
In recent news we saw the story of Ched Evans, professional footballer, jailed for two and a half years for what he said was 'consensual sex'. On his release from jail, he was allowed to train with Sheffield United, causing immediate backlash from the public.
For me, what I think is so disgusting is that his position as a footballer and the things that come along with that title, are all privileges not God given rights based on talent. So personally, when you forcibly have sex with a woman against her will, these privileges should be removed indefinitely. Only in a crazy world would you let a convicted rapist back into a position where his attitude, actions, behaviour and status of a role model can influence your children.
We also see women consistently asked questions such as; what they were wearing at the time of their assault, asking if they provoked the attack and saying that they probably deserved it. The police will question the victims choices rather than the rapists. We live in a society that blames women for their own attacks and then questions why only 40% of rapes are reported.
We NEED feminism:
- because cat-calling is still a thing. And still supposedly a compliment
- because we teach women to protect themselves, rather than to teach everyone to respect someones choice to say no to sexual advances
- because we are more comfortable seeing page 3, than a Mother breastfeeding her child
- because more than 120 countries do not have laws against marital rape, and still allow child brides
- because when women are assaulted and raped, they feel ashamed
- because we tell boys they should respect girls because of their sisters and mothers, not because girls are also human beings
- because we still have to explain why we need feminism...
This is not about women becoming stronger, better and more powerful than men. This is not about shaming men, or shaming women who do not believe in the need for feminism. This is about making people realise that gender inequality is a real thing, and not just a bunch of "over-hyped feminists looking for something to moan about".
Feminism should be women and men standing up for everyone to be treated like humans.
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