Now anyone who is a regular reader of this cornerstone or a follower on my social media or just a friend of mine would already be aware that I consider myself a feminist. A feminist. I want to tell you why because I feel there is nothing wrong with being a feminist in the 21st century and what it means to me to be a feminist. In today's society women who declare their alignment to gender equality are either frowned upon or not looked at the same. Many celebrities who join with such movements are undermined because cynical tabloid journalists believe they are being sponsored to air such views.
Last weekend thousands of women around the world took to the streets of capital cities to march in protest on the recent inauguration or President Elect Donald Trump. The campaigners were against his beliefs and potential changes to women's rights in America and around the world. Piers Morgan stated that he didn't understand why women took to the streets because Donald Trump has not attempted to make changes to women's right as of yet so there was no need. However I would argue that women were protesting in anguish about his triumph in the Presidential campaign. This is because he made it his mission whilst fighting for the Presidency to cause outrage by making grotesque and invalid claims such as groping women. Immigration aside, he spoke about women in a demeaning manner which is what I as a feminist am against. Was it a publicity move? Now I want to work in publicity and if I was working for Trump I would have suggested that he tame such views down. A man in this great political power should know how to treat and speak to a woman. At the end of the day America has a elected a President who from where I can stand has made claims and statements about the position of women which were unnecessary and prove why we as females still need to search for equality. This quest in 2017 should not be happening, gender inequality should not be an issue. Was a protest about Trump necessary? I would perhaps suggest that the protest should have waited until Trump made a mass boo boo whilst in Office because as of yet he has made no errors having only just entered office. But devils advocate reminds us that what he has stated in the past should foreshadow such changes and boo boo's that he is to make whilst in Office.
Now before I rant about why I find being a feminist important I want to draw your attention to the remarkable changes that have come around as a result to feminist movements around the world.
- About two thirds of countries in the developing regions have achieved gender parity in primary education
- In Southern Asia, only 74 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys in 1990. By 2012, the enrolment ratios were the same for girls as for boys.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and Western Asia, girls still face barriers to entering both primary and secondary school.
- Women in Northern Africa hold less than one in five paid jobs in the non-agricultural sector. The proportion of women in paid employment outside the agriculture sector has increased from 35 per cent in 1990 to 41 per cent in 2015
- In 46 countries, women now hold more than 30 per cent of seats in national parliament in at least one chamber.
These changes are brilliant and show us why feminist movements are so vital for getting change to take place around the world not just over here in the West. Yet despite such changes there are some things which we as women are still undergoing whether us personally or our neighbouring friends over in the East. For example, women in the East are still undergoing FGM and there is still discrimination and exploitation taking place in the work place and social sphere.
Lots of traditionalists and morons consider any woman who declares herself to be a feminist either a lesbian or childish. Both of these accusations are ridiculous. I myself a heterosexual woman just believes in equality. Men of certain ages and some men of my generation to be honest feel that there should be no need for feminist movements or just feminist criteria because we have the vote and can work.
Yes we have the vote but how many female politicians are there in place? Although there has been a recent increase in the number of women in political positions there is still a crisis for more women in these positions. Women I think are turned off from such professions due to seeing them to be masculine professions and the treatment of women in these places. We have had the legendary Maggie Thatcher who pioneered 80's politics. Her regimes despite being controversial at the time- she did some great for the country and to this day has become remarkable for her approach to politics from a female perspective. Maggie Thatcher was a woman who was surrounded with men in her time as Prime Minister and spent much of her career being asked to adapt to suit such surroundings which is disgusting but an approach that is the same today.
If we take Hilary Clinton and Nicola Sturgeon both women are in politics but have always been compared to male equals. Clinton for example during her Presidential campaign was constantly compared to male equals or her husband Bill Clinton which was to be expected yet why should it happen? A woman in this day and age is unable to stand on her own two feet without being compared to a male or undermined by a male figure. I would also like to point to our current Prime Minister- Theresa May who is being tampered with the same brush by the media. This brush being- what she is wearing. For example she discusses Britain's approach to Brexit- certain newspapers will discuss her outfit choices and shoe choices for the entire article and then caption it with- her outfit was selected to discuss Brexit. If we take David Cameron for example- he was very rarely accused for fashion faux disasters neither instead newspapers would in fact discuss what his politics were doing and how they were effecting the country. Today's media are obsessed with demeaning women to their outfits or just general choices in life whilst men get on with their duties without such discussions. This all comes from traditional ideologies whereby women were seen to be only interested in household and fashion related subjects and if we ever were discuss topics of real matters that would be outrageous. I find certain men to still find this strange when I have an opinion in regards to politics or sport even. This matter is only the half of our current issue. Why cannot I not discuss a male related subject? I may not carry a pair of testicles but it does not me incapable of speaking about such topics? Do these things dangling between your legs give you the right to discuss such topics?
Above being treated differently by the media, women around the world as well in the UK are treated differently in the workplace. Women are still being paid less in some workplaces especially senior positions. This is wrong because why should I as a woman be paid less whilst the man is paid more? Do the testicles hanging between his legs make him far more superior in his job? I find that to be incorrect because some of the women I know, work and am friends with have far more gut go in them then most men. Why should a man have this luxury in the workplace.
Being a feminist does not mean that I do NOT like men or hate men. It does NOT mean that I believe that women are more superior than men. It does not mean that I DO NOT shave my body hair. Being a feminist means I believe firmly in equality, I believe that man and woman should be treated the same in all places whether it be in the workplace or in society.
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