Tuesday
27Jun2006
Feminism in the noughties: The ramblings of a madman
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 6:30PM
Reading Monbiot today in The Guardian, here, I got to thinking about the state of modern feminism. Driving to work I also heard a debate [listen] on the Today programme featuring Ariel Levy, who discussed her latest book, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, which explores the rise of self-sexualisation in women. Levy argues that in the post-feminist modernity, it is women who objectify themselves, through actions such as having cosmetic implants, wearing "raunchy" clothing, and highly sexualised behaviour.
We are passed the bra-burning protests of the sixties; women have made huge progress in shattering some of the inequalities that have limited their opportunities for centuries. Big gains have also been made within the family, where men are more involved and women are able to continue to pursue their career while simultaneously having kids. However it would be foolish to believe that things are equal between the sexes, as in many areas, they clearly aren't. Women are still massively underrepresented in the boardrooms of our top companies, there still exists an apparent salary disparity, and, women still take on an overwhelmingly large proportion of the domestic chores and childrearing responsibilities.
With so many continuing inequalities, it's hard to understand why feminism has become such a dirty word in the mainstream, and why women don't continue to challenge this discrimination? Some women of course, and I refer to feminists such as Germaine Greer and Levy herself, do continue to rally against the male dominated status-quo, but increasingly these women are ignored, ostracised, and ridiculed. Are academics such as Greer really now just relics of an old war? And who won the war? Are women now happy with their lot or have they just accepted it?
We are passed the bra-burning protests of the sixties; women have made huge progress in shattering some of the inequalities that have limited their opportunities for centuries. Big gains have also been made within the family, where men are more involved and women are able to continue to pursue their career while simultaneously having kids. However it would be foolish to believe that things are equal between the sexes, as in many areas, they clearly aren't. Women are still massively underrepresented in the boardrooms of our top companies, there still exists an apparent salary disparity, and, women still take on an overwhelmingly large proportion of the domestic chores and childrearing responsibilities.
With so many continuing inequalities, it's hard to understand why feminism has become such a dirty word in the mainstream, and why women don't continue to challenge this discrimination? Some women of course, and I refer to feminists such as Germaine Greer and Levy herself, do continue to rally against the male dominated status-quo, but increasingly these women are ignored, ostracised, and ridiculed. Are academics such as Greer really now just relics of an old war? And who won the war? Are women now happy with their lot or have they just accepted it?
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