atomicules UnDeRgRoUnD > Articles > The problem with Feminism --- The problem with Feminism ------------------------------------- SOME SORT OF DISCLAIMERS: 1. I've wanted to write this for ages and I keep writing bits and deciding against it, but then coming back to it. I guess because I haven't made up my mind. Or even finished. 2. When the He for She thing came about there was, as I recall, a prominent somebody who said something (yes, vague) along the lines of "I have a wife, a mother, a daughter. You bet I'm in". I call bullshit on this. I grew up your average amount of sexist (whatever society deemed normal at the time), I know this because I distinctly remember having a class discussion at primary school and saying something along the lines of "I'll have to get married because I can't peel potatoes"; Why I thought I should be able to at that age I don't know; And, it's funny how that turned out. But, getting back to the point, I have to admit that having a wife and two daughters has warped my view point and I'm probably even more sexist now; I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing, but that could be my ignorance, rather I see it as a coping mechanism: Rather than feel persecuted by people that I love I can just think, "Hey, it's nothing personal, they are just female". On this note: I do think whilst relationships are predominantly heterosexual there will always be a place for sexism. The more homosexual relationships that occur in society, are portrayed in media, etc the better for us all. Then we will truly realise that it isn't men who are the problem or women that are the problem, but just human beings in general. 3. I'm a white male. I'm still an individual, but I understand that white males have had far more than their fair share of soapbox time, which is somewhat why I'm putting this on Gopher: I want to say my piece, but I don't want to shove it in anyone's face. 4. The title of the peace is a bit link/flame-baity. I'm not sure this is about the problem, the problems, solutions or just rambling. 5. No solution. --- Like every other great ism before it, its image has been tarnished by its most ardent ists. I use to call myself an atheist, but although I still am I wouldn't like to make a song and dance about it because of the negative associations and connotations: Thanks Richard Dawkins! I do not want to be anyone else's label. The same applies to feminism. If you could somehow talk about the principles behind feminism without anyone realising you were talking about feminism, then all but the most unreasonable of us would agree. I am somewhat in conflict: Women in general (well, probably not you personally, but women and SOCIETY in general) have a right to be angry about historical and current treatment, but personally I don't think being an absolute ARSEHOLE about it helps. Richard Dawkins is correct a lot of the time too. Do you think how he makes his point helps him? So I can't help but think that some people make a big fuss not because they care, but just because they love the attention. This is a huge part of the problem, what I call "faux internet outrage": People pretending to be outraged about things that, if they were honest, do not actually affect them at all. I hate it. Honestly, I really do. Feminism should be about fighting for change in what is a societal problem, instead it is often about persecution of individuals. I feel real outrage for faux internet outrage. Some people don't want to fight for their right, they just want to fight and, worse than that, some people just want others to fight. I don't think there is a problem with the name even though it _is_ exclusionary (female only), because that _is_ also the problem it is trying to solve. I.e I don't think changing the name, adopting another name, re-purposing humanist, etc, would help at all. All names could equally end up the same. I thought somewhat, still do a teeny bit, that in western society, in the grand scheme of things, the ideals behind feminism have actually been achieved. After-all, there is an equal right to vote, to education, to rights over ones own body, to employment, equality in law, etc. And so perhaps part of the problem is that perhaps feminism is a bit redundant in the west. (Although I write that last paragraph with the caveat "Apart from America, maybe America really is as fucked up as it's made out to be"). But then I realised there is still a lot of subtle inequality that is easily overlooked in society: - An article in the Guardian newspaper discussed the Glastonbury festival line-up and the overwhelming male artist line-up. I hadn't even noticed or considered this. - It was the women's football world cup this year. England, whom the mens team garner huge media, fan and nationwide attention and coverage even though they fail miserably every year, actually came third in the women's world cup, beating Germany, a feat the mens team can only dream of. Yet who even knew this had happened? - I completely missed that the women's cycling tour in the UK had happened this year. And yet I'm watching the all male Tour de France. In a lot of sports there is no reason why they can't be mixed. Especially football. Probably even cycling. Some might argue it's not fair, but it can't be any less fair than now. So, I had thought that the problem with feminism was largely that the focus is in entirely the wrong place (the west, because the ideals had largely been achieved, even though I see now they haven't; the tech industry which is toxic, although both sides are to blame and none of the loudest voices have any interest in fixing anything, only fuelling the fire) especially after watching Comic Relief this year and seeing how women and young girls are treated and thought about else where in the world. And so I thought the problem was that we don't promote and support feminism where it is needed most. Actually, though, it seems that, given how long we've been trying with feminism, that the problem with feminism is that it is not quite enough. ------------------------------------------------------------------- atomicules UnDeRgRoUnD gopher://gopher.atomicules.co.uk/ atomicules Overground URL:http://atomicules.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------- Powered by Floodgap's Bucktooth .