Reading this thread is kinda bumming me out...
@cherrybomb1111 What you say about us already having equality. We do not yet, but we are very close, this is why feminism today usually focuses on very different things to what it used to. It is very important that we keep asking and trying to improve. Modern feminism is more about gradually improving culture and educating people than the aggressive demand for sudden change. Honestly, you might as well say "why are black people still complaining about racism? They have the vote and can get jobs... Jeeze." The point is, that is not good enough, for an evolving society we can do far better than that.
The gender pay gap does exist, it is not just made up statistics and it is not just to do with having children. It's not the case in all workplaces but many women face all sorts of discrimination at work. People have been speculating on the reason why there is a gap for years, but seeing as it is gradually closing shows that things are changing. In the UK I think it's sitting at about 16% for full time employment.
Gender conditioning is something that feminists focus on. Not shaming boys for showing emotion not shaming girls for being strong. Holding boys accountable just as accountable for their actions as girls. Not bullying boys, calling them "little girls" as a way to tell them they're being weak and pathetic. Having more childrens books and television with strong female leads. Having more clothes and toys that focus on girls personalities and interests rather than their looks. This is something that effects both men and women negatively. Conditioning plays a large part in who we become as adults, if you teach boys that girls are weaker than them as children they will likely believe that as adults. If you teach girls they're supposed to focus on their looks more than their personality that will also impact their beliefs. Free will is always there, but we cannot ignore conditioning. There is also tv and films which show unhealthy attitudes towards women. An example of a film that children still watch is James Bond, in many scenes he is extremely chauvinistic, and even rapes Pussy Galore in one scene (oh until she gives up fighting him off and the romantic music comes on). Even films ten years ago had lots of situations where a man was derogatory and unpleasant to women and ended up rewarded. This may not seem like a big deal, but watching these attitudes consistently does effect our real life behaviour. Because of the feminist movement lots of newer films coming out don't have sexist comments and have genuinely strong female leads.
Rape culture is another problem that gets focused on. Now you may go with the "boys will be boys" arguments as though men are nothing but raging beasts. But I don't buy it. If you teach boys that they can't control their urges and that "men rape, oh well, it happens" then of course they're not going to think it's that bad. Teaching boys/men to be accountable for their actions and to see the damage they cause is important. By ignoring rape culture we allow it to go under the radar and the people who do rape do not get punished.
For those people mentioning as a man you've been grabbed a few times. Those women shouldn't have done that. But being grabbed a few times doesn't take into account the magnitude in which women get sexually harassed. I basically cannot leave my house without being approached or followed. No make up, jeans, hoody. It still happens where ever I go and it is extremely annoying and pretty scary when you know the person could overpower you. When the guy who delivers food holds my order hostage as he makes light small talk to keep me with him longer (every time and they never do it to my boyfriend), it seems harmless enough, but I should not have to put up with it. Without educating men that these advances are usually not well received how will we move forward? Many people saw the video of the woman walking through New York, I think most places aren't quite that bad, but surely you can see how grating that becomes if it's all the time? What if there were a way to stop this for future generations so girls could walk through the streets and not flinch when a guy looks at her. In the UK this kind of on street harassment is now considered a hate crime in some counties in an attempt to encourage women to report it. These problems may not bother every woman, but I for one hate it.
Another issue is maternity leave. Some countries now allow either the mother or the father to take paid maternity leave, giving the choice to the families themselves. Now hey, I'm not saying that women are as oppressed as we were in the 50s, but wouldn't that be nice? If it isn't assumed that the woman is going to give up her job? If the father has the opportunity to form a great bond with his child. This option is also pretty great for men in the fact that a lot of guys talk about it being unfair that the woman gets the children and the house in a divorce. She usually gets this because the mother has been the primary caregiver, but with full paternity leave this doesn't have to be the case. It would also hopefully encourage employers to promote and put more resources into female workers because the assumption wouldn't be that they'd have to pay for their maternity leave or have them walking out to raise a family. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the economy could grow by 10%, adding £180 billion to growth, if women had equal pay and opportunities.
Gender violence is also an issue. I wrote a post a few days ago in the models only section about crime statistics, women vs men. Considerably more men commit crimes (over 80%), and more men are the victims of crime than women, including homicide, except in cases of intimate crime. While biological factors can lead towards violence, there is considerably more research leaning towards social learning theory playing a larger part. Maybe this cannot be helped, but it seems logical to look into the reasons and see if there are aspects of society that can change this. Not only does crime effect the victim, it also ruins the life of the perpetrator. And unless you are in fact a psychopath, people usually become evil rather than being born that way. An interesting part in crime, especially a lot of sexual crimes is they are often committed by those with learning difficulties or lower IQ's. This could be just the people who get caught, but possibly the lack in compassion doesn't come from some testosterone filled brain, but actually from not knowing better. Rape statistics also aren't some feminist propaganda made up, sadly they are very real.
These issues may not be something all women care about, or all men for that matter, and that is up to you. But they are issues I am passionate about, and are all issues which effect me personally because I am female. To say we no longer need feminism ignores huge amounts of social issues that go on in most countries to various different degrees. That you still have a voice is due to the women who believe in your rights, maintaining your rights comes from these women. You may not like feminists, but they have been working for you to have a better life. There are people who would like women to go back to being oppressed, and the reason women were oppressed for so long was because of people thinking that men could do no better and not pushing for change. There were women said they didn't mind it that much, they were comfortable. If we had listened to the women who just want to sit there accepting life as it is we never would have got where we are today. I makes me sad to hear women fighting the corner of just accepting that guys will rape and we're going to get sexually harassed. It is your choice, but I refuse to just lay there and take it. Please don't dis on women who don't want to just lay back and not call for change. They are in your corner whether you like it or not.
Forward thinking and talking about these issues helps improvement, I agree that I don't think radical feminism has a place in society, I don't think radical anything is particularly productive, but I definitely think feminism is still relevant. Though hopefully in the not too distant future it won't be and we can just maintain equality.
Eeek sorry rant! I wrote a very long essay on this subject recently, though this is more fun as I can ramble without all the references and statistics. I would post them in, but like, there's fuck loads and I'm not being graded (nor will anyone care if they don't agree anyway).
I would have quoted others with the same sentiment. Sure, I disagree with you, but I was using *this post* in *this thread* to bring up something I have seen repeatedly elsewhere that I feel is toxic. By all means, be offended. I repeatedly said this was not any overarching character judgment, and if you feel it is? Oh well, I am a bloob on the internet.
