Feminist Rant

Feminism. Is it a bad word? Is it the new trendy political outlook? Is it outdated? Is it just a byword for man hating, lesbianism? Has it become a way of making prudery acceptable?

I would say it is none of these things, it’s certainly deeply misunderstood though. I find it hard to believe that people can look at the way things are in society today and how deeply gendered they are, and not feel at least a bit of sympathy with the feminist cause. Just looking at some of the adverts that pop up everywhere we go, McCoy’s and HP sauce, they’re for men, pink Lucozade that’s for women because ‘OMG, it’s Pink!’. They way at Christmas on Amazon the women’s section was celebrity biographies and baking, whilst the men’s was politics and sport. The fact that the nation’s biggest selling newspaper still makes a huge feature of a woman baring her breasts, you know what, 50% of the population has them and they really aren’t news.

There are more sinister things at work though, just looking at the Everyday Sexism project, its unbelievable how prevalent sexual assault and harassment are. Not to mention seemingly innocent sexist comments that are a constant part of working life and the gendered aspects of education.

Once you start noticing things like this they’re everywhere. That’s why I consider myself to be a feminist. For me, the fact of considering myself a feminist is not a big deal, although I get some serious overreactions from others. However, Feminism is a big deal.