In its original form, feminism was a movement to gain political, legal and civil rights for women - effectively to apply the liberal doctrine of individual freedom to women as well as men. With that aim largely achieved by the mid-twentieth century, in the 1960s a so-called 'second wave' of feminism emerged, more radical and also more disparate in its aims. At the heart of feminist ideology is the concept of patriarchy (male supremacy), and the belief of modern feminists is that it is so deep rooted that it requires more than simply extending voting rights to women in order to remove it.
Well, possibly - there is certainly a debate to be had here. Many might argue that in the modern world the place of women is far less inferior than feminists might suppose, and that modern women hardly represent a great example of female liberation. The story of modern woman Toni Comer, last week, was not exactly edifying. This was the woman who launched a legal attack on police for the way they arrested her after a typical night out. The blogger Frank Chalk writes about it as follows:
"Poor Toni Comer, whilst taking a break from looking after her two year old, accidently got howling drunk, was thrown out of a nightclub, vandalised someone's car, then punched, bit and spat at the poor copper unlucky enough to have to arrest her. Obviously she is a victim who needs urgent compensation."
Then, of course, there are the many social reports bemoaning the lack of male role models for boys growing up on hard-nosed urban estates, and the generally poor advance made by boys academically when compared with their more motivated female peers. Feminism, in the modern age, mnay have had its chips - it's time for the boys to reassert their rights and develop an ideology!!
8 comments:
here here. boy power
One windy old feminist writing rather infamously in 1970:
"The ignorance and isolation of most women mean that they are incapable of making conversation: most of their communication with their spouses is a continuation of the power struggle."
How fatuous. How outdated. Feminism collapsed in Berlin in 1989, as did all Cold War ideology about ignorance, isolation and power struggles. Perhaps worth noting is one of her most recent publications, "The Beautiful Boy" in 2003, that sensibly idealises spotty 17-year-old grammar school boys. Shows how far the ideology has come...
Nice to see Jack in the vanguard of modernist movements - when he's not asleep, that is! And thanks, 'former garshall student' (!) for the helpful reminder of just how far Germaine Greer has come on her political journey away from eulogising the 'female eunuch' and towards slobbering over androgynous young males!! Feminism! No wonder AF doesn't want to teach it!
It's Garshell. Believe me, I was there.
Feminism is just a vicious cycle. They say they want equality in the workplace but when they get it they then suddenly pick up the stick representing maternity and wave that around, making the claim that they should be given special privileges over men like flexitime because of their children, creating further inequality.
Flexitime is a bonus no matter what gender you belong to. I have it at my work and highly recommend it.
No employer would be able to offer flexitime to one sex only - if only from a legal standpoint. It would have to be offered to all employees.
And I would rather a woman waved the 'maternity stick' around than expel her blood covered spawn and soggy afterbirth all over my desk beacuse of a need to pursue true equality.
It would appear from an uninformed suburban waster's point of view that feminism is on the decline anyway.
It, like any ideology, appears to have lost it's initial impetus with nowhere really to go - having reached many of it's objectives - and has branched into more numerous, yet weaker, sub ideologies. For example, you still get the bra burners but then they would argue that sexually liberated women (slags) have returned to the traditional feminine role of spunk bucket rather than strong independent she that the woman would regard herself as. Feminism is full of infighting. Just like my office really.
Expressed with your usual subtlety and sensitivity! But I agree, feminism is an ideology on the wane at the moment, with most modern feminists spending their time in ever more minute and fanatical arguments with each other - a bit like the Trots before they all expired into nothingness! The fact that it still features on an ideologies syllabus while ecologism or fundamentalism do not suggests the usual time lapse between educationalists and the real world. When will that nice Mr. Disraeli be elected anyway...?
We hav a project on feminism.. :-) :-o
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