"What is feminism?”
The feminist movement calls for political, economic, social and personal equality between sexes. Arguably most famously, this has involved the rights to vote, to an education and to work.
“If we have all of these things already, why do we still need feminism?”
It is not the case that gender equality has been achieved simply because women have the right to vote, as is frequently argued. In spite of this ability, women are still underrepresented in politics all over the world. The vast majority of politicians, especially those in the most high up positions in many countries are male. The USA, for example, has never had a female President and their first female Vice President, Kamala Harris, was only sworn in as of January 2021- over 200 years after the establishment of the US constitution and political system. On top of this, in many countries, young girls do not have the same access to education as boys do. This can impact them in several ways, often limiting social skills and their chances of being able to pursue a career in future. Although women have the right to vote in all countries, how likely is it that they will be accurately represented in politics if they are discouraged from speaking up and becoming involved by their lack of role models? Furthermore, how can women who have had little or no education have the same opportunity as men to understand politics or even the process of voting itself? In terms of the impact of inequality on everyday life, women are significantly more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than men, with over 6.9% of women experiencing domestic abuse in comparison to 3% of men across parts of the UK. Girls and women are also much more likely to be afraid to go out alone, or at night, as a result of horrifying rates of assault and harassment towards them from a ridiculously early age. Nonetheless, many are still unwilling to report incidents to the police, often due to a fear of not being taken seriously, a fear which stems largely from misogynistic rhetoric over whether a woman’s clothing, where she is going or who she is talking to means she ‘deserves it.’ This is not, and never will be, the case.
“But men experience lots of these problems too!”
It is undeniable that men experience problems at the hands of the patriarchy. Often, from a young age, boys are told that they shouldn’t cry or express emotion, leading in the long term to mental health issues and a significantly higher suicide rate than women. Women disproportionately experiencing domestic abuse or lack of access to equal opportunities does not mean that there are no men who experience this. However, it must also be noted that all of these issues have the same root (the patriarchy), clearly showing that it impacts everyone. If you are someone who claims that “men have problems too!” simply as a way of dismissing a conversation about feminism and women’s rights then, chances are, you’re not actually passionate about solving these problems, but are instead too ignorant to acknowledge that this system of society must be dismantled and you are in no way going to create positive change without doing so!