As I
am writing this, it is still International Women's Day. A lot of
people won't know this, won't care or possibly both...if you belong
to either of the latter categories, I advise you to stop reading.
I am
a feminist, an international dirty word. I have never understood the
anti-feminist movement. How can someone proudly and publicly
declare that they are against equality? Sure, most of them say they
are against female-surpremacy...as if that were the aim of feminism.
The rest question why it is called feminism, when it calls for gender
equality. "Why isn't is called humanism?" you'll hear
people ask. And you know why? Because women are still paid less,
because one woman a week dies (in Australia alone) due to domestic
violence, because in 31 US states, rapists have access to the
children they father through rape. Those are just three reasons
feminism is called feminism and not humanism - because if women were
even close to equality, there wouldn't be such disgust at them asking
for it.
The
other day, I went out with a single girlfriend of mine. She was
chatting up guys and having a great time - at one point, a guy who
was super into her asked his friend to chat me up, so that I'd stop
looking like a fish out of water. It was a karaoke bar, like all
classy establishments are on weekdays, and girls were belting out
Taylor Swift's Shake it off - so naturally he asked me if I was a
fan. Ok, not naturally - I was bopping along and singing too...
#noregrets. So he asked me if I was a fan and I said "Of course,
who doesn't love a girl who is obsessed with cats and comes out as a
feminist after admitting she'd been mislead by what the movement
stood for for so long?"
Cue
eyes glazing over.
The
answer? People who are allergic to cats.
Why
do people get so up in arms about feminism? Do you feel this way
about the civil rights movement? About LGBT rights? What is so
strange about a woman not wanting to be harassed by drunk men in cars
as she walks home alone at night? About her wanting to be paid the
same as the men she works with? About her wanting to be able to
choose whether she becomes an astronaut, a housewife, an engineer, a
nurse, a lawyer, an actress - without a stigma? What's weird about
men expecting the same thing? - How many male nurse jokes are made?
How many men don't want their wives to be bringing in the bacon, for
fear of being emasculated? And how many people really care whether a
job is performed by a man or a woman? And seriously: Why do men slow the car down,
cat-call or wolf-whistle and run - what was achieved by doing that?
Enough
questions yet?
In
the words of the great Ice Cube "you better check yo self before
you wreck yo self" ( https://vimeo.com/72206541 ).. Ask yourself
why you feel this way, ask where your feelings stem from and whether
or not you could be wrong.
I'll
leave you to your pondering, and I promise not to get so serious on
you next time.
Just
remember that International Women's Day is a time to celebrate the
achievements of women now and throughout history, achievements that
are just as great as those of their male counterparts - so why not be
equal in actions as well as words - then maybe we can discuss this
humanism name change...
Hope
all is well.
