Since it's International Women's Day, I'm going to try and understand the concept of Feminism better through this blog post. This International Women's Day the #MakeItHappen campaign is encouraging effective action for advancing and recognising women. Since being established in 1911, the event has been seen as a day to celebrate the achievements of women, whilst encouraging greater equality.
When writing a post about Feminism, it seems Emma Watson's #HeForShe UN speech last autumn seems like a good place to start. Watson raises some good points but the main theme that stood out for me was the problems surrounding the terminology of feminism.
'Fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man hating'
'Feminism has become and unpopular word'
'why has the word become such an uncomfortable one'
For me, the term feminism has connotations of an exclusive female movement immediately, which is restrictive. This is despite the #HeForShe trying to create the ideal that feminism is a male issue too. Watson highlights how gender stereotypes, what characteristically constitute a man and a woman in terms of stereotypical personality traits, not only inhibits women but also men. For example, she uses male mental illness as a primary example of men not asking for help out of fear it would make then 'less of a man.'
The concept of breaking down gender stereotypes has also been picked up by the Always campaign #LikeAGirl. In their video, the #LikeAGirl phrase is represented to reflect perhaps an inferiority of girls, their weakness or girl tendencies. Through the campaign, Always hope to reconstruct this label into a more positive remark. Importantly, the campaign focuses on both the male and female interpretations of the tag #LikeAGirl and interestingly through the eye of children.
Feminism: 'the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men as be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state.' - The Cambridge Online Dictionary.
So really, in its most simple form Feminism is the advocacy of equality. Where and when does feminism 'become synonymous with man hating' then? I think this happens when the concept of equality is forgotten.
Within Western Civilisation, although we certainly have not reached gender equality, we have come far in breaking down stereotypes of female domesticity, motherhood and martial status. 21st century Western Women are far more than these three restricting categories. Although there is still a long way to go until gender equality is achieved in the UK, societal pressures heavily reflected in the press reflect the important fact gender equality is a concept which is becoming more conscious within the mindset of society.
This is something which is not shared around the world. The 2012 high-profile Delhi gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh reflects the sad fact that India is among many countries whose traditional culture, although not representative of the entire population, would be viewed as backward and medieval by Western civilisation. Leslee Udwin, who spent two years making the BBC Four Storyville documentary India's Daughter, met and interviewed not only the rapists but their defendants in court. One of their lawyers, ML Sharma strikingly highlights the cultural issue in India:
"You are talking about man and woman as friends. Sorry, that doesn't have any place in our society. We have the best culture. In our culture, there is no place for a woman."Poignantly, Udwin summarises:
'these men are not the disease, they are the symptoms.'
'Gender-inequality is the primary tumour and rape, trafficking, child marriage, female foeticide, honour killings and so on, are the metastases. And in India the problem is not lack of laws - after all, India is a democracy and a civilised, rapidly developing country. The problem is implementation of them.'
Feminism is important, but the power it can have in the changing to structure of developing countries could be crucial. The Girl Effect advocates girls as 'agents of change'. Their works focuses on girls, who they argue are often ignored or overlooked despite being integral to breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The video below explains their campaign more clearly.
This idea of targeting girls at their early stages of puberty, when we lack a coherent idea of our identity and face confidence issues links back to the #LikeAGirl campaign.
So, this is a very brief introduction into some of the concepts surrounding Feminism, and the different angles which can be adopted. Whatever you do today, take a moment to watch some of these really powerful videos and decide for yourself where you stand with Feminism. I'd love to hear your thoughts below so please share them in the comments!
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