Is Feminism Still Relevant?

[Brandon]

Do you think that feminism is still needed in (insert your country here)? Are there any pieces of the feminist movement that are irrelevant or not needed anymore? What issues would you like to see feminism achieve?

 

[dong]

I see the rise of what I've seen called "Raunch culture", which appears to be a post-modern 'perversion' (literal term) of feminism, where instead of objecting to and seeking to eliminate the objectification and degradation of the fairer sex, one nullifies the need to object (and undermine previous and therefore still prevalent criticism) by embracing such. You may already think it's apparent what with the whole deal with miniskirts and urban trash-ware...I think these are weaker indicators, but it shows that the market is definitely responding to such a change in societal attitude.

A major and strong criticism I see levelled against the whole feminist project is the politics that the gender studies activists tend to get mired in. It's somewhat related to the earlier thread "are feminists really misandric" or something like that. I'd like for the whole education programme around here to be reviewed carefully and probably restructured, to focus more broadly, because the way I see it now, all it largely does is breed more loudspeakers for the general titillation of the press and therefore all and sundry...with limited productivity.

 

[tater03]

As a women I wish that they would change the way people look at you in the working world. Especially when it comes to the pay.

 

[FourBear]

Yeah, I agree. Pay scales are still skewed, with the men garnering higher wages.

 

[vicki2]

As a female who spent a number of years living in a corporate culture, I don't think salaries are skewed if you are prepared to not have children or any of the other things normally associated with being a woman. It's a huge price to pay to equalize yourself with men, but women who do it receive similar salaries.

Insofar as the feminist movement, it did some good for the long haul, but it is now a dead movement as well it should be. It also did a great deal of harm that we are still living with.

 

[tater03]

I would agree with you if alot of companies still to this day didn't just assume that if you are a women that you will be having kids.

 

[mtatum4496]

From the perspective that there are still a number of inequalities when it comes to the place of women in just about every society, I would say that the women's rights movement is still very much needed, and will be for many years to come. Do the same methods of forty or even twenty years ago still work? That I am not so sure of.

 

[mamab]

From my point of view, I don't see that the feminist movement did anything that great. Except that it made women who decided to stay at home with their children feel like they were "less" because they didn't WANT to be equal with men, and were "inferior" because they didn't want to join the rat race. Personally, although I don't get paid a salary, I think that being a stay at home mom is the most important job in the world. So, as far as I'm concerned, the sooner the feminist movement dies, the better!

 

[Brandon]

That's an interesting argument mamab. That is one of the things that I noticed with the feminist movement. It's not all about choice, it's about you choosing what they want you to do. I also see that some of the organizations that further the feminist thought have a rather poor viewpoint on stay at home mothers. In my mind they threw away the most important job in the country, being a mother.

 

[berlinlife06]

While I agree that being a mother is the greatest job in the world, I am not one to be doing it. Ever since I can remember, I NEVER wanted to have kids or be at home and clean and be a housewife. So, for people like me, Feminism open the other options, and it was OK to have the desire to be something different than my mother. It was OK for me to live by myself and not having to be married, and have a job and make a lot of money without needing a guy by my side... And being a lesbian, Feminism did a lot for people like me!

 

[mtatum4496]

I think that just about any type of equality movement usually goes somewhat overboard in presenting the rights that are due to be of more importance than the rights that are already in place. In the case of women's rights, I grew up with young women who felt guilty about their desires to work in the home and to raise children. They bought into the extremist view that to engage in that type of a lifestyle was inferior.

True gender equality means allowing persons to choose the roles where they will do the most good and feel a desire to take on. No woman (or man, for that matter) who chooses to take care of the home and see to the children should be felt to be any less important than any other member of society.

Nobody ever said one could not be a feminist and not also be a bigot. I think mamab's remarks show that even people who are seeking equality sometimes need to broaden their minds a little.

 

[vicki2]

I simply do not agree that being a mother is the greatest job in the world. It may be just that for the people who choose it willingly but those of us who don't choose motherhood there are plenty of other options thanks to the feminist movement. Do I like the way it was done? No. I don't even believe in affirmative action as a way to make things equal.