Returning to the point about radicalism, it is undeniable that feminism still has a negative stigma in today's society. Although there is a rise of young feminists, and interest in gender politics is growing, old fashioned stereotypes still exist and with the rise of young feminists, comes the rise of male rights activists. (Male rights? Males have had rights for the entire time humans have been around you're a few centuries too late.) These activists, obviously concerned about the new upsurge of feminism, seek to undermine the attempt to establish equality, and argue against the oppression of men in order to keep the power structures that have been around since, well, the beginning of time. Surely it's time for a change.
I will argue that it's these stereotypes, old-fashioned notions, and most unfortunately, male opposition, that keeps more young women from identifying themselves as feminist. Feminism is the crazy, radical notion that both genders are equal. Why wouldn't anyone want that, in all honesty? We're looking to establish equal pay rolls, not reduce men's and raise women's. We think there should be equal paternity/maternity leave for those who want it, such as men who may actually want to, you know, be involved with their kids' lives. Naturally, the opposition mostly comes from men unwilling to lose their places of power in society. Let's look at common arguments about increased women in the workplace and female bosses - women are bitchy, emotional, and too controlling to make good bosses, for example. Since there's no real male equivalent for bitchy, we'll take 'bitchy' to mean assertive and confident, and hey, suddenly they become good qualities for a boss. But of course, professional women who act like professional men aren't socially acceptable because that's seen to not be feminine and women should be timid secretaries of course. As for emotional - yes, biologically and evolutionarily women are perhaps more emotional. Does this mean every woman will let her emotions control her work? Of course not. A shit boss is a shit boss, end of.
How many times though, do we hear the words, "I'm not a feminist but, ____ (something pro feminist)_____" ? People, particularly young women, are deliberately disassociating themselves from feminism. Why? Perhaps to disassociate themselves with radicalism, and unfortunately, to still remain appealing to men and other women who don't want the gender hierarchy disturbed. Feminists are seen as radical, aggressive man-haters who want to watch everything (particularly the beauty industry and children, of course,) burn.
So why do I still choose to identify as a feminist?
Modern Feminism
For starters, it's necessary still. Sexism exists, perhaps in a different way than to when women weren't allowed to vote, or work, yet it is still present. It exists primarily through societal standards which dictate what is acceptable for a woman to do, and how women are treated by other women and men. (And of course, the good ol' double standard, yet I hardly think I need to elaborate on this one. Why is it that we all know it's there... but it's still there?)
Like in my last feminist article on lad's mag and lad culture in general, the rise of lad culture (yuck,) has contributed loads to an already existing degradation and objectification of women. This is a culture that exists and builds up around treating women as objects for sex. And worse, women are buying into it, dressing provocatively for male attention, (as opposed to just because they want to, which is acceptable,) and acting as lad culture chooses to dictate.
It's not just young men though - women are degraded everyday by all sorts of people. Everyday Sexism (and here on twitter) is a great project that highlights and documents everyday events of casual sexism. Of course, these submissions are only a small fraction of what actually goes on everyday. And this is primarily in a privileged, first world context, (going by access to technology to submit.) Even scrolling through the first pages, it's pretty disgusting to see how misogyny is running so rampant. How Many Women Find Street Harassment Flattering is another great project that documents issues of street harassment - stalking, catcalling, you name it. And reading through it, as a young woman, it is terrifying. Why shouldn't I have the right to walk down a street without being afraid of being humiliated and made uncomfortable? And no, catcalling is absolutely not a compliment - it's objectifying and usually makes the victim feel like a piece of meat. Where I used to live in England, was down a long street known for being quite dodgy. Prior to me being banned from walking down it alone at night (a girl was raped in a taxi and after that my boyfriend would always drive and pick me up whatever the time,) I only really had a few comments (which I ignored and walked on faster, feeling super nervous and uncomfortable) and once a car driving alongside me creepily (luckily I turned in at the next street and then I flat out ran,) it's amazing that compared to a lot of these encounters, I would be considered lucky that I wasn't properly stalked/groped etc. It's the 21st century, this shit should not be happening anymore.
In terms of women being told what to do etc, gender roles, although far less harsh than they used to be, are still present. This is less prevalent so much in first world countries, where birth rates are declining, more women are becoming career women, and more men are helping with roles in the house - although 'career women,' often still contains negative connotations. Forced marriages, however, is still something that is rampant within third world countries. These young (often very young,) girls are being forced to become brides and childbearers, usually to much older men, and as such, are denied to right to have an adolescence, an education, a career, or the freedom to make their own decisions. I will admit that my only knowledge on this is only from articles I've read describing specifics, but this is definitely something I will be looking more into, as it plays interesting into the racial aspect of feminism.
The Beauty Industry
Another construct that represses women would be the beauty industry (as mentioned above.) This one lies the most personal with me - yes, I identify as a feminist, but I also am a victim of the beauty industry. Okay, perhaps victim is a little harsh a term, but I can't deny that it doesn't play somewhat of a role in my life. The industry has received huge criticism from feminists for reinforcing difficult aesthetic standards that women are expected to keep up to if they want to be aesthetically acceptable - and it's effective. The beauty industry makes a ridiculous amount of money for an industry that essentially functions off people not liking themselves. So is it okay to be both a feminist and to partake in beauty regimes?
I will (naturally,) say yes. It's certainly true that a lot of the ideal beauty standards are set by men, but at the same time, women are becoming more and more empowered by making their own choices in aesthetics. We can look at the presence of trends as an example - women, even if inspired by a reaction by men, set the trends, and women emulate the trends. Even if it's, for example, a new style of pants that men don't find attractive, if fashion and other women dictate it trendy, women will still wear it. (I picked this example due to the harem pants trend a few years back. Dad despised it. Mother wore them whenever she could, go figure.) In this case, is a trend-following woman just a sheep following the crowd dictated by the gatekeepers of the fashion industry? Perhaps, but as long as she makes her own personal choice to partake in trendkeeping, it still offers her the awesome power of choice.
I wouldn't particularly say I'm much of a trend-follower - although when shopping, you're kind of forced to as stores stock whatever's in fashion/popular. However, I like to pick what I feel looks nice on me - not for male attention, not even for female attention, (this is probably a far more likely reason for a woman to dress nice, to be honest!) but because I just like to look nice. Call me shallow, but yes, I'll feel more put together and tidy if I feel I look good. Hey, I'm an unemployed (kind of,) student - how you look is an integral part of professionalism, I'm practicing! Maybe it's even worse that I'm a photographer - no one wants to have bad photos of them floating around on the internet (oh, this digital age!) for all to see. Maybe I shouldn't validate myself so much by a digitalised representation of me, but if it makes you feel good and more importantly, boosts your confidence, then go for it. Confidence is très feminist.
Let's talk about make-up. This one is funny, because men always claim to hate it (some of them do anyway,) and claim that girls always look better natural. I wear makeup everyday almost, but it's mostly just because I like to, for similar reasons as above; I feel like it adds to my overall look. I have my own makeup style and I actually enjoy putting it on (oh, what an artist I am!) I don't feel like there's anything wrong with it. The roots of the anti-makeup feminist argument stem in (a) standards and (b) femininity as a notion. In terms of the idea of femininity, I feel like we're finally at the stage where feminists are embracing it. Postfeminism as a definition almost sums this up - although there isn't really a solid definition, of course. I absolutely believe we can strive for equality whilst also maintaining and celebrating our differences if we choose to. Yes, I wear make up and have long hair, and I refuse to be ashamed of accepting my femininity - to do so would be utterly misogynistic! Women do not have to reject social aesthetic norms of femininity in order to be feminist - that idea indicates that masculinity is the true way forward. Instead, women need to both embrace feminism and the femininity that sets them apart if they choose to. Feminism is not asking men to stop being manly, or to stop doing 'man-things,' (only the gross, sexist stuff mentioned above,) - we are simply asking for women to be treated as equals, even if we look, act, and follow norms differently.
Problematic Raunch Culture: A Setback in Feminism
Despite all these great instances of progress with women and the beauty industry, there has been another wave of a setback: female raunch culture. Levy highlights this culture in her book (see below) wonderfully accurately; the book description states:
"Today's young women seem to be outdoing the male chauvinist pigs of yesteryear, applauding the 'pornification' of other women, and themselves. This is a world where simulating sex for baying crowds of men on shows like Girls Gone Wild and going to lapdancing clubs - as patrons - is seen as a short cut to cool."This represents the negative side of beauty standards - the standards that directly appeal to male lad/raunch culture that sees women directly objectifying themselves. A false sense of female empowerment that comes out of negative, objectifying male attention concealed as positive validations of self worth. This applies particularly to modern teenage feminists - in a culture that simultaneously celebrates/disapproves of promiscuity linked with female 'empowerment,' raunch culture is offered as an aspect of teenage rebellion that is easy to buy into and is accepted by the very demographic teenage girls are often seeking to impress.
This however, as Levy discusses, is taking a backwards step for feminism. This is choosing aesthetics and actions directly to sell and objectify one's self to men. Whilst there's the appearance of choice, when it's to directly conform to a negative image imposed on women by men, it completely counteracts progression. Men have been dictating what women do for long enough - don't do it now by choice. This is using the beauty industry in a big no-no way.
Concluding Notes
There's still so much more to discuss on feminism, (particularly the race and class aspects, which I'm really interested in and will continue to research/write about in the future,) but these are some personal thoughts about what it means to me and why I choose to identify as a feminist. I know I've forgotten/left out loads of stuff - social politics are a pretty big deal to me, even if I'm just really getting into them now - but this has reached a length so I reckon I'll leave it there for now. Until next time!
Some of my favourite books I've read on feminism:
- The Second Sex, Simone De Beauvoir (given)
- Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti (excellent starting point!)
- Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, Natasha Walters.
- How To Be A Woman, Caitlin Moran.
- Female Chauvinist Pigs: Woman and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy (currently reading)
Also check out the two projects mentioned above (if they don't disgust to you much) that air out sexist dirty laundry:
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