On Feminism

“Why does Kate keep posting all that stuff about feminism?”
What an excellent question, and one I have been asked far too many times of late. The answer of course is that there has been a resurgence in the campaign as a result of more and more men thinking it is acceptable to treat women as secondary citizens.

I feel very fortunate in that I have never really felt vilified because of my gender, my ethnicity, my religion or any other recognisable trait. I’m a white male who has never truly struggled for anything or suffered for my beliefs. That’s why it is so important for me to speak out about it. I know a lot of the problem with any kind of discrimination is down to people who fall into the same brackets as me, but I understand why. I was never expressly told that women are equal to me, or that because someone has a different skin colour to me they shouldn’t be treated differently. I don’t recall being instructed it was not acceptable to slap women on the arse as a form of endearment or to wolf-whistle at them if I found them attractive. I was never told these things and yet I know them. The idea of acting in such a degrading manner towards anyone makes me feel a bit nauseous. It seems such a tired cliche to shout “look at the tits on that”, and yet there are men my age who think it is still acceptable. I would like to think that we are growing better, generation by generation.
When you consider that a generation before us had segregation of races and considered this acceptable, and a generation prior to that had seven million Jews and other minorities killed, we seem to be getting better, but the improvement is far too slow.
My generation represent the first time being gay has been accepted, and rightly so. Our view is that you love who you love and whose business is it other than your own (as long as it’s not with children or animals). It’s parts of the generation prior that still hold that archaic view there is something inherently wrong in being gay, and that’s where the real fear of “coming out” grows.

Women’s rights seems to be a much slower burn. In 1918 women were allowed to vote for the first time however three or four generations later they still don’t earn the same as men for working the same jobs, they’re not respected in the same way as men for their opinions, and they have put up with it for far too long. That’s why Kate posts “all that stuff about feminism” and regardless of any opinion on the matter, I am proud of her.