“I’m not a feminist but…”: A frequent expression I hear, spoken from the mouths of even the most independent and socially and politically intelligent women. I have come to realise over the years that women today are often reluctant to embrace and identify with a term which has given them so much. What is wrong with being a feminist? Surely every woman today, having reaped the rewards of her suffragette sisters, should be happy and proud to call herself one of them? For me, “I'm not a feminist but I believe that women should have equal pay” is an oxymoron. If you believe in any ounce of female empowerment, or even live a life which allows you to have it, you are automatically a feminist. And that is not a negative thing.
I much prefer the phrase “I am a feminist and…” I used it just the other day, when inputting some information onto the computer at work I was shocked to find a certain omission from a drop-down list of titles. Mr, Mrs, Miss and various combinations such as Mr and Mrs, Dr and Dr, were all there. The Dr and Mr combination was, however, absent. It is apparently impossible for a woman to have the title Dr, whilst her husband does not. So, I rang up the software creators and proudly used the phrase “I am a feminist and…”
I was surprised, therefore, when I found myself using a phrase which combines both the “but” and the “and” feminist phrases: “I am a feminist but…”. I came across a facebook group against Transport for London’s new posters which try to raise awareness of the dangers of taking unbooked cabs. The group claims that the posters are victim blaming women. According to the creators, the phrase “you’re putting yourself in danger”, suggests that women are to blame for rape, and that the poster as a whole says that “women are not entitled to be in public places without the threat violence”.
The poster is certainly shocking. And as the group claims, it probably triggers awful memories for sexual assault victims through the suggestion that the woman depicted is being raped. However, the group takes its attack on the posters too far. It moves on from critiquing the poster for what it is in itself, to slandering it because it is sponsored by the City of London Police who fail to respond to rape effectively and who should therefore not be trusted with giving safety advice to women.
Now, I am a feminist but such slandering of a poster that is raising awareness of real dangers for women, is completely ridiculous. Surely the positive effects of such a poster far outweigh any negative suggestions which it may, supposedly, imply. If anything, the fact that the poster addresses the woman, making it her responsibility, is an empowering thing: You’re safety is in you’re hands, and there are certain decisions which you can make that enable it to stay there. The dangers of unbooked cabs are a very real threat, and the truth of the matter is that women can make certain choices which lessen this threat. Using this, as an attack on the police for not taking rape cases seriously, even though this may be true, is completely unnecessary and counter-productive.
Of course, no movement in history, no attempt for equality got anywhere by being practical and letting certain slip-ups go unnoticed for the sake of the greater good. Naturally, if you’re in a minority, fighting for a cause, you have to push to extremes to be heard. But I think that it is this part of feminism today which makes women reluctant to identify with the term. People see feminist campaigns such as this, which seem so extreme and counter-productive, and automatically, being a feminist becomes associated with impracticality, extremism and over-analytical ridiculousness. And women today see it as that, instead of as what it genuinely and very simply boils down to: believing in women’s rights, empowerment and equality and being able to say it unashamedly and proudly: “I am a feminist”.
No comments:
Post a Comment