3 Reasons We Still Need Feminism
Many people believe that we are in a post-feminist age and that we no longer need the women's rights movement. However, below you will find some compelling arguments that suggest this is not true for women, or for men. Read on to find out why.
Appearance = Worth.
Our daughters are still growing up to believe that their appearance is the price they pay to exist in the world. That means they have to be a specific weight, look a particular way, and modify their natural body to feel as if they are accepted. This is a terrible message to be handing on to any child be they boy, girl, or gender non-binary.
In fact, this is a phenomenon that happens every day over the internet, social media, and in real life where people are routinely judged and shamed over their appearance by acquaintances, strangers, and even people that get a kick out of making others feel bad. Of course, this reinforces the problem and makes women, and anyone else it is happening to feel like it is their appearance that matters more than more than anything else.
Now you may wonder, what happened to unconditional love, self-acceptance, and body positivity? Of course, some folks are working on these things, but they are still a drop in the ocean compared to all the others desperate to fit in with the crowd.
However, you can make a change here by being radical and teaching your children to love themselves no matter what, even if there are entire industries built on the premise that we all hate ourselves.
Workplaces still demonstrate sexist bias.
Even though plenty of anti-sexist legislation exists, poor treatment of women is still prevalent in the workplace.
It can take the form of being paid less to do the same job as your male counterpart, or it may be in the form of sexual harassment as demonstrated by the #metoo movement, something that many women and men have experienced at one time or another.
It may even be in a more subtle form such as being passed over for a promotion because you are a female of childbearing age and no one wants the hassle of covering you if you decide to have a family. Yes, it happens, even if people don't speak about it openly!
Luckily, some folks are working hard to change this imbalance. Some do this by protesting, while others are fighting the system more subtlety from the inside. Some people are even so incensed by sexism that they go to the lengths of developing items like this novelty urine delivery system, a tool that would allow transmen to be in the workplace, without suffering discrimination based on their genetics and their decision to transition. Something that will hopefully make things more fairer, and position the locus on control over disclosure firmly back with the individual, rather than them being forced into it, because of circumstance beyond their control.
It's about equality.
Last, we need feminism because it's about equality. It's not about saying that everyone is the identical, but it is about demonstrating that men, women, and people with other gender identifications are equal and have equal rights.
Of course, in a society where gender is becoming more fluid equality is an essential step. After all, it could be your daughter or son that encounters sexism and discrimination in their life, and if you want to prevent this, you will need feminism to do it.