 |
|
 |
|
What is feminism? 'Feminists are women who don't want to be treated like shit,' Su, an Australian interviewed for an anthology, DIY Feminism. 'Feminists encourage women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practise witchcraft, become lesbians and destroy Capitalism,' Pat Robertson, preacher and former US Presidential candidate. 'The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes,' Concise Oxford Dictionary. Then… 'Looking back, the early 1970s were years of incredible optimism in Women's Liberation; we believed we could change the world, and had not yet understood or analysed the extent of the forces ranged against us,' Lynne Harne, writing in '68, '78, '88 From Women's Liberation to Feminism. 'What I miss most about 1968 and 1978, is the sense of optimism. We believed we could and, in fact, did change society. I am a little short of that sort of belief nowadays,' Penny Holland, in '68, '78, '88 From Women's Liberation to Feminism. Demands and challenges Feminism may have been around, in various guises, for centuries, but in the 1970s it started to take shape as a movement. In 1971, the first National Women's Liberation Conference was held at Ruskin College, Oxford. It was the first time women's groups from across Britain had met in a single place to discuss their demands and the challenges they faced. By the following year, the Women's National Co-ordinating Committee had worked out four basic demands with the aim of uniting as many women as possible in the new struggle for equality. They were:
There were demonstrations; direct action was an important element in political protest. The demonstration at the Miss World competition was just one manifestation of this. Women's Liberation in the early days was full of argument, and discussion was evolving fast. You could not ask a woman, as you could today, 'Are you a feminist?' The question was not specific enough. Are you a feminist? What kind? Socialist, Marxist, radical, liberal, revolutionary, lesbian, anarchist? New ideas Women were trying out ideas — 'the personal is political', 'consciousness-raising groups', 'sisterhood is powerful' — and forging deep friendships and developing new ways of living which were not patriarchal or phallocentric. They also explored language and found new, non-sexist ways of expressing their ideas. In the process, they developed their own rules, some of which were radical and separatist. One strand of feminists referred to women who married or lived with men as 'hostages'. Others, who did not advocate separatism, grappled with the difficult issues raised by 'living with the enemy'. Women have made huge gains as a result of feminism in the 1970s.
Perhaps the most significant achievement though, was the way in which feminism in the 1970s thrust women into the political and social limelight. Women supported each other in the demand that their voices be listened to, and they were heard. The way in which men and women think about each other changed irrevocably. |
 |
|
|
Jenny Fortune
|
|||
|
Now... 'For women today, feminism is often perceived as dreary. As elitist, academic, Victorian, whiny and passé, Susan Jane Gilman in Kiss My Tiara. 'I am not interested in protest anymore, I want to be involved in actual change,' Jo Somerset, writing in '68, '78, '88 From Women's Liberation to Feminism. The sense of optimism and idealism that permeated the 1970s women's movement is long gone. Yet so have the restrictive rules. I can wear a bra, paint my toenails, wear lipstick, shave, wax, even get married and still call myself a feminist. Feminism is not about body hair, nor about who opens the door for whom (couldn't the first person to get to the door open it?). But while it is easy to say what feminism is not, it is perhaps more difficult to define what feminism at the start of the 21st century actually is. Although activism is alive and well, its focus now is the environmentalist and anti-capitalist movements. Feminist direct action is rare: porn magazines are occasionally removed from shelves and female students still march to Reclaim the Night, but protesting on a 1960s and '70s scale is not how progressive women spend their energy. Hard-won gains There are feminist campaigns about issues such as violence against women, but while some of these campaigners are explicitly pursuing feminist aims, others argue that they are simply drawing attention to a criminal act, such as domestic abuse. Yet feminism has made advances recently.
Modern attitudes to feminism are more complex, and this creates difficulties for feminists as Susan Jane Gilman, the American writer, sums up: 'Women of my generation have acquired all the responsibilities that come with sexual equality (ie, earn your own pay cheque), but few of the equal benefits (again: see pay cheque). We're encouraged to be "empowered" but vilified for being feminists. We have more career opportunities than ever, but somehow we still get the message that a bustier, not a brain, is the real source of "Girl Power''.' The Backlash 'Feminism is a towering edifice of bullshit,' 'Neil Lyndon, No More Sex War: The failures of feminism. The backlash against feminism has gathered pace over the past 20 years, and it has not come only from men. Women are encouraged by other women to surrender to their husbands, to follow The Rules, to stop being aggressive and asking for what they want. Male critics meanwhile, have argued that feminism has emasculated men, and turned women into career-minded, husband-starved loners with nothing to do when they get home but feed the cat. Proponents of the backlash argue that women are not really so badly off, that reports of rape and domestic violence are exaggerated, and that it is men who are now oppressed, particularly over issues such as custody of children after a divorce. Does feminism still have a role? Some men may protest that feminism has done its work but the following statistics show otherwise:
Across the world, twice as many women as men are illiterate. The struggle goes on. |
 |
 |
|
|
Sally Alexander |