Feminism Still has an Important Place in the 21st Century
Feminism still has an important place in 21st Century society...and beyond
Upon writing this essay an anonymous man asked me the question; ‘Why do women still need feminism? You have equality now and everything.” It seems that despite 18th Century men and their treatment of women being one of the main reasons for the birth of the feminist movement, 21st Century men do not understand its credos, purpose or why it still exists in today’s society. This essay aims to explore the attitudes that gave rise to feminist thought, its victories and why feminism still has an important place in modern society.
Towards the end of the 18th Century, groups of women who included Mary Wollstonecraft wrote on this new idea of feminism. Although small, the movement proceeded into the 19th and 20th centuries with celebrities of the day; writer Virginia Woolf and slavery abolitionist Susan B. Anthony supporting it. Women in general began to tire of the treatment they had received on the part of fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, society in general and even other women at the end of the 19th Century. They created groups called Suffragette Groups, aimed at changing the law for women so they could vote, claim education, better health care and be protected from domestic violence, which had previously been seen as ‘a man’s right’.
Male-centric attitudes like this one often fed the women's rights movement, and were documented extensively in books by authors such as Sir Egerton Brydges.One of these sources referred to women as serving a ‘metaphysical purpose’, who ‘lacked rhertoric’ and were ‘more primitive and materialistic’ than men. This view was widely perpetuated. Indeed in the late 19th Century a woman’s uterus was believed to be the ‘centre of her world’. Books such as, ‘The Mental, Moral and Physical Inferiority of the Female Sex’ were published widely also, despite their complete lack of scientific, medical or psychological evidence. Despite these views, the feminist movement was spurred on in Britain, Australia and the USA.
Eventually these suffragette groups began publicly protesting this treatment, their lack of rights, and wrote and petitioned politicians and lawmakers to reform legislation. In the early 20th Century their voices were heard; women won the right to vote, to own property and be educated. This victory gave give to the second and third waves of feminism which happened in the 1970’s and 1990’s respectively. The main fights of the second wave of feminism were for better working conditions and wages and the right to have medical abortions. All of these were won also; legislation was changed, minimum wages were established in different countries and businesses formed new ideas on the inclusion of women in the work force. However it still took many years for women’s salaries to creep up and up, which was partly the reason for the third wave of feminism in the 1990’s, in which women campaigned for equal pay, paid maternity leave and were aided by ‘Girl Power’ bands like the Spice Girls and authors like Germaine Greer. Although women still earn only 86% of a man’s wage for the same work across all generations in Australia, the modern generation, or Y, earns 99% of a man’s wage for equal work, according to recent reports by Nine News. The goal of third wave feminism looks set to be achieved within the next generation.
These points prove that feminism still has a vital role in society today. These victories for women show that even a decade ago, women’s groups were still fighting extremely hard for equal rights as men. In many places in the world women have few or no rights even. For example, in Afghanistan legislation came in as recently as March 2009 to allow men to demand sex from their wives every four days, technically legalising marital rape. In many Islamic countries like Pakistan, women can be burned alive for having sex before marriage in what are called’ honour killings’, while the men involved are rarely punished. In Africa women are still circumcised every day in less than hygienic conditions with primitive tools and no anaesthetic, despite the fact that the procedure has no medical reasoning behind it and kills 1 out of every 20 stillborn babies in certain countries on the continent.
In Australia, America and Britain feminism has almost become a dirty word, with women going out of their way to avoid being associated with it. Women are still not ‘cracking the glass ceiling’ and achieving as many high earning positions in business and politics. American has still not had a female President. French women didn’t receive the vote until the 1970’s, 69 years behind Australia. Women in Hollywood films are portrayed in an often emotionally pathetic, helpless fashion. Films like He’s just not that into You, GI Joe and Watchmen portray women as sexy sidekicks, desperados and rape toys. Women have come so far and yet in many cases appear to have a long way to go. Many Western religious leaders still seem to follow the anthropological theory of Binary Opposition, in which men are classed as public, progressive and logical and women are labelled as private, primitive and emotional, therefore denoting inferiority. In Cleo magazine an article dubbed the Positive Feminism hinted at the male view of successful women;
“Picture a successful woman at the top of her tree and you see a cold heartless bitch who would more extend her middle finger than a hand to women who are scrambling up the ranks behind her.”
Powerful women such as former British PM Margaret Thatcher are labelled as ice queens, Thatcher herself was nicknamed the Iron Maiden.
Although men’s views of women have undoubtedly changed through the decades, in 2004 in Australia conservative Christian MP and the Health Minister at the time, Tony Abbott spoke of his desire to illegalise abortion. South Australian senator, and the first female leader of the Liberal Party in the state Natasha Stott Despoja immediately issued this statement, amidst an outcry from the general public;
“Women beware, this is a warning shot... Become complacent, shrug off feminism and watch your rights go down the gurgler, including your reproductive rights. While we have been focussed on outstanding issues like the lack of childcare and maternity leave, unequal pay and domestic violence, a growing number of decision-makers have been obsessing about our bodies."
This idea was halted after outcry from women, and men, all over the country, but the issue recently reared its head again when Tony Abbot spoke about its merits on radio, but not as Shadow Health Minister, this time he spoke as the Australian Opposition Leader.
Although some men may not see its legitimacy or even understand it,and some women fear its connotations as demanding and unfashionable, feminism is a protective measure for the personal freedoms women have worked for centuries to earn. From Mary Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf to Betty Freid, feminism has come a long way since its infancy yet still has further to go. There are many issues which have been solved admirably, but there are others outlined above which persist. All women deserve to be free of fear for their safety, to be able to earn an income and support themselves and their loved ones, to travel, learn freely and follow their dreams without judgement. That is what feminism means; to help women be free and happy. And in the future this is what we all can strive towards.
A. Macdonald
References
Cleo Magazine 'The Positive Feminism' 10:09
Stott Despoja, 'N. Abortion debate threat to Hard-won rights'Adelaide Advertiser, Wednesday 10/11/2004, Page: 18, Region: Adelaide Circulation: 201,499.
Woolf, V. 'A Room of One's Own'1927, Penguin Books Edition, London: UK