Feminism- The New "F" Word.

Emily
Apr 27, 2017
2 min read

Women's March London 2017. Photo credit- Faye Conisbee.

Are men and women truly equal? This question has been thrown around a lot in recent months after Donald Trump’s “grab them by the p*****” remark during the American election. There’s also been plenty of stigma around feminism with 2/3 of Brits supporting equality but only 7% of them calling themselves feminist. There is a common belief that we are living in a post-feminism society; a society where feminism isn’t needed anymore because women are now seen as equals. This simply isn’t true.

Only 7% of sports coverage in the UK are women’s sports. In all of the top grossing 250 films in the US only 7% had female directors. The gender wage gap still continues to exist ignored by the masses who still refuse to believe that it exists.

In parts of countries such as India or China women can still be sold by their fathers as brides to any man who offers the right price. Female genital mutilation is still being practised in Africa, Asia and the Middle East despite the excruciating pain and risk of infection that it carries. These women are still seen as objects who can be owned by men who don’t see them as being equal. While these gender biases are often more subtle in Western Society they still happen on a daily basis. Women being catcalled on the streets may seem like a compliment but many won’t interpret it as being positive. Young girls are told not to be out after dark because of a taught fear of being raped or exploited with no escape. 95% of all rape service users in 2016 were female with a 53% increase in reported cases than in 2015. However, women aren’t the only ones suffering. The toxic sense of masculinity ingrained in young boys is preventing them from reporting sexual or psychical cases of assault in the fear of being emasculated. 12,000 men and 85,000 women are raped in England and Wales every year but these numbers only account for reported cases. Feminism supports equality for both genders; it’s the principle that the genders should be treated equally without the influences of typical masculine or feminine roles.

Feminism has gained a bad reputation because of distorted media representations of desperate women burning their bras and spitting in the faces of all men. Anyone can be a feminist regardless of gender, age or religion because it’s simply the view that everyone should be treated equally. In an ever developing world shouldn’t equality be one of the most basic human rights?