Fighting for our rights, or simply screaming for vengeance?

I run the risk of making myself very unpopular here, particularly among those who won’t bother reading past the first paragraph, but I think it’s time we took a long, hard look at how feminism is perceived by those who call themselves feminists (i.e. neofeminists), having mistaken own-gender favouritism for ‘equality’.

First, let’s look at what feminism is really all about.

You can date feminist protests back to the 3rd century BCE. When the “first wave” of feminism first arose in the 1800s, it was from a need for constitutional and social equality, in a society where women were subjugated to men. This need for equality between the sexes, or fight against oppression, is still very much a key cause in modern day feminism.

The European Institute for Gender Equality defines feminism as follows:

“Political stance and commitment to change the political position of women and promote gender equality, based on the thesis that women are subjugated because of their gendered body, i.e. sex.” (EIGA, n.d.)

On the same page, there is additional information about the workings of modern day feminism:

“Contemporary feminisms’ main focus is either a re-evaluation and reconceptualisation of women, their positions and roles, or a deconstruction of covert forms of gender discrimination and exclusion.”

This is important stuff, people! So, why am I in such a huff?

Well, nowhere in any of the above quotes did we read that modern day males should be punished for the norms and legislations of a society they did not help build. Perpetuating these norms today in plain ignorance should of course be subject to both criticism and consequence, and I think that this can be read between the lines here, but simply being born with your genitalia on the outside of your physical body does not a criminal make.

Back to the misapprehension aspect of neofeminism. Which is different from new feminism, by the way. Look it up. Neofeminists tend to glorify the female aspect. Not very equally inclined, if you ask me.

Thus, in their attempt to ‘take down the patriarchy’ by trying to flip the coin and make persons of the male gender feel inferior, these neofeminists take the focus away from where the feminist movement is still sorely needed because women’s rights are not equal to those of their male peers.

I am talking about the places and societies where women still don’t have the right to vote (Eritrea and Vatican City), where they aren’t allowed out in the open without covering themselves up, where they are forced to remain silent until their husband, brother or other male family member allows them to speak, where they do not have the same educational opportunities as their male peers, where they cannot speak up about sexual harassment in the workplace in fear they will lose their job – where they are subject to very real oppression.

That is where we need political change.

And I am not talking about religious practices or beliefs here – to each their own – but behaviours and customs that become a breeding ground for hostility, fear, hate and megalomania.

To me, feminism represents working towards creating opportunities for those who wish to have a say in how they want to lead their lives, like having a career in a field where their gender is unrepresented and therefore overlooked – and not because they are unrepresented due to lack of real interest.

Gender quotas are bullshit. Especially when it comes to leadership in the workplace. Anyone who has studied leadership and better management styles will know that a true leader needs to have a real passion for their work in order to do their job properly. If something holds precedence over the leadership role, you should find something else to do. And the quality of being able to put your job first pertains to a certain type of person, regardless of gender. So, a leadership role shouldn’t go to a woman that applied just to see if she could get it, just because she’s among the underrepresented few, when there are highly qualified men just dying to do the job and make the required sacrifices to do so. Why apply for a job when you don’t absolutely want it?

And when we are on the subject of work, there’s the issue of equal pay. This new generation of patriarchy fighters seem to think that they are entitled to the same pay as their male colleagues, despite taking a week ‘off’ each month, where they demand to be left to their own devices so that they can deal with menstrual cramps, chocolate cravings and mood swings. If you’re not going to do your usual workload to a respectable standard for one week out of every month, how do you expect to get paid the same as someone who does do their job and manages to pick up the slack after you? And, don’t get me started on the type of women who apply for a job, only to accidentally get pregnant and go on maternity leave within 3 months of signing the contract.

In demanding this type of preferential treatment at work, how do you think that makes the rest of us look? Everyone will think we are equally weak, demanding and ignorant of others’ needs. Saying it should be your right as a woman to make such demands makes the whole equality aspect of feminism evaporate. In fact, it’s akin to taking a huge, bloody dump all over everything the feminism movement has accomplished to do and to this day works hard to fight for. It is the opposite of equality and has already had enough negative consequences to create a rift and perhaps make some people think that women should be put in their place.

So, when fairweather (now former) friends would ask me, in a rather accusatory tone, ‘and you call yourself a feminist?’, in response to my opinions or behaviour, my reply would be: ‘No, I don’t.’ And, I really don’t. Not because I disagree with the ideology, but because I don’t want to be associated with them or their misinformed view on something so important.

Whatever happened to fighting the power, together? Equality? Unity? Solidarity?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for equal rights and applaud the movement that secured our right to vote, not least to own a fucking credit card. But I’d rather not be associated with these self-proclaimed feminist that are under the impression that being a feminist means blaming and punishing men for everything that’s gone wrong in their own lives. You blame patriarchy for enforcing societal norms that aren’t suited to women, when in fact women are often the ones perpetuating (or enforcing) them. Mothers telling girls how to behave so that people will like them, teachers doing the same. Women treating men like they’ve done something wrong by simply existing. Women treating other women like dirt and playing games, just to cause confusion and fear. This type of behaviour is alienating, not community-building.

Then there’s linguistic trends, such as the emergence of the term ‘mansplaining’, for instance… There’s no one more guilty of explaining things in a way that makes the listener think they are cognitively bloody impaired, than a misinformed feminist. The fact that it’s been dubbed mansplaining and not overexplaining goes to show just how far some people have gone to put men in a derogatory light. This is opinion, of course, however educated it may be.

Anyway, that’s what irks me this week, and all the live long day.

If you’re going to fight for something, fight for equality, not for the glorification of one specific sex. We are all just parasites on this planet anyway, and before long, we will be but stardust in the solar wind.

See you next Tuesday (unless an asteroid wipes us out within the next few days)!

Also, you should listen to some nice tunes. Have some Lita Ford, some Blondie and some fucking Judas Priest (links below):