A significant portion of my following is probably pissed off by my feminist rantings. However, I am still developing my ideas, and finding new ways to express them. So the posts continue.
My aim here is to say hello to the crazy number of new followers, and also clarify to the existing feminist followers what I’m trying to write about.
I hold the efforts of every feminist from the suffragettes through the first, second and third waves to the modern philosophy in extremely high regard. The level of equality that has been secured for women today is truly inspiring, and positive steps have been taken towards gender equality in the areas of voting, working and social expectations. The world was once a dark, patriarchal place, and it has improved.
But my constant, dizzying and recurring theme is that this equality is NOT ENOUGH.
It is in fact the case that they are paid 23 per cent less for EQUAL WORK to men.
It is the fact that rape still occurs frequently.
It is the fact that girls are taught to live for their appearance, while boys are taught to live for their dreams.
It is the fact that the beauty industry makes millions from the insecurity of women and girls about their appearance.
It is the fact that women are objectified, idealised and fantasised in the media.
It is the fact that retouched photos have become a standard in glossy magazines, and strike an insecurity goldmine in the minds of body-conscious teenage girls the world over.
It is the fact that female circumcision still occurs throughout the world, a horrific and barbaric procedure.
It is the fact that celebrities are all too often judged by their appearance and fashion sense.
It is the fact that the availability of prostitution allows the commodification and dehumanisation of women to a sexual object, rather than a human being.
It is the fact that over 11 million Americans and 1.6 million Britons suffer from an eating disorder, and the fact that 90% of these are women.
There is a serious problem in attitudes beyond the conventional feminist issues of equality. Modern feminism has to adapt to a new and growing challenge: changing the misogynistic attitudes of men and the way the media portrays women. Now we’re closer to having legal and social equality, it’s time to drop the connotations and stereotypes of gender. For you see, no gender has a traditional role. It is only in the over-simplification of these roles, as an attempt to understand humanity, that we have felt we are truly masculine or feminine.
It’s time to make things more complicated, and see people on an individual basis.
It’s time to start questioning the structure of this patriarchal western society.
I will be doing these ‘Lighthouse Brand’ posts every day until I’ve explained all my writing themes. Therefore, by clicking the tag or clicking below, you can see other articles in this series:
http://i-am-the-lighthouse.tumblr.com/tagged/lighthouse+brand/chrono
And if you haven’t already, I strongly suggest reading some of my older posts on feminism:
http://i-am-the-lighthouse.tumblr.com/tagged/feminism/chrono
Word.
It was just awesome and so affirming to see this awesome post roll through today and when I went through the blog I feel totally gratified and I learned tons and it was sexy and everything I love about the blogosphere. Awesome. So I wanted to share this amazing blog that I found ages ago that I refer back to lots because of the great dialogue, the links and the resources and thought some of you guys might like it too http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/. I don’t even know how I got to it originally but I know it was kind of buried for me… I like how it keeps me thinking critically and examining things and looking at things with a political lens…