Just don’t call me a feminist!

I’ve posted before about the merits of Feminism as a social movement and ideology, for the positive changes that it has brought about (in the Western world at least).

I always try and get my students (particularly the females) to connect to the idea of how very different their lives would be today if the feminist movement of the last 40/50 years or so had not achieved what it had. Most of the females comment on how you’d never find them ‘chained to the kitchen sink’ (although a handful claim that would indeed be a life choice for them) but, have no idea of the huge social shifts that have taken place to provide them with the opportunity to be sitting in an FE college with the potential to go on to university.

Make no mistake, feminism has changed Western society forever.

However, all too often discussion of feminism turns derisory, and not just from the males proclaiming life would be better if women knew their place.  For a light hearted but reflective take on this, have a look at some old Harry Enfield sketches on YouTube on this subject!

What’s more, the discussion often turns to the issue that feminism has gone too far, particularly when Radical Feminism (which let’s be honest is a bit extreme at times!) is the topic.

And so it was with interest that I read an article the other day in the Guardian online http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/03/ellen-page-interview-the-east. It was an interview with the actress Ellen Page in which she discussed the apparent  disassociation successful female stars have with feminism.  You’d think that there would be a connection, an almost appreciation of how feminism has helped them to achieve what they have.  But no.

The article quotes Lady Gaga as saying: “I am not a feminist – I hail men, I love men. I celebrate American males and beer and bars and muscle cars” whilst Björk is quoted as saying: “To say I’m a feminist would isolate me” whilst Beyoncé when recently asked if she considered herself a feminist stated: “That word can be very extreme … I do believe in equality … But I’m happily married. I love my husband.”

So have people fallen out of love with feminism?  Is it that what we (but of course women especially) have today is taken for granted?  What is it about being labelled a feminist that’s so bad? Interestingly Page offers that how can feminism be such a bad word when we still live in a patriarchal world? She suggests that maybe women just don’t care, which is interesting when you consider I recently read in the Daily Mail on line the results of research which claim 62% of women secretly wished to be a housewife whilst 78% said they wouldn’t mind being financially independent upon their husband http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2324926/Majority-British-women-pick-housewife-having-career.html

So finally I’ll leave you with this.  In some of the exam papers I’ve been marking recently, you can almost see the rolling of the eyes from the students when discussing feminism.  In one example, functionalism and Marxism were discussed with the language “Argue” and “Claim”, whereas feminism “Moaned”.

Feminism. The Exclusivity of the Female Gender?

Whenever a new academic year starts and the influx of AS Sociology students are introduced to Sociological theory, Feminism as a term is recognised  by probably half the intake and understood as an ideology to some degree, by a handful.   I can however guarantee two questions will ALWAYS get asked:

1/ “Are all feminists lesbians?”

2/ “Can men be feminists?”

The former is always asked by males and the latter by females.  Well, girls do mature quicker then boys (don’t they?).

Once the laughter and derision (from the learners) to the first question subsides, the second question does generate an interesting discussion point.

‘Feminism’ as a concept in general terms refers to the belief that women should be treated on equal terms to men in all aspects of their social existence. Therefore, if one is ‘pro-gender equality’ regardless of whether they are male or female, then it seems sensible to suggest they are a feminist.

I refer to an article by Gavin Thomson on Open Democracy who suggests men shouldn’t be the voice of feminism and I understand his point.  I always remember when I was in my under grad studies and I took a module entitled “Introduction to Women’s History” (the theme running throughout being His Story and addressing the balance to reflect Her Story / Herstory). First lecture in the main hall (and this is absolutely genuine) I was one of two males in a total collective of around 250 – 300 students.  The other male transferred to another unit after the first lecture.

Now I wouldn’t say that I was uncomfortable but on reflection what I probably felt was a sense of should I be here? after all I one of them whose story is patriarchal and required  re-telling.

I stuck the unit out and felt better for it in that my understanding of the relationship between the genders had a different perspective and of course, this along with my perspectives on all social relationships is what Sociology does for us as it students.

In his article, Gavin goes on to discuss a situation in which he may have to engage with (female) feminists on experiences of sexism and almost apologises that as a man his life has been plain sailing and would not be able to connect on such a level.  Well I’ll leave readers of this blog post with this. As a further education lecturer working with pretty much a balance of male to female colleagues I am all too aware of appropriate behaviour, language, discussions etc. where gender is concerned.  However having recently done some volunteering in a primary school dominated by female teaching and support staff, I bore witness to some topics of conversation that would certainly give me the experiences to  engage with (female) feminists on sexism!

Finally, there is a third question that inevitably gets asked of me.  “Are you a feminist?” and I always reply that I believe in equality of the genders therefore, I must be.  However I also follow up with “I’m also an anti capitalist, a functionalist, a social actionist..”

the link for Gavin’s article is: http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/gavin-thomson/can-men-be-feminists