8 reasons feminism is important, and 10 things to do about it

Following an infuriating discussion with a group of friends earlier this week, I was inspired to write about a cause which is important to me - feminism. Never ceasing to be amazed by the general lack of understanding on the subject, I launched myself into writing pages of rant-y political view points, before realising that the only audience that sort of writing would appeal to would be other die-hard feminists. So, in an attempt to make the subject more approachable I have opted for a style of writing nobody can resist - the list! ... or in this case, 2 lists, because I couldn't quite suppress my rant-y tendencies.

8 Reasons Feminism is important

1.  Women are equal to men. Feminism is not about empowering women at the expense of men, its about making them equal; replacing the current patriarchal society with an egalitarian society. In fact feminism stands for equality of all races, genders, ethnicities, and everything in between.

2. Practices like female infanticide, honor killings, female genital mutilation, child marriage, female clothing restrictions, sex slavery, and laws preventing women from holding driving licences or being able to walk alone in the street are all things which somehow still exist.
3. In addition to these obviously hideous acts against women in the far corners of the world, problems also exist in the lives of Western women every day, like the gender pay gap, sexual harassment, and discrimination in the workplace.
4. Despite 9 in 10  victims (and that is not even considering the 70% of cases that go unreported) being women, culture around rape favours the male, with the first statements following a report being accusations about what the woman could have done to deserve it, or how she could have provoked it. As well as completely destroying the confidence of the victim, this leaves her questioning whether or not she is in fact a victim, a situation which would never be allowed in any other sort of crime - murder victims would never be accused of "asking for it". As well as being hurtful for current rape victims, this culture perpetuates the creation of them by reducing the likelihood that rapes will be reported, or that those guilty of rape will receive adequate punishment.

5. Media, the greatest source of all our information, trivialises and objectifies women reducing them to only their physical attributes. Not only does it teach women to judge and compare themselves to the impossible standard of digitally enhanced women, but it teaches men to judge women in the same way.

6. The cultural fixation on physical attributes of women creates competition between women, in attempts to attract men. This prevents women from reaching their full potentials.
7. There is no separation between objectification and nudity. There is no cultural understanding that women's bodies exist for more than just the male viewer, so female nudity is not allowed to exist without being sexualised. Bodies exist for living in, not sexualising.

8. There are laws (and campaigners where there are not laws) trying to prohibit women's rights to control what happens to their body, through limiting abortions. Many women are further punished after being raped by having no choice but to have the baby of the rapist.

Bringing us to my second list; what, in a culture which raises women to be insecure, can you do to help?

10 Things to do about it

1. Understand what it is/what it means to be a feminist. Don't be one of those people who is hung up on the word feminist itself, you do not need to be a short-haired tattooed woman to be a feminist, or a woman at all, and you don't need to hate sex or think all men should die, you only need to believe that all people are equal.

2. Think about the language you use which may contribute to female stereotypes. It isn't necessary to become totally obsessed with using politically correct terms, but be mindful of words like 'slut', 'catty', 'bitch', 'whore', which fixate stereotypical attributes to women. Try to embrace words like 'fuckwit' or 'asshole' for the good of the cause.
3. Examine the way in which you receive women; do you notice how they look or what they say first? Would this be the same case if you were meeting a man?
4. Support non-sexualised female role models. Realise the appearance of  a powerful woman does not bear on her value in anyway whatsoever, appreciate what she really has to offer.

5. Reduce female/female competition by eliminating the idea that women are natural enemies.

6. Decrease the pressures of stigmas about what women should do or how they should look. Do you really hate to tweeze your eyebrows or shave your legs? Hate putting make-up on every day? Then stop doing it. Worried about pursuing a career viewed as typically feminine or typically masculine? Don't be. Don't feel that you need to do certain things just because others expect you to do them. Don't do things if they aren't strictly necessary or don't make you happy. See a girl wearing no make-up, with bushy eyebrows, and hairy legs? Who cares, its her body and she can do (or not do) anything with it that she wants.
7. Object to societally accepted behaviours against women. Call-out cat-callers, stop people interrupting women in conversation, or taking them less seriously in the workplace.

8. Reduce rape culture by accepting that there is no way in which anybody can become entitles to sex. No skimpy outfit, no flirtatious comments, not having engaged in previous sexual acts, not even a verbal promise of sex, nothing.

9. Stop being complacent. Try to consider how much further the world may have advanced already if women were given as the same opportunities to succeed as men.

10. Think for yourself. Think about the ways in which you may contribute to the problem. Be critical of the world around you, things which you always considered to be normal, the way media portray things, and the way you react.

I'm happy to have been able to put down so many strong feelings in (sort of) a concise way. Hopefully there is something everybody can take away from this, and comments and discussion are always welcome! Tot volgende keer!