Consigned to the dustbin? Apparently women have never had it so good. We're not so sure...
The F Word has always been a big topic in the Handbag Office. And by the F Word, I am, of course, referring to feminism. Unfortunately, it’s still word with dirty connotations – a male friend recently told me that I needed to ‘stop going on about this feminism thing or I’ll never get a boyfriend.’ And he meant it – there’s nothing less attractive than a woman banging on about inequality and injustice, apparently.
Caitlin Moran’s new book How To Be A Woman has bought feminism back onto the agenda, and we’re on a mission to reclaim the word as something positive. There are plenty of women who genuinely believe that men and women should be treated equally refuse to call themselves feminist in case they’re branded a man-hating lunatic lesbian. Team Handbag has no such qualms. Below I’ve tried to explain why I’m happy (and proud) to call myself a feminist. Read on to see what the rest of the team have to say on the matter…
Rebecca Holman, editor
‘It never occurred to me that men and women weren’t equal until I entered the big wide world.’
The idea that men and women weren’t on equal footing never occurred to me when I was growing up my mother always worked as the main bread winner, and my father stayed at home as a house husband. This wasn’t because my dad was subjugating to my mother’s will, or because he was too lazy to go out to work and so expected her to do it. It was because they were a team, who contributed different things to the household. Of course, as I got older I came to realise that as a mother of three, my mum was only able to have the successful career she’s had – with the obligatory late nights and weekends in the office and week-long work trips abroad – because my dad was willing to forgo his own. Had he insisted on going out to work as well, or refused to look after us after 6pm because his day job was over, it would have been a very different story. And my mum? In order to have a successful career she had to give up evenings, weekends and even holidays with her children – because the fact that she had three young children to go home to wasn’t something that crossed her (male, middle aged) bosses minds. Having it all really doesn’t exist – and it’s high time someone admitted this.
Veronica Kirby, lifestyle editor
‘At its base I think feminism comes down to this simple question: Do you believe men and women are equal?’
People have been scared to stand up and say, ‘I’m a feminist’ after the patriarchal society we live in managed to create a backlash against fervent feminists such as Greer. It seems the root of feminism has got lost in a sea of criticism and confusion over who can be a feminist, what a feminist looks like, whether one can still be in a loving relationship with a man and yet be a feminist. But at its base I think feminism comes down to this simple question: Do you believe men and women are equal? If the answer is yes, you are, at heart, a feminist. And every business that pays its female workers less than their male counterparts, every government that supports laws stating women are not allowed to drive a car (presumably because they know those women would buckle up and drive the hell out of there) and every country that decides women aren’t smart enough to have the right to vote, should fill you with rage at the injustice of it. We know we’re equal to men but until every other man, woman and government does too, calling yourself a feminist is a title of which to be proud, not ashamed.
Rebecca Cope, junior fashion and beauty writer
‘Being a feminist doesn’t mean you want to kill all men, or take all the money, or walk around in a shirt and tie.’
Feminist is almost a dirty word today, conjuring up connotations like ‘lesbian’ or ‘nuts’ or ‘man-hater’. But ever since I studied feminist literary theory at uni, I’ve definitely come to understand the term in a far more positive way. And yes, I’d consider myself a feminist. Being a feminist doesn’t mean you want to kill all men, or take all the money, or walk around in a shirt and tie. Instead, for me, I think of Peggy’s character in Mad Men who is something of a pioneering feminist role model. She works at an ad agency dominated by men, but quickly rises to become a copy-writer and not a secretary because of her undeniable intuition and talents as a writer. She never tries to put the other women down because of her success, and she doesn’t change the way she behaves around the men in the office. Instead she insists on being included in the dialogue of the men, even when they try and continue to treat her as little more than a skivvy. So being able to be treated as an equal in the work place, and being rewarded in the same way as men, is what feminism means to me... and I’m definitely not going to start dressing like a dude to make my point!
Take a look at our pick of the best feminist books.
