Whole Woman

celebrating the mother, the sister, the daughter... the whole woman

Why We Need The F WORD
Sunday, 15 January 2012 20:58

 

Although women earn equal money for equal work, the fact of the matter is that the jobs normally fulfilled by women are lower paid than the jobs traditionally filled by men. Think of doctors and then nurses. Yes, a woman can become a doctor, but the nursing profession is dominated by women and nurses earn a pittance of what doctors earn. Other professions that are dominated by women include teaching, office administration, retail, and hospitality.

Something else which impacts the amount of money women earn is child rearing. When a woman takes time away from work she relies on either the government to support her or a partner. During this time she is not adding any money into her superannuation for retirement, and women retire with a significant amount less money than men.

Sexual assault and rape are both crimes that are overwhelmingly committed against women. Many people turn around and say that men get raped too, and yes that's a genuinely sad truth, however in most cases men are raped by other men so this is a poor argument against feminism. Crimes of this nature are very rarely prosecuted in Western countries, and in some Middle Eastern countries the woman is put on trial after she is raped or assaulted.

Domestic violence is another crime that is largely the burden of women, we rarely see perpetrators being charged and there is precious little help for victims (many of whom are mothers and children) when they seek support. Society has a black and white attitude to victims of domestic violence that is extremely damaging. Women are to blame if they don't leave their abuser, but without the support necessary leaving is in many cases extremely difficult and sometimes impossible.

In popular culture women are portrayed in overly sexual ways, and they are airbrushed to within an inch of reality. Turn on a music clip and you'll see women in skimpy clothing, giving the men (who are portrayed as powerful) sexy and submissive eyes, except when their sexiness is shown as something that men are powerless to resist. This suggests to young women that being sexy is powerful, but the truth is that in our society the only powerful woman is a woman at the head of a government or a multi billion dollar company, and there aren't many women like that. Women are grossly underrepresented in business and government.

The so called sex industry treats women as if they are meat. Sex workers are regularly raped or murdered, women in "strip clubs" are objectified in the most demeaning ways, women in porn movies are expected to participate in increasingly degrading acts - acts which few women find pleasurable - and any woman who is ever involved with the sex industry lives the rest of her life in fear that one day someone will find out about her past (especially with the internet) and fire her from her job, remove her children from her care, and treat her as if she is worthless and can not be taken seriously.

These are just a few of the ways women are oppressed in our modern society. You'll find that this oppression is for the most part either silenced or completely unseen and unquestioned. When a woman uses the F word (Feminist / Feminism) she is often laughed at and called a "hairy man hating dyke" and this unrealistic stereotype is used to prevent women from ever claiming the power we deserve in today's world.

Many people will say that they don't like feminism, they prefer equality but equality is unrealistic given that women are the sole bearers of children. Women must not strive to be treated the same way men are treated, but respected in our own right, as strong, capable, smart people. We are not lesser creatures for giving birth because bringing children into the world and raising them is an enormous (and completely unrecognised) contribution to society.

So we call upon the young women of today to throw off the absurd and outdated stereotype given to feminists, educate the uninformed masses about the true business of feminism, and stand tall whilst proudly proclaiming WE ARE FEMINISTS, AND WE ARE PROUD!