OK. So, most of you reading this are highly educated and well-versed in social/political discourse about feminism and equal rights. You're actually probably more widely-read and in the know than I am (honestly, I suck at keeping up with lingo and theoretical nuances). Although, I can't shed light on any of the subtleties of feminism like many of you can, I wanted to write an opinion piece on the topic because I realised I have a lot of connections to people who may not fully grasp how important this issue is to not only me, but all of the girls around them. Yes, that includes your girl-mates who on-the-surface are "too cool" for feminist propaganda. They do care, secretly. Or - at least, they should.
Firstly, feminist is NOT an ugly word. Feminism = equality of the sexes. I once had a conversation with a group of men (boys) who said that if a girl was too "flashy" or "combative" with her feminist views, they would automatically brush/avoid her. OK. I get it, it gets repetitive (as ANY topic of conversation does after a while) - but boys, don't you see that it's substantially more repetitive/annoying to you because IT DOESN'T PERSONALLY AFFECT YOU? Like, definitely understand that you probably feel a little helpless and targeted, but honestly, you presuming that any 'feminist propaganda' is a direct insult to you is honestly a reflection of the self-importance this world has fed your entire gender. OK, that was a little aggressive of me but maybe I am appealing to the women reading this who are braver than me on a daily basis. Ladies, I see your posts, and I love them. You've inspired me to speak up against my strategically curated, young-girl, yeah-i'm-cool-with-the-boys, 'laid back' demeanour and actually say something about an issue I know will continue to be beautifully revolutionised in my generation.
I'm lucky to be in a country where I can choose a career-path that is male-dominated with ease. I am so proud to know that more women are proportionately qualifying as doctors every year in this country than men. I'm not, however, as chuffed to know that we hold a dismal proportion of the authority positions in the field. But, hey, that's changing. It's changing in medicine, but it's not changing in a lot of other places where my female friends are trying to enter and make their mark. Furthermore, I'm not sure if it's changing sustainably in all sectors of our industries, including my own.
By 'sustainably' I mean that women are gaining power more often in the guise of playing the career-game like men. By my own reasoning, this suggests that the game is still systematically and strictly in the hands of men. We are being more aggressive, taking-no-shit and hiding many of the other emotional facets of our female-identifying selves to get a leg up. Yes, that was a gross oversimplification of what's going on in each and every one of our workplaces, but it rings true in many ways.
I know the argument for this mindset is that logical, no-bullshit, cool-tempered, reasoned business-sense and work ethic has shown ample success in the past for men. As a species we've built cities, multi-national corporations, endless technological innovations and a tonne of things my own singular brain cannot even fathom. I, however, like to think that the world has room for female intuitiveness and passion. It has a place for non-traditional approaches to problems that have been dealt with at a 'satisfactory' level for centuries that could be made better.
My own personally thought up example is in health, whereby much of the care provided, especially at end-of-life and in addiction/psychiatric settings is still highly impersonal and clinical. No bullshit. Systematic. Safe. I, however, spoke to an addiction physician (funnily enough, a man) who believed that it was the creative, non-systematic, unable-to-be-quanitifed, personal therapies that he saw as anecdotally helping his patients the most. I thought about this, and although this is highly stereotyped, I could clearly see such services and programs being designed and superbly executed by my female peers. Although I do not doubt my male peers are very well equipped to lead the charge in making healthcare more holistic, I honestly and resoundingly think that most of the men I see as able to make waves in these settings are able to because of the positive influence of WOMEN in their life.
Yes, that's how influential I think women are.
Anyway, my main reason for this article was to get angry-boys (baited by the title) and curious-women to have a leisurely read and take the time to reflect on their personal views on feminism.
I am an proud intersectional feminist. I am proud to associate myself with other wonderful feminists (most likely including you).
I hope you feel proud to.
Keep on keeping on.
Love, M.
