I've been reading Germanine Greer's sequel to her 60's seminal work, The Female Eunuch. I want to say it's a feminist piece but that would imply that to discuss equal opportunity is a feminist issue when it isn't. It's about human rights. The Female Eunuch is very much of it's time. It shocks only because we as a society had a long way to go back then but it's also funny and very obscene in places. I guess it was the only way to be heard. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Her more recent work is called The Whole Woman (published in 1998) so again some parts are out of date having been addressed (though I wouldn't say resolved) either by technology or legislation; it's still nevertheless an eye-opening read.
I've always thought of myself as a fairly (allowing for restrictions out of my control) emancipated woman. I have never done anything that was based on proving a point such as playing football or joining the army. I think anyone who truly wants to do things typically assigned to boys ought to have the right to but more importantly the right to excel in them if their interest in these activities goes further than the recreational. Did you know for example that women who join the army stand a bigger chance of being abused by their own comrades than the enemy? Fact. I don't need to tell you that while there are talented women in football, the game as played by them is considered a joke by the money spinning male establishment. Women tennis champions' prize money was less than mens' until a couple of years ago though the inequality in golf remains. As if women's living expenses in this day and age are less than men's. Sounds so crazy it's a wonder it's allowed to continue. Where are we going wrong? We went wrong a long time ago and I suppose it's going to take as long to put right. I certainly won't see the outcome in my lifetime, but as Greer says in the last sentence of her book: "When female energy ignites, let's hope we don't find ourselves on the wrong side."
I won't bore you with the details as we all deep down know the truth. A profession is only valued when it's dominated by men. The minute women take over it becomes devalued. If you don't believe me why are firemen paid more than nurses? Why is a women GP's starting salary on average 17 % less than a male GP's and why is it so important to throw good money after bad in the auto industry while primary healthcare languishes in under funded misery? Just recently a well loved female breakfast TV presenter in the UK found out she was being paid $35,000 less than her male partner per show!!. She quit on the spot (that's progress) and now women in the UK know the ugly truth and they are MAD. Blah, blah blah - so what? It's unfair. That's what and it has a detrimental affect on the fabric of society.
As the fabric of patriarchal society has cracked under the strain of women's insurrection it's produced a world of misunderstandings and paranoia where hatred and lack of respect now goes both ways. This is no way to live. The second wave of feminism brought a new accusation; the stridency and agression of the new feminist (a.k.a a woman who just wants freedom of choice though anger has made us all look like vitriolic cows) was draining men's virility. In fact it's changes in the modern world that contribute mainly to this feeling of powerlessness in the man. Workers are more expendable than ever. This isn't a plague visited upon them by women but by other men - the bosses who saw to it that the machines which could have liberated their employees from the drudgery and repetitive tasks replaced them instead.
In virility's place we have Viagra and male cosmetic surgery. It's as prevalent in men's lifestyle magazines as breast enlargement, botox and liposuction are in women's. This is not equality. This is exploitation. And it all starts in childhood.
So the other morning, bless his heart, my husband was brushing our 3 year old's hair. It was tangly and of course not turning out to be a fun experience. My husband started out by explaining that it was because he was a man that it hurt so much...then he stopped and said, " Since daddy doesn't have long hair, it's hard for him to know how best to brush yours, but we'll get there." That is true emancipation or to put it another way: All men are feminists now. It's the only way to pull chicks.
In all seriousness, I think all women ever wanted was the same opportunities as, not more than men. Let's hope all the hatred and suffering in between (on both sides) hasn't affected this balance in the coming years of liberation.
Last year I gave my daughter a train set for her birthday, perhaps unconsciously trying to avoid stereotypes (she did love Thomas the Tank Engine) but ultimately I run the risk of emasculating her when this isn't the way forward. So this year I'm giving her a doll and as she grows I will let her choose whether she wants to play trains or dolls all by herself - this is equality in my ideal world.
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