Time Magazine showed us how outdated and untimely it actually is, contrary to the name. The magazine recently took a poll for which words should be banned in the year 2014, one of the options presented was feminist. Firstly I don't love the idea of any word being banned because it reminds me of the dystopian novel,Farenheit 451. Secondly, feminist is all to important of a word to be banned even as a joke. Thirdly, feminist means, "a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes." No, feminism does not mean a hatred of men or anyone who does not identify as female. Ok now that we got that out of the way, I compiled a list of reasons we still need feminists and feminist discourse. These are just some of the issues that feminists focus on and yes some of these overlap with one another. Keep in mind, this is in no way a complete list :
"...feminist is all to important of a word to be banned even as a joke. "
1. Wage Gap
2. Sex Trafficking
3. Violence and discrimination against LGBTQ individuals
4. Domestic Violence against both men and women
5. Strict Gender Roles and Identities enforced
6. Female Infanticide
7. Cat-Calling and Sexual Harassment
8. Rape Culture
9. Sexualization of women and young girls in the media
10. Online violence against women
11. Female Genital Mutilation
12. Poor infant/ mother health care
13. Lack of resources for working mothers and fathers
14. No paid leave for new fathers or mothers
15. Poverty rates among single mothers
16. Lack of credit given to men as fathers
17. Violence against animals
18. Discrimination and violence towards women of color
19. Lack of Immigration reform
20. Lack of access to birth control and abortion
21. Slut Shaming
22. Discouragement of women to participate in STEM fields
23. Glass ceiling, glass elevator, glass cliff and sticky floor analogies for women in the workplace
24. Control of women's garments, clothes and modesty
25. Control of women's sexuality
26. Laws restricting women in driving etc.
27. Lack of women and minorities in the political sphere and in important offices
28. Racism
29. Homophobia
30. Transphobia
31. Xenophobia
32. Lack of access to health care or disparities in health care provided
33. Lack of equal access to education
34. Violence, discrimination and poor health care options for intersex individuals.
35. Classism
36. Ageism
37. Ableism
38. Over sexualization or objectification of women of color
39. High incarceration rates of people of color
40. Increased violence against trans individuals
41. Racial or ethnic profiling
42. Cultural relativism
43. Cultural appropriation
44. Religious discrimination
45. Lack of job security for LGBTQ individuals
46. Increased war crimes
47. Prison Reform
48. Access to Mental Health Services. Stigma of mental illness.
49. Police Brutality
50. Systematic and Institutionalized oppression
51. Ethnic cleansing
52. Ethnocentric feminism
53. heteronormative/ cis feminism
54. Control of a person's clothing/modesty or actions
55. Lack of positive visibility for women of color , disabled people , LGBTQQ individuals in the media.
56. Stereotypes perpetuated by the media
57. Hate crimes
58. Criminalization of people of color in society and the media
59. Body shaming , Fatphobia and photoshopped images
60. Discouragement and exclusion of women, trans individuals, LGBTQQ individuals in certain sports and fields.
I for one am glad that the word feminist has caught mainstream attention because as the list shows we still have a lot of work to do. I would suggest that we do not distract ourselves with absurd polls on banning the word, feminist. - Imaan
2. Sex Trafficking
3. Violence and discrimination against LGBTQ individuals
4. Domestic Violence against both men and women
5. Strict Gender Roles and Identities enforced
6. Female Infanticide
7. Cat-Calling and Sexual Harassment
8. Rape Culture
9. Sexualization of women and young girls in the media
10. Online violence against women
11. Female Genital Mutilation
12. Poor infant/ mother health care
13. Lack of resources for working mothers and fathers
14. No paid leave for new fathers or mothers
15. Poverty rates among single mothers
16. Lack of credit given to men as fathers
17. Violence against animals
18. Discrimination and violence towards women of color
19. Lack of Immigration reform
20. Lack of access to birth control and abortion
21. Slut Shaming
22. Discouragement of women to participate in STEM fields
23. Glass ceiling, glass elevator, glass cliff and sticky floor analogies for women in the workplace
24. Control of women's garments, clothes and modesty
25. Control of women's sexuality
26. Laws restricting women in driving etc.
27. Lack of women and minorities in the political sphere and in important offices
28. Racism
29. Homophobia
30. Transphobia
31. Xenophobia
32. Lack of access to health care or disparities in health care provided
33. Lack of equal access to education
34. Violence, discrimination and poor health care options for intersex individuals.
35. Classism
36. Ageism
37. Ableism
38. Over sexualization or objectification of women of color
39. High incarceration rates of people of color
40. Increased violence against trans individuals
41. Racial or ethnic profiling
42. Cultural relativism
43. Cultural appropriation
44. Religious discrimination
45. Lack of job security for LGBTQ individuals
46. Increased war crimes
47. Prison Reform
48. Access to Mental Health Services. Stigma of mental illness.
49. Police Brutality
50. Systematic and Institutionalized oppression
51. Ethnic cleansing
52. Ethnocentric feminism
53. heteronormative/ cis feminism
54. Control of a person's clothing/modesty or actions
55. Lack of positive visibility for women of color , disabled people , LGBTQQ individuals in the media.
56. Stereotypes perpetuated by the media
57. Hate crimes
58. Criminalization of people of color in society and the media
59. Body shaming , Fatphobia and photoshopped images
60. Discouragement and exclusion of women, trans individuals, LGBTQQ individuals in certain sports and fields.
I for one am glad that the word feminist has caught mainstream attention because as the list shows we still have a lot of work to do. I would suggest that we do not distract ourselves with absurd polls on banning the word, feminist. - Imaan