Hey Henry, I couldn’t help but see the conversation that you were having with Caroline Barker yesterday on facebook and I was just really shocked and upset by some of the things you said. Firstly, you have no right to claim that,just because women from the UK are lucky enough to have come from a very priviliged background, we don’t suffer from gender inequality. Yes certainly, we are lucky enough to have the vote, to be given access to jobs, to have laws in place to protect us – but just because, by law we have been given the same rights, does NOT imply that we, as women, are equal. The fact that much of your argument stems from the fact that other countries have it worse is utterly ignorant. Injustice anywhere, whether it be in rural areas of Pakistan where girls are married off to men twice their age or Russian victims of sex trafficking, affects justice everywhere. If the suggestion is that we, one of the most privileged countries in the world, should shut our mouths and be happy with a base level of superficial equality then what hope is there for progression elsewhere. The idea that you think women have reached the peak of societal equality would be laughable if it weren’t so painfully damaging. Opinions like yours perpetuate a culture which degrades and, as you’ve shown, completely silences the experiences of women and the idea that you don’t recognise this is far more suggestive of your naiveté than your claims of the gender inequality myth. Obviously neither Caroline nor any other British feminist is trying to compare her situation with women in Africa, who have obviously suffered more as a result of their sex. But don’t attack her for wanting to raise awareness for something she feels strongly about. To say that “100% woman either are equal or better off in this country” is, frankly a disgusting comment to make. Lets start with the most obvious manifestation of negative attitudes towards women; rape culture. 69,000 females on average are victim to rape per year, compared with 9,000 males per year. Obviously men still suffer from sexual violence, it is obviously not a phenomenon specific to women, however, look at that statistic. Thousands more women are victim to sexual assault, and it can take months and years to get over that kind of physical and psychological trauma – it is a total violation of one’s womanhood, and for what? So that a man can prove to himself and others his physical superiority to women; to be able to exert his dominance over someone he thinks is inferior? And I cannot believe the word “circumcision” was even mentioned in this debate – “genital mutilation, which I would say by definition includes circumcision but as usual, only the female side matters” – honestly I almost threw my laptop across the room when I read this. Female genital mutilations comprises a procedure that removes female genitalia for non-medical reasons, to make women more attractive etc. in horrendously dangerous conditions, thus violating a person’s rights to health, security as well as their physical integrity. Circumcision is carried out for the most part (apart from religion) because of the dangers to health and its implications with poor hygiene. Thirdly, “women are more deeply affected by having children…they would far rather be at home spending time with the children” – shut up. That is simply not true, that is the result of hundreds of years of brain washing by society. It is also the result of religion and the notion of ‘divinely ordained social positions’, the notion of the ‘nuclear family’ etc.
“Have you considered… that men may be more suitable…due to more detachment from emotional issues” – so ignorant I cannot even be bothered to discuss “Classic feminist tears” – please, if you are going to start an argument on a public social forum regarding feminism, you cannot answer with such pathetic and immature responses; it just proves you don’t have a leg to stand on, that you have not properly researched this topic, nor have you really thought about what you are saying. I’m sorry for this onslaught but actually, your comments made me feel sick and I just couldn’t not say anything.