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All women gain from feminism – even Diana Rigg All women gain from feminism – even Diana Rigg
(5 months later)
The other day a perfectly nice chap opened the door for me in a restaurant so I spat in his face and started ululating Greenham style. Another man offered me a seat on the bus so I kneed him in the groin. Because I am a feminist and this is how feminists behave, right?The other day a perfectly nice chap opened the door for me in a restaurant so I spat in his face and started ululating Greenham style. Another man offered me a seat on the bus so I kneed him in the groin. Because I am a feminist and this is how feminists behave, right?
Of course I did not do these things, nor have I ever met a woman who has, despite the fact that I am from the Paleolithic era. When Diana Rigg spouted this nonsense – the old "I like having doors opened for me" line – I wondered where the myth comes from. Mostly I see women bumping buggies down the steps at train stations while no one helps.Of course I did not do these things, nor have I ever met a woman who has, despite the fact that I am from the Paleolithic era. When Diana Rigg spouted this nonsense – the old "I like having doors opened for me" line – I wondered where the myth comes from. Mostly I see women bumping buggies down the steps at train stations while no one helps.
Riggs's quaint ideas about feminism are hardly new. She likes male attention and thinks feminism is just women who "moan and carp" about it. Get real. Joanna Lumley, with her remarks about how women shouldn't get drunk and walk around late at night, or Mary Berry on the difficulty of employing women as they get pregnant, do us no favours.Riggs's quaint ideas about feminism are hardly new. She likes male attention and thinks feminism is just women who "moan and carp" about it. Get real. Joanna Lumley, with her remarks about how women shouldn't get drunk and walk around late at night, or Mary Berry on the difficulty of employing women as they get pregnant, do us no favours.
Indeed, feminism's greatest problem has always been women's collusion in their own oppression, which is massively complex. We are a diverse bunch. Rigg talked of equal pay (which certainly does not feature much in her line of work), but when we get access to abortion, or maternity leave, or any of the benefits for which some women tirelessly campaign, I don't notice any of these, "Gosh I am so successful, I don't need feminism" types refusing these gains.Indeed, feminism's greatest problem has always been women's collusion in their own oppression, which is massively complex. We are a diverse bunch. Rigg talked of equal pay (which certainly does not feature much in her line of work), but when we get access to abortion, or maternity leave, or any of the benefits for which some women tirelessly campaign, I don't notice any of these, "Gosh I am so successful, I don't need feminism" types refusing these gains.
What is heartening in the midst of the current backlash and, yes, it is a full-scale backlash – rising unemployment for women, a Tory government pushing women back into the home, the targeting of single parents – is to see some women in the public eye fighting back. It may be superficial, but they are refusing the hypercritical gaze that is directed at all women. Katherine Jenkins dished it back when she ran a marathon looking cool. Mary Beard has done the same. The monstering can happen to anyone. Suddenly Claudia Winkleman's fringe is a serious problem? Hello Houston? This is just hair here.What is heartening in the midst of the current backlash and, yes, it is a full-scale backlash – rising unemployment for women, a Tory government pushing women back into the home, the targeting of single parents – is to see some women in the public eye fighting back. It may be superficial, but they are refusing the hypercritical gaze that is directed at all women. Katherine Jenkins dished it back when she ran a marathon looking cool. Mary Beard has done the same. The monstering can happen to anyone. Suddenly Claudia Winkleman's fringe is a serious problem? Hello Houston? This is just hair here.
To hear Myleene Klass describe herself as a "strident feminist" this week made me almost as happy as being lost in the sea of Spanx and oestrogen that was seeing Beyoncé live. Klass bemoaned the "horrid culture that criticises (women) all the time … women are so good when they're helping each other". Of course, Klass has since committed a crime against leggings and doubtless the witless slagging off it occasioned was written by a woman.To hear Myleene Klass describe herself as a "strident feminist" this week made me almost as happy as being lost in the sea of Spanx and oestrogen that was seeing Beyoncé live. Klass bemoaned the "horrid culture that criticises (women) all the time … women are so good when they're helping each other". Of course, Klass has since committed a crime against leggings and doubtless the witless slagging off it occasioned was written by a woman.
Solidarity or sisterhood is as distant as it ever was. Which is why I have been arguing for a back-to-basics version of feminism (Angry Birds, I call it) for some time. We need to be pushing for what we can agree on, and form alliances internationally on reproductive rights, equal pay, education for girls, freedom from rape.Solidarity or sisterhood is as distant as it ever was. Which is why I have been arguing for a back-to-basics version of feminism (Angry Birds, I call it) for some time. We need to be pushing for what we can agree on, and form alliances internationally on reproductive rights, equal pay, education for girls, freedom from rape.
One of the problems with the jargon of intersectionality is that it splinters. Much "on trend" feminism has lost touch as it is over-determined by sexuality. Whether we are discussing "sex workers", trans issues or porn, the overriding differences between women are far less "sexy". They remain largely to do with class. If feminism is to mean anything to most women, it has to mean an extension of their choices.One of the problems with the jargon of intersectionality is that it splinters. Much "on trend" feminism has lost touch as it is over-determined by sexuality. Whether we are discussing "sex workers", trans issues or porn, the overriding differences between women are far less "sexy". They remain largely to do with class. If feminism is to mean anything to most women, it has to mean an extension of their choices.
Alison Wolf's new book, The XX Factor, documents how the top 15 to 20% (educated and successful) of women are pulling away from the rest of womanhood. They do not share the circumstances of most women, as we see with the concomitant rise of the servant class. The old domestic labour problem has not gone away. It has been outsourced. I disagree that it is only this class of executive "have it all" women who find motherhood boring. Looking after a baby can be a boring and lonely experience for a woman of any class. It is just that this elite group has the means to pay for childcare and get back to an interesting job.Alison Wolf's new book, The XX Factor, documents how the top 15 to 20% (educated and successful) of women are pulling away from the rest of womanhood. They do not share the circumstances of most women, as we see with the concomitant rise of the servant class. The old domestic labour problem has not gone away. It has been outsourced. I disagree that it is only this class of executive "have it all" women who find motherhood boring. Looking after a baby can be a boring and lonely experience for a woman of any class. It is just that this elite group has the means to pay for childcare and get back to an interesting job.
A meaningful feminism would not split us into mothers and non-mothers, or privilege sexuality above all. It would also understand that globalisation has produced homogeneity for women at a basic level. We are all to be Caucasian with lifted bottoms and long hair. Even differences in appearance are now deviant in all-encompassing celebrity culture.A meaningful feminism would not split us into mothers and non-mothers, or privilege sexuality above all. It would also understand that globalisation has produced homogeneity for women at a basic level. We are all to be Caucasian with lifted bottoms and long hair. Even differences in appearance are now deviant in all-encompassing celebrity culture.
This makes it even harder to talk about the actual differences between us. We don't all think the same, we don't all come from the same place or have the same amount of money, but we remain locked out of the all-male cliques that run the world. When we make a gain, when women are granted just a tiny bit more freedom, a tinge of equality, it is not rationed to those who worked to get it. You know that policeman who believes you were assaulted, that boss who gave you maternity leave, that morning-after pill you took, that man you could leave even though you had his baby: these things were made possible by other women. They opened the really important doors for you. That's feminism. When men open the door for you, it is simply good manners. Don't confuse the two.This makes it even harder to talk about the actual differences between us. We don't all think the same, we don't all come from the same place or have the same amount of money, but we remain locked out of the all-male cliques that run the world. When we make a gain, when women are granted just a tiny bit more freedom, a tinge of equality, it is not rationed to those who worked to get it. You know that policeman who believes you were assaulted, that boss who gave you maternity leave, that morning-after pill you took, that man you could leave even though you had his baby: these things were made possible by other women. They opened the really important doors for you. That's feminism. When men open the door for you, it is simply good manners. Don't confuse the two.
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