Why feminists aren't going away
"Show us your tits", "Nice legs/arse", "Do you want a fuck?" and the good old wolf whistles and unwanted stares are everyday occurrences for the majority of women. Unfortunately, sexual assault (one out of four women), domestic violence (one in three families) and discrimination on any number of fronts, including pay and education, are also common.
Outside the Melbourne Nike shop leafleting for the Reclaim the Night rally, a passer-by commented on my supposed lack of intelligence. "You've been sucked in. Women aren't oppressed. It just makes you feel good to say you are."
I asked him why Nike's old ad (advertising shoes for men) used a male sports star while the new one uses a naked unknown woman with the slogan, "You know I'm a woman by the shape of my feet". I didn't even get started on the fact that abortion remains in the criminal codes before he shrugged his shoulders and went on his way.
The right's ideological backlash has re-won some of the ground made by the women's liberation movement during the 1960s and '70s. Women are once again whingers (remember the judge's statement on domestic violence?) and unreliable story tellers (as seen by the number of false memory syndrome groups springing up around the world with the support of governments and the mainstream media).
Women are no longer oppressed (if they ever were to begin with) and feminism is obsolete are frequent catchcries women hear from passing strangers when on the street trying to build a feminist rally.
That view of course is far removed from reality. Most women still go home to a second shift of unpaid, mind-numbing domestic work. Advertising, even supposedly unbiased medical science, continues to create illusions in the female body and mind, and huge profits are made selling "remedies" for women's "ugliness". Women are still overworked and underpaid, and the government has the figures to prove it.
Women continue to have limited control over their own bodies. Violence against women across the globe is massive and increasing. Forced sterilisations and abortion occur in many Third World countries while abortion remains in the criminal codes of many of the First. The majority of women around the world continue to be the property of a male family member. In a nutshell, the basic right of women to participate in society fully and safely has not been won.
The right wing has pointed the finger at individual men as the sole perpetrators of violence and oppression, hence forcing the issue back into the private domain. This lets governments and big business off the hook. Systemic oppression, however, remains our number one enemy.
Actions like International Women's Day and Reclaim the Night give us a chance to say loudly and publicly that women have a right to be free from violence. But to make this right a reality for all women, we need to do more than march once or twice a year. We need to build a broad, active, mass movement of feminists that goes beyond simply affirming our opposition to sexist violence and directs the outrage of women against all forms of institutionalised sexism by demanding concrete measures from governments such as more funding for women's services, free child-care facilities, better and safer public transport, the repeal of anti-abortion laws, and affirmative action programs for women in education and work.
By Mel Bull