![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magictreehouseJaqui pointed me in the direction of this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/09/feminism-margaret-atwood the other day. It's easy to lose faith in the feminist cause when even Margaret sodding Atwood has given up. I've always been quite vocal on feminism which is quite unusual as a man but I do feel that it's important as it's one of those causes that people can assume doesn't need defending anymore and in that way, it's much less 'obvious' than being pro-gay (although with added rights, that's going to go the same way soon I fear). But this article highlights a number of things:
1) People still think that being 'a feminist' means that you must go on marches and become a raving lesbian. It doesn't. All it means is (and Diane Abbott sums it up simply and rightly) that 'I think women should be socially, economically and politically equal with men.'. That is all!
2) It also doesn't mean that you must constantly analyse where you are in the work place in light of your gender as Deborah Meaden seems to think. But then, it's quite easy for her to dismiss being a feminist when she's managed to smash through the glass ceiling. So long suckers!
3) Shami Chakrabarti makes an important point I think. Being a feminist or whatever cause you fight for doesn't mean that you've lost your sense of humour.
4) It's appalling that someone Faye White of all people doesn't consider herself a feminist when she's exactly the type of person that needs to be one. Football is a hideously male-dominated area of society, and I can't think of many others that are as unequal as that. So, the fact that you're a woman playing football should make you a feminist.
I can't imagine a time that I'm not aware of sexuality issues in society, for the simple reason that I'm gay and that stuff affects me, so it stuns me that women can deny being feminists. Does not compute. In fact, the only thing going for Thatcher was that she was a woman and yet she denied being a feminist, and look how hated she is! So let that be a lesson to you people!
Sorry, but I really do feel that feminism is heavily important, still.
In other news, I need to update on films and books I read lately. While I was on holiday I read Julain Clary's 'A Young Man's Passage'. which I enjoyed. The man was a total slag but the whole thing is so candid that I almost forgave him for it. It's quite interesting how his rise to fame undid him and (as always) it's shocking how failed gay men were when the AIDS crisis hit. I put the book in conjunction with an Attitude article I read recently on gay men's 'right' to cruise and have sex in public. It's funny how, to me, that sounds like something that sounds so outdated. It's not even a case of it being overwritten with the world of Gaydar, I just can't comprehend it. Either way, the 'for' argument was weak as anything and I really thought that it's something that gay men had left behind. Apparently not.
We've been to the cinema twice in two days this week. There's a lot out that I want to see at the minute. On Wednesday we went to see The Hurt Locker which was quite intense but brilliant with it. I was pleased to see that it was directed by a woman too (haha.). I don't think I would have gone to see it if James' hadn't wanted to but I'm glad I did. I was completely out of my comfort zone and I think it did me good to, for once, not ignore the scariness of the current wars. I think it's easy to dismiss people who want to join the army, there's often a lot more to these people than meets the eye.
Last night we went to see the antidote, 'Broken Embraces'. I really must see more of Almodovar's stuff. I really enjoyed it. It was played quite 'straight' for something of his and I was surprised that Penelope Cruz wasn't in it more. However, it's wonderfully acted and although it's a simple story in a way it's still quite gripping. Not the best of his I've seen but it was good nonetheless.
Yesterday James' grandparents, Mum and sister came for a visit. I'm surprised we managed to pusuade James' grandparents to travel down but I'm glad they did really. We had dinner in M+S and then gave them the tour of the flat. I think they liked it at least and it probably did them good to come to Leeds.
The dissertation deadline looms. Things are not going well at all :s Can't wait to have that anvil lifted from my head though.
1) People still think that being 'a feminist' means that you must go on marches and become a raving lesbian. It doesn't. All it means is (and Diane Abbott sums it up simply and rightly) that 'I think women should be socially, economically and politically equal with men.'. That is all!
2) It also doesn't mean that you must constantly analyse where you are in the work place in light of your gender as Deborah Meaden seems to think. But then, it's quite easy for her to dismiss being a feminist when she's managed to smash through the glass ceiling. So long suckers!
3) Shami Chakrabarti makes an important point I think. Being a feminist or whatever cause you fight for doesn't mean that you've lost your sense of humour.
4) It's appalling that someone Faye White of all people doesn't consider herself a feminist when she's exactly the type of person that needs to be one. Football is a hideously male-dominated area of society, and I can't think of many others that are as unequal as that. So, the fact that you're a woman playing football should make you a feminist.
I can't imagine a time that I'm not aware of sexuality issues in society, for the simple reason that I'm gay and that stuff affects me, so it stuns me that women can deny being feminists. Does not compute. In fact, the only thing going for Thatcher was that she was a woman and yet she denied being a feminist, and look how hated she is! So let that be a lesson to you people!
Sorry, but I really do feel that feminism is heavily important, still.
In other news, I need to update on films and books I read lately. While I was on holiday I read Julain Clary's 'A Young Man's Passage'. which I enjoyed. The man was a total slag but the whole thing is so candid that I almost forgave him for it. It's quite interesting how his rise to fame undid him and (as always) it's shocking how failed gay men were when the AIDS crisis hit. I put the book in conjunction with an Attitude article I read recently on gay men's 'right' to cruise and have sex in public. It's funny how, to me, that sounds like something that sounds so outdated. It's not even a case of it being overwritten with the world of Gaydar, I just can't comprehend it. Either way, the 'for' argument was weak as anything and I really thought that it's something that gay men had left behind. Apparently not.
We've been to the cinema twice in two days this week. There's a lot out that I want to see at the minute. On Wednesday we went to see The Hurt Locker which was quite intense but brilliant with it. I was pleased to see that it was directed by a woman too (haha.). I don't think I would have gone to see it if James' hadn't wanted to but I'm glad I did. I was completely out of my comfort zone and I think it did me good to, for once, not ignore the scariness of the current wars. I think it's easy to dismiss people who want to join the army, there's often a lot more to these people than meets the eye.
Last night we went to see the antidote, 'Broken Embraces'. I really must see more of Almodovar's stuff. I really enjoyed it. It was played quite 'straight' for something of his and I was surprised that Penelope Cruz wasn't in it more. However, it's wonderfully acted and although it's a simple story in a way it's still quite gripping. Not the best of his I've seen but it was good nonetheless.
Yesterday James' grandparents, Mum and sister came for a visit. I'm surprised we managed to pusuade James' grandparents to travel down but I'm glad they did really. We had dinner in M+S and then gave them the tour of the flat. I think they liked it at least and it probably did them good to come to Leeds.
The dissertation deadline looms. Things are not going well at all :s Can't wait to have that anvil lifted from my head though.
