This House Believes That Feminism Is Still Needed

Feminism is still of relevance today, and is indeed needed. In the UK, one in four women suffers domestic violence, and an increase in the reporting of rape in the last thirty years has gone alongside a threefold drop in conviction rates. In countries such as Ireland and Malta abortion is still not legal for all women, this can be seen as an important part of equality for woman that has not been achieved yet and needs to be fought for.  If we take feminism as a global movement then the movement is still of huge importance. That's because U.S. women still earned only 77 cents on the male dollar in 2008, according to the latest census statistics. (That number drops to 68% for African-American women and 58% for Latinas.) [1] These are all real problems, on which feminists continue to campaign - as they should.

[1] http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html#ixzz1TtHZOvXp

Feminism has no more battles left to fight. Victories such as gaining the vote, the right to an abortion(in most of the northern hemisphere) and the right to equal pay were important and worth winning. But given that sexual equality is now - rightly - enshrined and protected in law, there is nothing left for the feminist movement to do in most western countries. It may still be useful in parts of the world where women still lack basic democratic and other rights. However, in western society the feminist cause in no longer needed.

Out of over 250 countries, only a few are currently headed by women.[1]  Women still account for only about 14% of members of parliament worldwide in 2002.[2] Some argue that gender quotas should be established to ensure equal input of men and women in parliament. Therefore, the feminist movement is still needed to fight this battle.

Woman still hold lower position in business, the legal profession and in the world of politics. It is therefore hard to argue that the glass ceiling has disintegrated. Until women hold higher positions in these fields the feminist cause has still not achieved its goals- in seeking to create a world where, amongst other things women can advance up the ladder in their career without being blocked by a glass ceiling and held back in lower positions.

[1] http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/statistics.htm

[2] http://www.ipu.org/press-e/gen62.htm

The glass ceiling is extremely variable. The two deciding and overlapping factors, being whether women have children and which profession they are in. Higher numbers of women now going to university may change the number of lawyers, judges, doctors etc in the future. Doctors, barristers, leading scientists, all now contain a significant female percentage. Since 2001 there are more women called to the bar than men.[1] Huge advancements have been made and given positive intervention in the past statistics are now changing. Therefore, the feminist movement has achieved its objective.

[1] http://www.lsuc.on.ca/faq.aspx?id=1275

Employers worry when they hire young/middle aged women. They fear that after hiring a woman, she will only cost the company money by getting pregnant and going on maternity leave. To combat this attitude, maternity and paternity leave should be equal. Currently, paternity leave is a maximum of two consecutive weeks. These two weeks must be taken within 56 days of the child’s birth. This can be contrasted with the long maternity leave that is allowed for. Women are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave from day one of employment. Women are entitled to maternity pay for 39 weeks if they have been working for their employer for 26 weeks.

Father’s also do not have the right to take time off work to attend antenatal classes, this allowance is for pregnant employees only. The feminist cause still has this issue to resolve. Until paternity leave is offered an employer can safely assume that a woman will be the partner to burden the care of the child and the employer will be the one to bear these costs of maternity leave. This gives men an unfair advantage in the workplace as they are a “safer bet” for employment.

Most corporations, in almost every country on the earth will not even offer their male employees something close to paternity.[1] But, most countries mandate by law, that women get a set amount of maternity leave. The truth is that, the lack of any kind of paternity leave for the male, indicates that there is a "glass ceiling" hovering over fathers heads, and is preventing them from being good parents. It would benefit every family, if fathers were allowed to spend time with their new borns, like women can.

This is not a battle for the feminist cause.

[1] http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/html/ParentalReport.htm

Feminism is still of relevance today, and is indeed needed. In the UK, one in four women suffers domestic violence, and an increase in the reporting of rape in the last thirty years has gone alongside a threefold drop in conviction rates. In countries such as Ireland and Malta abortion is still not legal for all women, this can be seen as an important part of equality for woman that has not been achieved yet and needs to be fought for.  If we take feminism as a global movement then the movement is still of huge importance. That's because U.S. women still earned only 77 cents on the male dollar in 2008, according to the latest census statistics. (That number drops to 68% for African-American women and 58% for Latinas.) [1] These are all real problems, on which feminists continue to campaign - as they should.

[1] http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html#ixzz1TtHZOvXp

Feminism has no more battles left to fight. Victories such as gaining the vote, the right to an abortion(in most of the northern hemisphere) and the right to equal pay were important and worth winning. But given that sexual equality is now - rightly - enshrined and protected in law, there is nothing left for the feminist movement to do in most western countries. It may still be useful in parts of the world where women still lack basic democratic and other rights. However, in western society the feminist cause in no longer needed.

Out of over 250 countries, only a few are currently headed by women.[1]  Women still account for only about 14% of members of parliament worldwide in 2002.[2] Some argue that gender quotas should be established to ensure equal input of men and women in parliament. Therefore, the feminist movement is still needed to fight this battle.

Woman still hold lower position in business, the legal profession and in the world of politics. It is therefore hard to argue that the glass ceiling has disintegrated. Until women hold higher positions in these fields the feminist cause has still not achieved its goals- in seeking to create a world where, amongst other things women can advance up the ladder in their career without being blocked by a glass ceiling and held back in lower positions.

[1] http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/statistics.htm

[2] http://www.ipu.org/press-e/gen62.htm

The glass ceiling is extremely variable. The two deciding and overlapping factors, being whether women have children and which profession they are in. Higher numbers of women now going to university may change the number of lawyers, judges, doctors etc in the future. Doctors, barristers, leading scientists, all now contain a significant female percentage. Since 2001 there are more women called to the bar than men.[1] Huge advancements have been made and given positive intervention in the past statistics are now changing. Therefore, the feminist movement has achieved its objective.

[1] http://www.lsuc.on.ca/faq.aspx?id=1275

Employers worry when they hire young/middle aged women. They fear that after hiring a woman, she will only cost the company money by getting pregnant and going on maternity leave. To combat this attitude, maternity and paternity leave should be equal. Currently, paternity leave is a maximum of two consecutive weeks. These two weeks must be taken within 56 days of the child’s birth. This can be contrasted with the long maternity leave that is allowed for. Women are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave from day one of employment. Women are entitled to maternity pay for 39 weeks if they have been working for their employer for 26 weeks.

Father’s also do not have the right to take time off work to attend antenatal classes, this allowance is for pregnant employees only. The feminist cause still has this issue to resolve. Until paternity leave is offered an employer can safely assume that a woman will be the partner to burden the care of the child and the employer will be the one to bear these costs of maternity leave. This gives men an unfair advantage in the workplace as they are a “safer bet” for employment.

Most corporations, in almost every country on the earth will not even offer their male employees something close to paternity.[1] But, most countries mandate by law, that women get a set amount of maternity leave. The truth is that, the lack of any kind of paternity leave for the male, indicates that there is a "glass ceiling" hovering over fathers heads, and is preventing them from being good parents. It would benefit every family, if fathers were allowed to spend time with their new borns, like women can.

This is not a battle for the feminist cause.

[1] http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/html/ParentalReport.htm

By focusing on women and their problems, feminism fails to recognise that there are inequality issues in which men are the victims. For example: boys are falling behind girls in academic achievement; far less money is spent on combating ‘male’ than ‘female’ diseases (the difference between the amount of research into breast cancer and prostate cancer is a striking.)[1]Single fathers are discriminated against over child custody and child support; fear of being accused of sexism is so widespread that it often leads to unfair discrimination against men.[2]Even the way men are portrayed in the media is a cause for concern. Last year, an oven cleaner ad drew a thousand-plus complaints for the slogan, “So easy, even a man can use it.” These can only be tackled by recognising that feminism has gone too far. The battle for equality is no longer needed but rather, we must remember feminism was never a tool for women to get their own back.

[1] http://themahima.com/?p=3667

[2] www.mens-rights.net

There are two responses to this. First, many of the ways in which men suffer inequality are relatively minor when compared to the ongoing subordination of women in many areas of private and public life such as pay, childcare and sexuality. Second, where such inequality does exist, feminism possesses the resources to offer a distinctive and useful critique of the causes and consequences of sexual inequality, whether it is men or women who suffer as a result - men and women should be joining forces to offer feminist responses to discrimination, not blaming feminism where men have problems disconnected from the feminist cause. 

Additionally, Feminism is a rights movement to place the female sex on equal footing as males. This naturally means that when an inequality exists it needs to be corrected. Yes, even when women have an apparent advantage in something over men it needs to be fixed. It is true men are given lower rights in certain cases. The results of divorce with children involved comes to mind. However, this, like many issues, will be solved in time through feminism. The main issue with this particular example is that women are seen as primary caregivers and are given the responsibility to be in that position. By showing women can succeed in traditionally male dominated areas it also opens the oppurtunity for men to step into female dominated areas. When men and women are seen as equal caregivers then there is less bias to grant custody to a mother over an equal father.

Many women no longer identify themselves as feminists, associating feminism with man-hating, sex-hating humourlessness, and seeing it as a relic of the 1970s. Modern women are perfectly capable of competing with men on equal terms, and they resent suggestions that they need special treatment.

Some women would question where the line between feminism and positive sexism begins. Women no longer want to associate themselves with a cause that is outdated and outmoded.

Opponents of the feminist movement have always sought to stereotype feminists in order to reduce their support. That this enterprise is often successful is not an argument against feminism; in any case, many of the women who dislike the label ‘feminist’ turn out to hold what would until recently have been seen as extreme feminist views, such as the belief that women are perfectly capable of competing with men on equal terms. Feminists have always argued that women are just as capable of men; they have campaigned against legal, cultural and social barriers which have worked against women, preventing them from achieving equality.

There is certainly a case to be made that women, in modern-western society have completely shattered the traditional values and roles that are best suited to them.

For example, it has always been the case that men have been the providers, the defenders of themselves, the household and the family. Women have been the maintainers of these things. These things are not unfair. They are not unequal. They are simply what each gender is best suited for.

Women should not feel lesser than men simply because they are "supposed" to do "motherly things". The feminist movement has gone beyond its cause in beginning to deem what role in life is more appropriate. 

Feminism is not about judging women for choices they make. It is about allowing women to make that choice. If we haven’t got to a point where all woman are given the choice either to stay in the home or advance equally in their career or do both then this is a point to indicate that feminism is still needed and relevant. In many ways women are still dictated to about the way they should act or what should interest them. Girls are told in school that science is more of a “boys subject”, while subjects such as wood work are rarely offered in all girls schools. In the media magazines tell girls how to “please your man” further cementing the idea, that women have long fought to remove, that women are solely the object of a man’s desire.

Stereotypes of women still exist and as long as they still exist in the minds of many, feminism still has an active role to play in dispelling these stereotypes. Take rape for an example. There are definitely legislative parts that need to be drastically improved and also better policing, but one way to challenge the cause of rape is to challenge traditional perceptions of the role of men. Why do men rape? Is it something to do with a certain perception of domination, a need to feel powerful? If this is the case can we challenge the traditional pressures and perceptions placed on men that they are the powerful ones. We may have challenged stereotypes about women, but it is still very difficult for men to feel comfortable expressing a 'feminine side.' All of these male stereotypes must also be tackled if we want to establish equality, which is what feminism has always been about.