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Reading Monbiot today in The Guardian, here, I got to thinking about the state of modern feminism. Driving to work I also heard a debate [listen] on the Today programme featuring Ariel Levy, who discussed her latest book, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, which explores the rise of self-sexualisation in women. Levy argues that in the post-feminist modernity, it is women who objectify themselves, through actions such as having cosmetic implants, wearing “raunchy” clothing, and highly sexualised behaviour.

We are passed the bra-burning protests of the sixties; women have made huge progress in shattering some of the inequalities that have limited their opportunities for centuries. Big gains have also been made within the family, where men are more involved and women are able to continue to pursue their career while simultaneously having kids. However it would be foolish to believe that things are equal between the sexes, as in many areas, they clearly aren’t. Women are still massively underrepresented in the boardrooms of our top companies, there still exists an apparent salary disparity, and, women still take on an overwhelmingly large proportion of the domestic chores and childrearing responsibilities.

With so many continuing inequalities, it’s hard to understand why feminism has become such a dirty word in the mainstream, and why women don’t continue to challenge this discrimination? Some women of course, and I refer to feminists such as Germaine Greer and Levy herself, do continue to rally against the male dominated status-quo, but increasingly these women are ignored, ostracised, and ridiculed. Are academics such as Greer really now just relics of an old war? And who won the war? Are women now happy with their lot or have they just accepted it?

The Right has demonised feminism. Conservatives would argue that the degradation of society can be linked to the fracturing of the traditional family unit, and that feminism has been instrumental in taking the mother out of the homemaking role. In Latin there is phrase for this type of engineered dilemma: post hoc, ergo propter hoc. The causal link the argument suggests does not exist. The economic realities of modernity mean that in many cases, both parents need to work to be able to survive.

For example: Many abortions are now simply economic. Yesterday, while listening to the Radio Four show, You and Yours, I heard a women reading out an audio-journal [listen]. She had recently fallen pregnant and was writing to her creditors (banks, building societies, credit card companies etc.) to discuss payment holidays, and/or, the possibility of realistic repayment plan to service her debts. One bank wrote back chastising her apparent lack of responsibility in getting herself pregnant. It seems having kids is no longer a good thing, but a nasty little indulgence you can only enjoy if your financial situation facilitates it. One of the women’s friends had terminated her pregnancy because she and her fiancé couldn’t yet afford a child. However, the breakdown within the family is of course, Conservatives tell us, all the fault of liberals and feminists.

Back in reality we can see that globalisation has meant that the potential productivity of women can no longer be the sole reserve of the domicile. We need to ensure that we maximise our economic output, and women must contribute. This is not some anti-Christian or liberal crusade, it’s about economics.

The family unit has had to adapt to our high-expectation capitalist society. The rise of consumerism has increased the pressure on people to ‘have it all’. Magazines exist with the solitary agenda of tempting us to pull out the credit card and purchase that new flat screen TV or Prada handbag. In fact, with consumer debt now at well over a trillion pounds, a homemaking mother is now a luxury only the affluent can afford.

The impact of media-fuelled consumerism on the female experience is not limited to changes to the family structure. Women, and in particular young girls, are increasingly subjected to a media-defined set of impossible standards. The cult of the celebrity, and the manifestation of the meritocracy into look-at-me-consumerism, has meant that we are continuously comparing our own lives with those of celebrities, or, reconciling our reality with a media projected standard. Have you got a perfect waist? Is your sex life a raucous rollercoaster of lusty exchanges? Do you go to the best clubs?

The pressure on young girls to conform to this strict orthodox is immense. I heard recently, that the whole egalitarian ethos of the school uniform was being circumvented by girls taking their lunch to school in Harvey Nicholls plastic bags. This one-upmanship and social hierarchy has always existed, girls have always segregated themselves into groups of popularity, but has it always put such a significant financial strain on parents and individuals. And with eating disorders and mental health problems - such as depression - on the increase, are our young girls the victim of impossible expectations? I think so.

Bra-burning has been replaced by breast-implants, feminist militancy has been succeeded by the ‘laddette’ culture of pissed women slumped in alleyways, and many girls are now more likely to be found sticking their fingers down their throats than helping mum in the kitchen. It’s even acceptable for women to get fit by taking a pole-dancing course. What happened to feminism?

If you ask me (which you’re probably not; I mean, why would you? What the hell do I know about being a young girl?), women got a bum deal from feminism. Yeah you got to go and have a real crack in the world of work, and yeah, we help a little around the house now, but you’re still trying to live up a set of rules defined by others. You have swallowed the consumerist dream, hook, line, and sinker. Yeah you can go to work, but now you have all this money, wouldn’t you like these designer jeans? That’ll be £100. Oh you have some more money, well now, what else do we have here?

And what about all those crazy diets? No. Don’t tell me. You want to diet because you want to feel good about yourself? Yeah, whatever! Do you know what feels good? Cake.

If anything, the real impact of feminism has been felt by the men. Women are now free to do all the embarrassing things men usually do. I can’t go into town and get pissed and make a fool of myself, without some woman showing me up. They’re louder and they drink more. Oh and now magazines are applying their dizzying standards to us flabby blokes too. That’s equality. Women have not been liberated from male expectation, no, equality has been achieved by subjugating similar standards on witless men. We’re being emasculated!

The real truth is that both women and men are now beholden to modernity, and the excessive demands of a consumer-driven society put unrealistic demands on people. Women have thrown-off the shackles of the male dominated Judaeo-Christian construct, and replaced it with a new set of externally defined values; those of the media and their commercial paymasters. The superstructure controls, and one albatross will always be replaced with another. The feminist fight is not over, but in the face of our collective battle against consumerism and debt, it’s probably irrelevant.