Don’t you get the feeling that slowly but surely, even among PC-obsessed lefties, that feminism is - and please do forgive the turn of phrase - losing its mojo?
I know there are still the militant feminists who prowl the pages of The Guardian’s Society supplement, and almost yearly a survey drags up the equality of pay question, or some helpful git publishes a report telling us what we already know: that women are not adequately represented in our boardrooms. But other than these mild chastisements, feminism is almost non-existent in the popular intellectual discourse.
Maybe you women need to start burning bras again or running under the Queen’s horses?
Look at British political life. Yes we have several women cabinet ministers (almost all of whom, have been framed by the media – rightly or wrongly – as scatter-brained dizzies completely out of their depth), but where are the women challenging for the party leaderships? Harriet Harman and Hazel Blears are up the deputy leadership, but neither is considered a contender to topple Brown’s almost unstoppable march. This is surprising when you consider the sub-standard champions the Blairites are holding up as challengers.
We have similar issues on television. Anna Ford was a great newsreader, yet she retired last year for fear of being “shovelled off into News 24 to the sort of graveyard shift.†Maybe this was a case of ageism rather than sexism, but one only has to look at the average ages of the male and female newsreaders to spot a trend.
I know this is not a subject to be tackled by a blog written by white, middle-class male (especially when he’s already done so before), but when a movement such as feminism stands still, it’s more likely to slip back than consolidate its position.
Having said all this; this is an excellent essay on the subject of slacker-films, which tackles among other things, their portrayal of women. Brilliantly written by one Marisa Meltzer. Go girl!*
*No, the irony of closing a post debating feminism with “Go Girl!” is not lost on this blogger
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