I was involved in a conversation today that has left me slightly baffled. It was about this map which supposedly shows the global state of women's equality. A fair number of us thought it wasn't very good since countries with appalling women's rights records seemed to be doing well. Such as South Africa, which has the highest incidence of rape in the world, the US, where there is still no mandatory maternity leave or pay equality, or Ireland, where abortion is still illegal.
Someone made the comment that the reason was inaccurate was that it was based on "libfem notions of women's equality".
I blinked a bit and asked what that meant. First, I was told that libfems only want legislated equality, not real equality. That they don't oppose institutionalised violence, and that liberals of any stripe believe in individual's right to choose to conduct their lives the way they want, which fails to look at structures of power shaping people's lives.
When I questioned this, I was told that my definition of liberal is wrong.
This person then posted a link to a video where a radfem was explaining that libfems believe that people who are oppressed stay oppressed because they choose to.
In my understanding, liberal means that you feel that people don't have full control over their lives, that when you see someone who has fallen on hard times you understand that "there but for the grace of god go I". That people are trapped by circumstances, often insurmountable, that they cannot be expected to escape without help. But it does NOT mean believing that people choose or deserve their station in life. It seems to me that it's far more of a right-wing notion that people can somehow "choose" to transcend the oppressive conditions into which they were born.
I call myself a libfem, because a) I'm not a radfem and b) while a revolution to get women out of oppression would be lovely, I don't see how it could ever work in practicality unless every single women in the world stood up at the same time. I believe that social change of any kind generally happens by evolution rather than revolution, and that while we are constrained by societal conventions and expectations these can (and do) change over time.
So, have I grossly misunderstood the meaning of liberalism? Do libfems really believe women are oppressed because they "want" to be? Surely not?
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
What do liberal feminists believe?
AnnieLobeseder · 04/11/2014 15:12
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.