What's your number 1 feminist ishoo?

For me it's porn/violence closely followed by the pay gap and the most significant part of that pay gap is the way women are paid NOTHING at all for the vast amounts of caring that they do. Whether it's in the family (stay-at-home-mums/ those who look after elderly parents), whether it's on behalf of a man who no longer lives in the family home (the enormous amounts of single mothers who are not receiving an income for being permanent carers of their ex's children/ single mothers who have to pay child care costs in order to work and earn a wage while their exes can work and earn money without having to pay this 'tax') or in the community (how many community groups from charities to churches to support services would not survive without women's unpaid labour?). It's not a pay gap, it's a pay absence!

And, the final straw, whenever women gather together to say how they are feeling, they simply cannot be left alone - men have to appear and comment and tell them what they should be thinking/feeling. Drives me insane.

thanks Buffy

i do read Tania Marshall's work, so thank you for the paper on Gender Gap, not seen that before

Violent online porn that our kids will see tons of at a young age absolutely freaks me out about the sort of relationships they will have later as they figure out sex for themselves. Also it truly scares and upsets me because I think it shows you what men in general are really like. Ordinary men, the nice men, someone must be looking at this stuff, driving the massive demand, it's not just the odd weirdo in his mum's basement. It's the nice ones too. It must be. I hate it.

Caitlin Moran? She's well into feminist porn. And about not tidying up the lady garden to emulate what is in so much masculine porn.

But agree porn is a big issue.

Ladee, I'm not sure that was quite CM's message - I thought it was less about the male/female angle (though that is important) and more about the ethics?

Porn - I know she's not popular on here, but I'm with CM on this - I don't have a problem with the fact it exists, but the fact that it is geared solely for men's pleasure rather than women's. More of the feminine stuff, please.

Buffy I would very much like you to post links to evidence to support me and our family.

Thank you

Barbra Streisand is fronting (and funding) a big campaign about this in the US at the moment, literally the only reason why I know about it. Hopefully this means things will change but it's sad that, as with other medical things relevant to non white hetro males, it takes celebrity interest and involvement to make the message sexy enough to get out there.

Although I suppose a counter example would be prostate cancer which was also a bit of a Cinderella disease in terms of funding and awareness until recently so perhaps it's more complex than just pure sexism. But still. Parity of esteem for medical issues may not be a solely feminist issue but I do think it as a feminist issue in part.

I had never thought of it in that way Rabbit. Not heart disease but many years ago DM presented symptoms, severe pain across the top of her back and sore jaw, feeling dizzy and unwell and I distinctly remember saying to her that could be her heart as I'd read about the different symptoms women get compared to men. Next day still unwell she rang the male gp and was told it was nothing . Fast forward a few hours later and ddad rushed her to hospital knowing something wasn't right. She was told there if she had waited any longer she would have had a massive heart attack as she had an unknown heart defect. There definitely is a need for promotion of education regarding heart issues and women.

Another one for me is how single mothers are looked down upon yet single fathers are often regarded as heroes. We are both doing the same 'job' so why the difference in attitudes?

The impact that the Internet is having on people's sexuality and how it is expressed. It is far far easier to access porn now, and the type of porn accessed is becoming much nastier. Really dangerously misogynist stuff is becoming 'normal' and filtering through into mainstream media like TV and music videos. And people are accessing this stuff at such young ages. It shapes what they think is normal and what is expected of them, and it is primarily women who will suffer because of this.
I also think it is driving a culture among young men of public shaming and aggression, for example gamergate.
And anything a young woman puts online or communicates privately that is ill-advised (naked pics for example) is almost impossible for them to get away from in future. I fear that a lot of young people will be negatively affected in their careers and later lives because of stuff they did when they were younger, we haven't really reached that point yet.

I'm rambling. I guess I could sum it up as - firstly, the mainstreaming of previously niche, dangerously misogynistic sexual tastes, and secondly, the erosion of privacy by technology.

I'm not suggesting this is the number 1 issue - but heart disease in women is a massive massive thing. And it's not given the prominence in medical research that it should be - there's a genuine difference between the sexes in how it presents and what the triggers are and yet most of the research, detection and reaction focus is on make heart disease. This is one of the reasons why it's the number one killer of women in many countries (I'm not sure if it is the number one killer in the world). It's tied in with issues that affect both men and women but certainly the focus on the male issues wrt this is a feminist issue. I'd say.

and sanitation

A sneaky extra one... That casual sexism is still tolerated where casual racism or homophobia wouldn't be- eg a phone in about whether having a female pilot would bother passengers - a similar question with black or gay would simply not be asked.

sexism - vawg

It's the myth that none of these problems exist and that women have achieved equality; particularly the insidious idea that feminism is about choice - and everyone has absolute agency.

Globally - that girls in many places are still excluded from activities/society when menstruating, limiting access to education etc.

Nationally - the attitude amongst many that as women can "choose" to have children, they should suck up anything that arises from this choice like pregnancy, birth, childcare issues.

Definitely Annie! My mum is always knitting - blankets for charity at that. Knitting needles are now banned on planes, she was horrified when they went on a long flight and she had nothing to do!

The fact that, in staying at home to bring up my children, that this work is not valued at all, and therefore, neither was I.

For me at the moment it's birth, partly because I'm gestating at the moment, partly as I'm still hacked off of DS birth because of my poor treatment. However when I start to unravel why birth is important it rolls into much bigger issues, bodily autonomy, sexism, lack of belief in women's bodies, disempowering female knowledge, lack of importance place on women's experience, violence against women, consent, service provision, choice, etc and those things are what fucks me off about our society in general.

1. Pornography

2. Equal Pay

Also) And people changing their working name to their new husband's. This shouldn't annoy me as much as it does, I admit. But it just does. I don't get annoyed about name change in general, or Mr & Mrs Fred on envelopes, just professional name change. Y'know, you worked for that name, got exams for that name, got respect for that name etc, don't subjugate that achievement.

That is a massive thing annie. I do the same thing. It has been instilled in me that I cannot be "idle". It was much discussed when I has ED therapy.

It's also not just keeping hands busy. It's productive hobbies, which can make clothes and presents and decorate the house. But can be done whilst the children are in bed without needing a babysitter, and can be tidied away without taking up too much space apart from stash in loft