I'm a feminist-ask me anything.

[BertrandRussell]

and available for all.

Well what does the gender pay gap mean then?

And tbh I don't think there's a pay gap in Hollywood or the BBC. I think they pay based on experience as well as how much fan base you have.

A quick Google will explain the gender pay gap to you. The Financial Times explained it well a month or two ago.

It says the median pay, which means on average men earn more then women.
Which again, how is that an issue?
If more men are doing higher level jobs then of course the average pay in a company is going to be different.

It's like easy jet, they got pulled apart for the difference in average earnings between men and women when no one took into account that more men are pilots in easy jet while more women are air ccrw, so obviously there's going to be a difference in oay

“Does the gender pay gap exist?” is a different question from “Is the gender pay gap an issue?”.

I honestly don't think this is the tread for this, train. Why not start one in FWR. Happy to join you there.

I found the reporting requirements and a lot of the coverage frustratingly limited and simplistic, but it has at least helped quantify the financial impact of different employment patterns.

Well I thought I would ask you your opinion on whether he gender pay gap exists as a feminist.

I don't see the need to create a new thread as you've given me my answer.

It's not just feminists who think the gender pay gap exists.

I didn't say it was. I wanted an opinion from you on whether as a feminist you believed it did, and you kindly answered.

I've found this thread interesting and enlightening so thank you for it.

which single thing do you think would help most in making things less patriarchal

Bertrand - it seems to me that despite all the progress women have made towards equality in the home and workplace and many so other areas of life, the normalisation of porn means that we’re facing a wave of misogyny like never before in history. If you think about the next generation and how online porn will impact their attitudes to sex, it’s frightening. As equality has improved, the violent sexualisation of women has increased. Most men watch porn now, even my DH, but he wouldn’t have before the free online sites. It’s a shift in the collective psyche and young people won’t know anything else.

I don’t know much about the WI, but I am in favour of anything which encourages women to meet other women, and to do things of their own and broaden their horizons. I imagine it must have been a godsend for many women. For that alone it counts as feminist in my book, jam or no jam!

It’s hard to identify a single thing that would make society less patriarchal. Particularly anything remotely possible. If I had a magic wand, for example, I would abolish all porn.

There are things that men could do that would improve things overnight. I think for women it’s a case of speaking out clearly as often as possible and stopping putting up with crap, both on a macro and a micro level. Every time a woman says to a man “I will not wipe your piss from the loo seat or pick your dirty pants off the floor”, she is making another microscopic crack in the patriarchy. Particularly if children see her do it. And every time a woman challenges her company about why she is the only woman on a 6 person panel- that’s another crack.

I'm an ex lap dancer- are you saying I can't be a feminist without denegrading the industry I used to work in? Do you think I was socialised to do this and that I was both repressed by this and set women back? Are you happy to tell me how I should feel in the name of 'feminism' and is this no better than men telling women what they should and shouldn't do and like?

What can a man do then?

I'm not in the business of telling women what they can and can't do or think. But the sex industry is bad for women as a whole and for society. So it can never be a feminist choice to work in it. We all make non feminist choices for all sorts of reasons, often financial. It doesn't mean we're not feminists- just that on this occasion we made a non feminist choice.

Men can in no particular order 1) stop using porn 2)stop using prostitutes 3) call out other men on misogynist language and behaviour 4) take a full and equal responsibility for their homes and their children 5) if they are in a job that hires or promotes do everything they can ensure women get a fair deal 6) challenge misogyny in the workplace 7) stop hitting people and call out anyone in their group that hits people. I am aware that many men do many or all of these things already. But many more don't. If they all did it would be wonderful!

I pear to have bored everyone into a coma- sorry!

I'm not in the business of telling women what they can and can't do or think.
But...

And therein lies the problem! You can't tell women what they and can't do. You can't judge their behaviour. You can't bring pressure to bear upon their behaviour or make decisions about 'women as a whole'.

You can't, anymore than she can.

What does female sexual liberation look like to you Bertrand? What will it look like for women when we are sexually liberated?

I've been wondering a lot about this lately but thought I'd ask just your opinion first before deciding whether or not it's a worthy question to pose to the masses

"And therein lies the problem! You can't tell women what they and can't do. You can't judge their behaviour. You can't bring pressure to bear upon their behaviour or make decisions about 'women as a whole""
I
Sorry. I must not have made myself clear. I agree that I can't do any of those things. I can, however, judge the sex industry, and the people who consume it.

Hmm. What would women's sexual liberation look like? I don't think I know really. Certainly freedom from any judgment- freedom to decouple sex from relationships if you want to like men can. But I'll need to think more about it!

But I'll need to think more about it!

Me too!

Let me know what you come up with, it's my top favourite musing at the moment.

I pear to have bored everyone into a coma- sorry!

Not me, I’m still pondering whether my motives disqualify me from feminism.

While you’re thinking, I have a related question - freedom to decouple sex from relationships if you want to like men can - but not charge for it?

And is it different if men charge (women) for sex? Years ago I heard a very interesting piece on Woman’s Hour about women paying for sex. Of course it’s much rarer. But there was no assumption that the men were sacrificing something fundamental about themselves in the process.

If I was starting from scratch and building a society, I suppose I might build in a way where paying for sex could happen In an equal, balanced, mutually beneficial context. But we don't have that now. And it would require a new structure. No fiddling with the one we've got could make it happen.