What are the top three issues facing women today (uk)

[Sittinginthesand]

I think it’s the fact that the word ‘woman’ is being framed as shameful. Closely followed by our over sexualised society and the continued existence of the glass ceiling. Unfortunately 1 makes the other two harder to measure and fight - especially if we can’t discuss it.

@lazylinguist

I've said this before, but I genuinely believe that feminism should be taught in schools. I can't see any downside to it whatsoever.

Hear hear. I'm ashamed to say that has actually never occurred to me, and I'm a teacher.

Women's studies (Feminism) used to be a module at many universities.

Obviously it got swept aside, women's studies courses were renamed "gender studies" as feminist leaning courses were cancelled one by one.
This happened throughout the nineties.

Can't be getting people thinking about feminism now can we. However, primary school children are taught they can pick and choose their sex depending on whether they prefer Barbie dolls or GI Joe.

I know what I'd prefer to see in primary schools.

1. Gender ideology and loss of legal identity

1. Male violence and pornography

1. Over promotion of commercial idealistic femininity.

1. Lack of practical redress within the legal system.

The attempted erasure of Women's hard fought for legal rights to single sex spaces (in the widest sense, so sport, jobs, toilets, speaking out freely, etc)

Male violence against Women and Girls.

Pornography and hypersexualisation in the media

The impact of porn
Male violence against women
Males being allowed in women's prisons and other single sex spaces
Women being able to name and fight for ourselves

1. difficulty discussing any issue regarding women and girls without a legal definition of same and the associated loss of hard won rights like women's loos and women in sport; pointlessness of measures like the 'gender' pay gap; and related issues

Made much worse by ...

1. Poor policing and judiciary behaviours: from political policing with their Stonewall issues to lack of single sex based support for rape and sexual assault victims, to poor follow-up and prosecution of domestic violence, stalking, and other coercive behaviour, victims to the singling out of women who talk about women's sex-based rights and problems for 'hate' incidences as Sarah Phillimore to the actual arrest and prosecution of women talking about their sex-based rights like Marion Miller. Then the Equal Treatment Bench handbook (see sex-matters.org/where-sex-matters/the-legal-system/ ) with its problems, the letting off of transwomen from custodial sentences for serious crimes because custody would be difficult, to the housing of transwomen in women's prisons.

1. Industrialisation of abusive behaviour - online groups stimulating illegal behaviour, technology, covert filming, revenge porn and threat of same, social media pressures, etc.

1. "Sex work is work therefore prostitution and porn are healthy and wholesome career choices to encourage all young women into, and if you disagree you're a nasty person who is anti-feminist!"

1. Women pulling the ladder up behind them in the workplace. Undermining rather than mentoring female colleagues. "Queen bee" behaviour.

1. No one seems able to prevent male violence. Men physically harm men, women and children daily. People don't seem to see the issue never mind be able to stop it.

Domestic violence
Sexual harassment
Maternity and paternity leave and associated legislation inequalities

1. The internet being a hotbed of violent porn and misogyny, the normalisation of "sex work" through things like Only Fans.
2. Rape culture and the total failure to deal with male violence against women, both sexual and otherwise.
3. The removal of language to discuss women's rights and the silencing of women who try to fight against this.

Just 3 from my long list are

Women’s sexed based rights - starting with everyone than is male sitting down and shutting up whilst they learn being woman isn’t theirs to debate or dictate my rights/choices

Domestic violence & Abuse including the justice systems system

HealthCare that women’s health be taken seriously including providing adequate maternity care across the board.

1. Sexual objectification of females: prostitution and porn being promoted as liberating for females. Sexual fetishes that are harmful and degrading to women and girls being touted as ‘liberating’, with the insistence people who practice them shouldn’t be shamed. All leading to women and girls being sexually exploited, and manipulated into tolerating things they otherwise would not, and violence against females being minimised and excused, through ‘sex gone wrong’ defences etc.

1. Female’s boundaries being violated by the re-defining of the words woman/girl/lesbian to include males: resulting in males entering female and lesbian only spaces, groups and sports, males taking awards for women, being on all women shortlists etc., and leading to stats and reporting being erroneous etc.

1. The silencing of women’s objections to the above: through ‘canceling’ women who object to these things, and the portraying of males as the victims, and the women who point out the harms of the above as the problem.

What pale blue moonlight said. Perfect.

1. Being told what we should call ourselves, whether we want to or not.

1. The denial of scientifically proven biological fact.

1. Porn, and men's expectation that women in real life should behave like that too.

1. Being less able to talk about women's rights in so many areas, and people assuming equality for women has somehow been reached.

1. The lack of data and focus in research on how things affect women differently e.g. health issues, healthcare, many aspects in the workplace, etc.

1. Violence against women and girls, including online abuse.

1. Gender Ideology and the corresponding increase in stereotyping with increased expectations on women to perform femininity, ‘be kind’, erosion of boundaries

1. Violence towards women and girls including sexual violence being increasingly normalised by porn

1. Poverty

1. Access to women’s healthcare

What pp's have said and -

1. The normalisation of extreme porn. It makes me very sad when I hear reports and anecdotal evidence that girls having their first sexual experience are being pressured into being filmed, or being spat on or slapped.
2. The viewing of women as incubators - the recent WHO document seems to put the rights of a hypothetical fetus over the bodily autonomy of women aged between the ages of 13 - 50 (roughly).
3. Women being disadvantaged by the process of bringing up their children - maternity rights issues, barriers to opportunities for advancement after returning from maternity leave, unequal division of domestic work, expectations of mums which are not equally applied to their partners etc etc.

1. Male violence
2. Healthcare
3. Genderism

This is an excellent thread, agree with all of the points raised.

1. Male violence against women and girls. In the home, in schools, in the streets, in porn. This relies on a good understand of what a male and female is and of the dynamics of power and control.

1. Younger generation of women thinking and stating that women have equality now. This complacency leads to things like be kind and let me walk all over you and your daughters crap. These women need to be made aware of everyday sexism, how having a baby changes things in the workplace in medicine etc. At the moment they don't care because they don't see any issues.

1. Being able to speak freely, without fear of doxxing, loosing your job or being accused of transphobia etc. when discussing women's sex based rights. A large percentage of women don't know this happening so more awareness is needed. Women's sex based rights are very broad; medicine and healthcare, prisons, sports, changing rooms, refuges, lesbians being same sex attracted etc..

So much of this I was unaware of and this chat board has opened up my eyes so much. I hope I can carry on learning.

1. The attempted erasure of women’s sex based identity and rights
2. Male violence
3. One again.

The cultural role of motherhood. Martyrdom.

@lazylinguist

I've said this before, but I genuinely believe that feminism should be taught in schools. I can't see any downside to it whatsoever.

Hear hear. I'm ashamed to say that has actually never occurred to me, and I'm a teacher.

I think this needs an emphasis on both women's history (including what women have been allowed to do at various times in the past) & the way women's achievements get written out of history.

E.g. I was amazed to learn the history of women & work (at Uni, researching for myself as it wasn't taught). And the Grauniad used to have an excellent series on women who invented things or were the first people to do things.

I also think we should have a record of the past 50-100 years. Has anyone recorded women speaking about their lives? I feel some young women really need to become aware of how things were e.g. no refuges, no rape crisis centres, financial restrictions. Even things like people saying that there couldn't be female priests, Prime Ministers, etc. I've lived through that & I think it's fantastic that no-one says, "Oh, a woman can't do that & never will!"(with the possible exception of the leadership of the Labour Party ). They used to say it about everything.

Women need to learn eternal vigilance.

Three isn't really enough... I keep reading these terrible triads and agreeing with them all. There's a lot of overlap of course.

In the West:
The normalisation of internet pornography
The continuing deep inequality between men and women once a child is born
The ease with which our society allows men to walk away from their responsibilities towards their family, leaving women as single mothers on the breadline, working hard and feeling exhausted, impoverished, stressed and alone. This makes me seethe.

"Gender" wars.
Male violence.
Pornography & prostitution.