Feminism - some non PC thoughts

Prompted by the reading of a book containing a collection of feminist articles published over the last forty years, some thought has been given to the nature of the feminist agenda. Feminism is treated with some considerable suspicion by those questioning the politically correct agenda as it is a cornerstone of the cultural Marxist attempt to undermine the traditional structures of society as well as promoting the demonization of men.

The new feminism started in the late 1960s, reached a peak in the mid 1980s and then to some extent waned over the next couple of decades. However, in recent years a virulent strain has emerged that has become rampant, focusing mostly on controlling and attacking male heterosexuality. Some of the early feminist objectives were quite reasonable such as equal pay for equal work, or better child care facilities. Others are more dubious such as equal pay for work of 'equal value', and demands for equal opportunity which very quickly morphed into demands for equality of outcome.

Feminists are aware that they form only a very small proportion of women, and many of the articles lamented this fact. But because they are backed by the liberal establishment they have an influence far exceeding their numerical strength. One striking feature running through the majority of articles is the sense of insecurity these women feel about themselves. They seem to suffer form a collective persecution complex which they then blame on the 'patriarchal' society which supposedly oppresses them.

Some of the articles made valid points about the behaviour of men, notably their predilection for aggression, belittling insults and even violence over relatively trivial issues, and their judging of women through the prism of their sexual appeal. It is to be hoped that this assessment does not cover the majority of men, but alas it is likely to include a sizeable minority, particularly younger men. In this respect men do need to get their house in order and try to become more like true gentlemen, a concept that is in danger of becoming obsolete in our society's increasingly crude macho vision of masculinity.

Of particular concern to the feminists are the issues of pornography, rape and domestic violence, which to some extent they consider to be intertwined. Pornography is a much misused word, which covers anything from the depiction of scantily clad women to the most demeaning and degrading of sexual images, little distinction being made by feminists (and some others) between the two extremes. Feminists hold the eccentric view that an appreciation of feminine physical beauty 'objectifies' all women. No distinction is made either between the violent rape by a stranger and 'date rape' where the two parties know one another and may already be intimate. On domestic violence the statistics show that a significant proportion of the perpetrators are women themselves. With regard to the latter two concerns women have to some extent themselves to blame by their poor choice of men. It is unfortunate that the more loutish men seem to have the least trouble in pulling women, too many of whom dismiss more considerate and sensitive men as wimps.