Women may have more rights than they used to (thanks to the suffragettes) however they are still not fully equal with men. Just take a look at the media; it is filled with images of how women should look - big boobs, blonde hair, hairless legs and underarms. This is all for male sexual pleasure. Women are now adhering to the norms of society such as shaving their legs and getting rid of pubic hair and although it is a personal choice to do so, the pressure on women to conform to these beauty stereotypes shows that we still need feminist ideas.
Although women generally are paid the same as men they are still not paid the exact same and they are socialised to venture into careers that are traditionally feminine such as nursing, teaching and catering - and these careers all pay less than the traditional masculine jobs such as working with science, mathematics and businesses.
Women are still seen as property, just in a sexual way. The constant bombardment of the media does not help this. Films, TV programmes and novels all illustrate women as sex items, music videos in particular.
The aspirations of women have changed. It is now socially acceptable to want to gain a high achieving career rather than to marry and have children - this is a positive step in the right direction. However a lot of women do marry and have children (not that there is anything wrong with that) but the Marxist feminist belief of this is that: women are churning out new workers (children) for the Bourgeoisie and their husbands come home after a day's work and have a warm bath (this theory is called the 'warm bath theory') and are served dinner by their wife, they release their anger and tension at home so when they go to work the next day they are a good worker and the Bourgeoisie benefit from this.
I'm not a radical feminist - I don't want a matriarchy and I don't believe the world is patriarchal in its entirety but I do believe our society is male dominated. Men are still seen as the better sex, the more powerful sex.
I am a liberal feminist; I simply want equality between men and women (and LGBT people and straight people).
Feminism is still necessary.
There was a big uproar on Twitter when Tesco released a card that read 'Gleny's had heard all about sexual harassment in the workplace and deliberately wore a short dress with a plunging neckline to ensure she didn't miss out'. Apparently this card was meant to be humorous, I don't see how it is, it is simply promoting sexual harassment, objectifying of women and even rape. WOMEN ARE NOT OBJECTS. Their role is not just to cook, clean, pop put babies and give men sexual satisfaction. We are more than that; we are intelligent, beautiful, smart, funny and kind (well a lot of us, not all, sadly).
We endure the pains of periods and childbirth, which men do not, and that alone means we deserve respect. How would you (men) like to have blood leaking from you every month and a stomach that feels like it is being kicked multiple times? How would you like to have to squeeze a human being out of you? Think about that next time to are about to refer to women are as one of the following sexist names: slag, slut, whore, Missus, damaged goods, spinster, and I'm sure there's many more.
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