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| Has feminism failed the working class? Our readers respond | Has feminism failed the working class? Our readers respond |
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| We asked for your thoughts on the relationship between working-class issues and feminism. Your replies show a great diversity of experiences and opinions – from ardent feminist supporters to workers who feel deeply let down by the movement. | We asked for your thoughts on the relationship between working-class issues and feminism. Your replies show a great diversity of experiences and opinions – from ardent feminist supporters to workers who feel deeply let down by the movement. |
| Isabel, Glasgow | Isabel, Glasgow |
| As a single working mother with a 13-year-old daughter, I couldn't really not be a feminist. Seeing the pressures my daughter will face as she progresses into adulthood makes me realise we all have a way to go. But it's not feminism that runs the world, it's money. The media, Guardian included, tend to fixate on the number of women in boardrooms, or whether some neoliberal rightwing politician is a feminist, rather than looking at the reality of working life. I've also been quite shocked at the hostility shown to parents, mothers especially. Some of the comments found on this very website have a real venom to them; there is at times a sense that if you are a mother, and especially a working-class mother, then by default you should not have embarked on parenthood at all. | As a single working mother with a 13-year-old daughter, I couldn't really not be a feminist. Seeing the pressures my daughter will face as she progresses into adulthood makes me realise we all have a way to go. But it's not feminism that runs the world, it's money. The media, Guardian included, tend to fixate on the number of women in boardrooms, or whether some neoliberal rightwing politician is a feminist, rather than looking at the reality of working life. I've also been quite shocked at the hostility shown to parents, mothers especially. Some of the comments found on this very website have a real venom to them; there is at times a sense that if you are a mother, and especially a working-class mother, then by default you should not have embarked on parenthood at all. |
| I don't think the issue is about how feminism represents working-class women at all, it's how the media and politicians choose to portray them. It's not feminism that has the power to control what advertisers, the music industry and the media tell us; if anything, feminists tend to be the ones pointing out how damaging it can be. | I don't think the issue is about how feminism represents working-class women at all, it's how the media and politicians choose to portray them. It's not feminism that has the power to control what advertisers, the music industry and the media tell us; if anything, feminists tend to be the ones pointing out how damaging it can be. |
| Martin, Portsmouth | |
| The pay gap, maternity leave, opportunities for promotion, prison conditions – all have been addressed by feminism. But what irks me is when feminists talk about seeking equality. When I see women queueing up for jobs down coalmines, I will believe they are serious about it. Some of the social and political issues brought to prominence by the suffragette movement were not necessarily about voting per se, but about the disparity between the way different classes were treated, about the disproportionate sense of entitlement the wealthy elite garnered for themselves. We were making good progress in some of these areas, but we seem to have slipped back since the more radical feminism of the 1970s became less fashionable. As for me, feminism can't help my situation; I'm poor, unemployed, and struggling on £45 a week. Never mind the glass ceiling, it's whether or not I can afford to get the water heater fixed that worries me the most. | |
| Lauren, Paisley | |
| I am proud to call myself a feminist. However, I believe in equality not just for women but for everyone – and that is where I think feminism goes wrong at times. A working-class man from Scotland working in a minimum-wage job is going to be far worse off than a middle-class woman in the south of England. Feminism does not address that. The movement today seems to focus on issues that white, middle-class women face exclusively – such as increasing political and workplace representation, or getting more women into top jobs. But it doesn't address the fact that many women feel put off from going for promotions because of commitments at home, such as childcare and care of elderly relatives. Middle-class women find themselves in top jobs because they can afford the time to focus on their career. Working-class women do not have the same luxury. | |
| Seb, London | Seb, London |
| I come from a white working-class single-parent family. I was a soldier and a teacher, and I worked with working-class white boys in the penal system. I would see myself in the third wave of feminism. I am sick of the second-wave dinosaurs who are currently in power, lecturing me on my undeserved privilege, berating me as an oppressor, excluding me for being male – when by and large I am sympathetic with the majority of their goals. I just don't like the way they have turned what should be the greatest civil rights movement in history into a single issue lobbying movement which furthers their unearned privilege as wealthy white western women, ignoring everyone else who has suffered from patriarchy (including working-class men). | I come from a white working-class single-parent family. I was a soldier and a teacher, and I worked with working-class white boys in the penal system. I would see myself in the third wave of feminism. I am sick of the second-wave dinosaurs who are currently in power, lecturing me on my undeserved privilege, berating me as an oppressor, excluding me for being male – when by and large I am sympathetic with the majority of their goals. I just don't like the way they have turned what should be the greatest civil rights movement in history into a single issue lobbying movement which furthers their unearned privilege as wealthy white western women, ignoring everyone else who has suffered from patriarchy (including working-class men). |
| With my work, I saw working-class boys being treated as disposable war assets by the government, or as disposable criminal problems by the penal system. If eight times more women than men were in prison, it would be a feminist issue. If three times more women killed themselves every year, it would be a feminist issue. The lack of support in men's mental health is terrible; my (male) doctor does not even know who to refer a male patient to for support. This impacts me personally, but these issues impact all female family members too. There is so much more we can achieve as a team. | With my work, I saw working-class boys being treated as disposable war assets by the government, or as disposable criminal problems by the penal system. If eight times more women than men were in prison, it would be a feminist issue. If three times more women killed themselves every year, it would be a feminist issue. The lack of support in men's mental health is terrible; my (male) doctor does not even know who to refer a male patient to for support. This impacts me personally, but these issues impact all female family members too. There is so much more we can achieve as a team. |
| Ciara, Dublin, Ireland | Ciara, Dublin, Ireland |
| I am passionately involved in feminist student and pro-choice activism in Ireland, which recognises that it is working-class women who cannot afford to travel to the UK to access abortion services. Feminism helps address the following concerns in my life: sexism, class inequality, harassment on public transport, representation of women in the media, lack of reproductive rights and adequate healthcare and casual sexism encountered on a regular basis. Feminism has helped women, including working-class women like myself, to have a voice, to be able to speak for ourselves rather than have others speak on our behalf. I also believe there are good reasons for feminism to have focused on women's careers at a professional level – this means more women legislating in government, as board members, as managers. | I am passionately involved in feminist student and pro-choice activism in Ireland, which recognises that it is working-class women who cannot afford to travel to the UK to access abortion services. Feminism helps address the following concerns in my life: sexism, class inequality, harassment on public transport, representation of women in the media, lack of reproductive rights and adequate healthcare and casual sexism encountered on a regular basis. Feminism has helped women, including working-class women like myself, to have a voice, to be able to speak for ourselves rather than have others speak on our behalf. I also believe there are good reasons for feminism to have focused on women's careers at a professional level – this means more women legislating in government, as board members, as managers. |
| Through my experience of my involvement with feminism, I feel in no way left out, excluded or let down. I feel left out, let down and excluded by the Irish government, the Catholic church and other patriarchal models. But how could I possibly feel let down by feminism, of all things? | Through my experience of my involvement with feminism, I feel in no way left out, excluded or let down. I feel left out, let down and excluded by the Irish government, the Catholic church and other patriarchal models. But how could I possibly feel let down by feminism, of all things? |
| Lynne, Sheffield | Lynne, Sheffield |
| Yes, I'm a feminist. But when did you last read a feminist article about how a hospital cleaner struggles with childcare provision that doesn't fit her working hours, and which is beyond the means of her meagre pay packet? | Yes, I'm a feminist. But when did you last read a feminist article about how a hospital cleaner struggles with childcare provision that doesn't fit her working hours, and which is beyond the means of her meagre pay packet? |
| I think women are getting a raw deal from current government policies all round. Changes to the statutory pensionable age couldn't have been anticipated, and will hit older working-class women who haven't had the luxury of a professional career path very hard. I'm deeply concerned that cuts to social care will increase women's burden of care – yes, a burden, even when done out of love – and that cuts to both the voluntary and public sector will see more women and children living with domestic abuse unable to access the support services they need. | I think women are getting a raw deal from current government policies all round. Changes to the statutory pensionable age couldn't have been anticipated, and will hit older working-class women who haven't had the luxury of a professional career path very hard. I'm deeply concerned that cuts to social care will increase women's burden of care – yes, a burden, even when done out of love – and that cuts to both the voluntary and public sector will see more women and children living with domestic abuse unable to access the support services they need. |
| It's time for women to say enough is enough, and feminism can help us mobilise to do just that. | It's time for women to say enough is enough, and feminism can help us mobilise to do just that. |