Is there a feminist spring?
July 2014 ~ Hazel Healy
<snip>
These girls are part of what is being described as a new wave of feminism. Feminism never stopped, of course, but there is something in the air – a new surge of energy and interest. In Britain alone, the number of grassroots groups has tripled since 2010, according to advocacy network UK Feminista. It is now inundated with requests for talks and training.
<snip>
Daring, in-your-face activism is booming. Russian anarchists such as Pussy Riot have become household names, and the ‘sextremists’ Femen have rediscovered the power of baring their breasts as a confrontational means of attracting attention. With media coverage guaranteed, their method has been adopted from Mexico to Tunisia to Germany.
On the face of it, employment rights for women are an area of considerable progress. We’ve broken into new occupations, and made up half the workforce during the last 20 years. But writer and activist Beatrix Campbell has described how the advent of ‘neopatriarchal neoliberalism’ (‘an ugly name for an ugly deal’) has left women across the globe concentrated in low-paid, precarious work and a persistent gender pay gap.
An impressive 135 countries now enshrine maternity leave in law. But most women who juggle work and childcare will testify to the statistics that place domestic labour firmly in women’s court. Men are taking on more, yet if current trends continue, women in the West alone will have to wait until 2050 for a 50:50 split ...
Much more here: http://newint.org/features/2014/07/01/keynote-feminist-spring/#sthash.WM1mQyLM.DHdekmmL.dpuf
= new reply since forum marked as read
