Comments on: Feminisim: an outdated concept?

By: Hannah Rose Mendoza

Hannah Rose Mendoza — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:45:36 +0000

Feminism isn’t about ensuring that men and women are treated the same or about denigrating the contributions of individual men. It is about realizing the power structures that keep women from realizing their full potential in whatever capacity they wish to practice that. If you value what women do, then you are a feminist. I think it is important to distinguish between radical feminists and critical feminists. Radical feminism largely supports the idea that women can do the same things as men. Critical feminists suggest that the things men have been doing don’t necessarily set a high enough standard and that we shouldn’t push ourselves to be the “same as” but rather recognize and accept that all people are different. Validation of women’s contributions comes through equality not through the elimination of difference either in type or in treatment. It is time we stop visualizing this debate as one gender versus another – there are more than two in any case – but rather about empowering the decisions that individuals make to embrace their own difference.

By: Dr. Christopher Wood

Dr. Christopher Wood — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:29:51 +0000

David> I agree totally. It’s a question of empowerment of the individual and really letting them know that they count for something. Society creates ‘invisible people’ – individuals who end up believing they are essentially invisible/don’t count for anything. Wales has too many invisible people. We have essentially ‘boxed’ too many people, and it has become, essentially, a national disaster, there is a hidden crisis of confidence. Too many of us are now like that proverbial rabbit caught in the headlights of a fast approaching car. It is like we have beached people in ‘low energy troughs’ or perhaps more accurately: “low personal productivity troughs”. To borrow the words from Queen (band): “we (Wales) needs to break free”, and we can do that by ‘doing’ by ‘believing’. We have to reinvent our inventiveness as a nation to break free; regardless of background, race, prospertiy (both physical and mental), gender, etc.

By: David Phillips

David Phillips — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:01:42 +0000

Heledd, I agree with much of what you say. The way forward is surely to be gender blind and treat people as individuals who can all contribute to their communities and fulfill their potential. For sure one area where social justice is urgently needed is equal pay for women, a gap that needs to be closed.

After all a man can just as effectively and wholeheartedly champion the rights of women to have a better screening service for breast cancer or proper support services for single mothers struggling to train for a career, as a woman can advocate on behalf of a man with testicular cancer or suffering with pneumoconiosis.

Ultimately, the test is in the ethical commitment of the individual to secure a society where there is gender equality, in other words what matters is not so much the gender of the change agent but that the outcome for the whole of society is socially just as a result of their efforts.

By: Bethan Jenkins

Bethan Jenkins — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:51:12 +0000

There are varying strands of Feminism, and it is potentially quite damaging to generalise as you do in this blog post.
I believe that women only groups, if utilised effectively, can be successful in raising issues pertaining to women, and can unite women around specific causes.

We have a cross party group of Women in Politics at the National Assembly, and though it does not meet as often as it should, it is a great way for women politicians to meet, and to organise debates and so forth. I don’t think that this is a threat to the equality agenda, but in fact strengthens our resolve.

We still live in a male dominated society, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has noted that the pay gap has increased between men and women. Until this inherent inequality is eradicated, I still believe that feminism is important, and that it is as relevant now as it was in the 1970’s- if not more important.