Modern Feminism Remains Necessity

The most recent feminist movement, which focuses on promoting and implementing feminist ideas introduced in the late 20th century, is defined as the “3rd wave” of feminism.

The 1st wave of feminism began in the late 19th century with the suffragist movement, which pushed for, among other things, voting rights for women. The 2nd wave, which began in the 1960’s, addressed rights of minority groups, as well as reproductive rights, sexuality, and more.

This third wave started in the 1990’s. According to Martha Rampton, director of the Center for Gender Equality at Pacific University, this latest movement expands on earlier feminist issues, and celebrates ambiguity, not thinking of feminism with an “us versus them” mentality. The 3rd wave is multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-gender and multi-economic. It is intersectional and global.

And “3rd wave” feminism, is feminism.

Why is a movement called feminism if it encompasses so many genders, cultures and classes? Because at its core, it is a movement that strives to establish equality between men and everyone else in the world. In particular, cisgender, heterosexual white men have been guaranteed privilege for millennia.

When attempting to dismantle the ideas of this current movement, some try to poke holes in feminist arguments pertaining to issues in the Western world, generalizing that all sexist issues here are unimportant and efforts should be focused solely on the grave oppression that happens elsewhere.

Firstly, to generalize and condense the beliefs of this movement is to trivialize it, even if few American women consider themselves “feminists.” It doesn’t mean the movement itself isn’t valid, and that its only function is to serve privileged women. That itself shows a deep misunderstanding of what feminism really stands for.

Secondly, oppression of women is everywhere, even when it comes to, for example, grave issues like sex trafficking. For example: according to the US state department, 80% of people who are trafficked are women, and on average, 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked across international borders per year. Of that number, roughly 14,000-17,500 are within the United States. This demonstrates the need for a global effort, which 3rd wave feminism recognizes.

3rd wave feminism is also not just about the wage gap, though yes, it does exist. Pay gap deniers may say that the “claim” that women making just 78 cents for each dollar a man makes is an oversimplification. The real oversimplification here is the idea that “life choices” made by women are the cause for this gap.

Along with there being a certain social expectation that women should drop out of the workforce –more than 30% of Americans believe that it’s a woman’s duty to stay at home, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center– the fact is that many women are also forced to leave the workforce, unable to afford childcare, or denied flexible hours, as reported by The Washington Post.

According to a study done by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, women’s earnings on a whole decrease 4% for each child a mother has. Funny enough, the study found that when looking at men’s earnings after returning to the workforce, theirs actually increased by 6%.

Even after controlling factors of experience, education, and yes, hours (which only count when calculating the pay of non-salaried workers. Salaried workers don’t get paid by the hour per se, so comparison of hours worked is often irrelevant, all that matters is that the same job gets done, and that people are paid accordingly)– the gap persisted –even with childless, unmarried women. There is one exception: the top 10% of female earners lose no income after having children. But of course, the number is subject to change based on privilege.

The American Association of University Women reports that in 2014, black women in the U.S. earned 63% of what men in the country were paid, and Latina women earned 54%. This clearly isn’t a fluke.

Another critical issue in society is the treatment of rape, and the social stigma that tends to blame the victim rather than the perpetrator, and in general, trivializes it. Rape culture, according to the website everydayfeminism.com, is “the ways society blames victims of sexual assault and and normalizes male violence.”

The site goes on to say that it’s not necessarily a society or group of people openly promoting rape –though that is possible– and that it’s more about cultural practices that lead us, as a society, to tolerate sexual violence. The site goes on to say, “more often than not, it’s situations in which sexual assault, rape, and general violence are ignored, trivialized, normalized, or made into jokes.”

A classic example of this is the recent trial of Brock Turner, a Stanford student who molested an unconscious young woman in 2015. Despite several bystanders –which is very rare– and overwhelming evidence that he committed the crime, the judge worried that Tuner’s “promising” future would be wrecked by a long sentence. Turner was sentenced to only 6 months of jail and was released after 3. This is rape culture.

The fact that 10 women went forward during the election cycle and claimed that Donald Trump sexually assaulted them, and were subsequently asked why they didn’t reveal this information sooner, or were told that they were lying about it is also rape culture.

Female objectification is also a persistent problem.

In film and television, men and women act sexually on screen all the time. The issue of objectification is different than sexualization, however. To objectify is to treat someone like an object, or, to treat someone as if their sexual appeal is their only defining character trait, and thus all they are.

To sexualize is to make something sexual in character and quality. They are interconnected, but remain two different things. Objectification should not be tolerated in our society.

These issues in society point out an extreme disparity in privilege that creates a distinct and unjust hierarchy.

I’m not denying that “3rd wave” feminism has its flaws, as there are certainly people who call themselves feminists that are not aware of issues pertaining to intersectional feminism. However, it is unfair to generalize an entire movement by picking and choosing a few topics to refute. That doesn’t change the fact that sexism comes in many shapes and sizes, and that there are root causes of sexism: how men view women, how women are treated by men, how people are taught to act through the illusion of gender and gender roles on a global scale.

This strong patriarchal viewpoint pressures men to act a certain way, because the male viewpoint has always been the norm. This also divides many women from the movement, but feminism does aim to fix internalized misogyny that perpetuates the patriarchy. Real progress requires that more people are aware of what oppression and sexism looks like, while seeking to educate others.

3rd wave feminism shouldn’t be so easily condensed and dismissed.

The goal of feminism has remained constant: gender equality for all within a society that that is deeply rooted in patriarchal values. Because of how ubiquitous it is, it may be hard for someone with a lot of privileges to understand how deeply sexism is rooted. A small increase of women in the workplace won’t magically fix the fact that for centuries, women have been treated as inferiors. Women being sold off as wives as well as being harassed by men on the street are both part of the same core issue. There are absolutely priorities and extremes to any situation, but you can’t declare that recent strides in feminism are just “wrong” because you want to pick and choose your feminist issues to care about.

Whatever form feminism comes in, as a whole, the movement stands for equality. It is not to be confused with hating men and wishing to be treated as superior to them –that is misandry.

The true essence of the movement is to fight for equality.