Stigma

“Will one of you lovely ladies lend me a key for the office please.” Mr A.

“Yes, as long as you don’t call us lovely ladies!” Ms L.

“OOOh someone’s got her knickers in a twist.” Mr A.

“Don’t listen to her… She’s a feminist.” Ms V.

By this point I had already let my colleague in to the office. I returned to my seat next to Ms V and said “Do you honestly think of feminism as a negative personality trait? That really undermined me. I would have thought you would understand that.”

Unfortunately I didn’t actually say that last bit, I just wish I had.

The word feminist is often used as a negative slur against a woman who stands up for herself and what she believes in. When a man refers to himself as a feminist this is seen as a huge award he has won and is patted on the back and told to keep up the good work.

Concentrating on female feminists, let’s go back and see when this all the feminist bashing began.

Was it when the focus of UK Feminists agenda was to ban Page 3 and stop the boys having a permanent erection? No maybe it was before that.

 

Was it twenty years ago when rape within a marriage was finally classed as a criminal offence thanks to the feminist protests? No, there was stigma even before then.

 

Was it in the 70’s when feminism was having a real boom and there were protests and agendas all over the place?! No, it was even before that.

The suffragettes? 100 years ago women were heavily stigmatised in newspapers for supporting this rebellion of women wanting the vote. Before these brave women came along there were no rights for women and patriarchy would have liked to keep it that way. Is it really possible that a century later people are still holding on to that concept that women wanting to stand up for themselves are some negative breed that needs putting down? A woman who stands up for what she believe is right is in fact wrong and needs to be shut up?

We have a long way to go to get rid of these negative assumptions about us. Each one of us needs to continue to grow a thick skin and bullet speed whit to stay afloat. 

One day maybe just maybe when feminism is no longer necessary because equal rights and lives are had by all, maybe then there won’t be any stigma.