I will start this review by accounting my own thoughts on feminism, and I will try to be as certain and bold as Kat Banyard. Bare with me.
Years before reading 'The Equality Illusion' - the first book about feminism I've read - I had considered myself a feminist because, in my teens, I became observant of the differences in gender. I felt I had to think about these things, because I was increasingly aware that people's attitudes - on the TV and movies I watched - concerning women's roles were making me very uncomfortable. I became conscious of how boys at school treated me as well - linked to me being a girl, nothing more. I had platonic male friends, and I felt I was never being taken seriously amongst them. Also I felt in the minority because other girls always hung out with each other. And they had a boyfriend and spent huge amounts of money on their looks - the only things that apparently mattered in life. I was aware of being pressured to suit the "status quo", and I didn't like it.
But even before my teens, I had seriously thought about women's rights and roles in my society after watching terrible sitcom episodes (ones I could write whole dissertations about their flaws), and not seeing enough positive female role models in the media and in real life. Everything was all pink, cooking, boys, shopping, looking pretty, and having babies for those with no Y chromosome.
Now, I like pink, boys, shopping and babies (I'm a bad cook), but even back then I didn't want them to be my only life choices. I love the media and geeky things, and reading and writing about stuff.
It wasn't until much later that I began to see a potentially harmful social stigma attached to girls who are "different" and not "girly"...
Thanks to the internet, I had begun to think more critically about gender issues from feminist's articles. Movies, TV, cartoons, posters, advertisements and politics make it clear: men have to be dominant and active, while women have to be passive and caring. Why? Is the message sent unconsciously? Is it just the way things are? Thinking about those sitcom and other TV episodes, I refused to accept the "norm" and that it's "natural". Women are better than this - I knew this then because I'm female and I like thinking. I like pink and I still have a brain. And pink is a cool colour; people shouldn't associate it with girliness like it's a bad thing.
It wasn't until I read 'The Equality Illusion' that my eyes were fully opened. It horrified me, and I'm glad of it. It made me seriously think of how my life had been shaped subconsciously. Sexism isn't the exception, it's the rule - misogyny exists and it has always existed in one way or another. It is mainstream in a patriarchal world; it is all around us, not just on TV or movies or books. Women are discriminated against everyday in any situation, and usually it is for sexual reasons (can be based on looks alone). No one is immune to double standards. I refuse to say this is "natural". Rape, victim blaming, low pay, and the saying "boys will be boys" are damaging, and they affect serious human issues. They should not be viewed as normal. Kat Banyard has a point: something has to be done, before feminism disappears and we don't progress but regress.
'The Equality Illusion' contents include:
Part 1: Today
Mirror Mirror on the Wall - Waking Up to Body Image
Hands Up for... - A Gendered Education
Sexism and the City - Just Another Days Work
Tough Love - Coming Home to Violence
The Booty Myth - A Night Out in the Sex Industry
Bedroom Politics - Reproductive Rights and Wrongs
Part 2: Tomorrow
A New Day
Feminism is progression. It is a necessity to human rights. A cause that says that women/girls are neither inferior nor superior to men/boys - we are all equal.
Attitudes and jokes that hint at sexism/chauvinism/misogyny are not harmless or fun, they are in fact dangerous to our culture. We unconsciously absorb these messages in the medium every day; I did in my childhood. For example, that women should be passive, and if they're not they're either a whore or a bitch (or both, or more), and that's bad. They are no longer considered human. And yet when they don't fit the socially-accepted standard of "pretty", that's bad. They have to be objects and used by men. We still treat men and women differently and see nothing wrong with it.
So I believe there is an equality illusion. One of UK Feminista's founders Kat Banyard exposes it all in this well-researched and perspective-changing book. She doesn't just state facts; by the end she offers options on how to combat sexism in the cultural mainstream. It is not all hopeless, we don't have to accept sexist BS when it is apparent. Change is possible, and it can last.
Now that I have read 'The Equality Illusion' I can say with confidence that I am a feminist. Because I believe that progression in society is important. I only consider myself a decent and observant human being who cares about equality in the 21st century. We should not be divided or ranked "dominant" over others because of gender.
Don't belittle the rights that the people of my gender and men who care have fought for for so long. Two halves are equal. In this world, half the human race is female, each with her own individual mind, personality, friends and family - never forget that.
Final Score: 5/5
Praise for The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard includes:
'Read it. Share it. Give it to your mum, your daughter, your son, your brother, your sister, your dad.' - Irish Times
'Reading this, I am wholly convinced: the sooner we take on this battle, the better.' - Independent Book of the Week
"Excellent and thought-provoking... I really feel everyone should read it... Thanks to Banyard I now know exactly how to respond to people who go "isn't feminism a bit dated?" or "sure what are you giving out about now?" I am in her debt." - Irish Times blogs
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