The Uninformed

The message of the backlash is that feminism is bad. But such is not the problem. The absence of feminism is the problem. Where some see feminism as a failure, it has been a verifiable, qualitative and quantitative success. A working knowledge of feminism and feminist history allows us to expand on our ability to see the truth of our own reality from all angles – intellectual, moral, psychological, emotional, political and philosophical – and to imagine ways to change our individual situations for the better.

For many mainstream and grassroots women, the absence of feminism exists not because of denial, but lack of information. Often these are women who are trapped in the superwoman myth which says they are a failure if they cannot do it all. Wife, mother, breadwinner, housekeeper, community worker, caregiver, voter, chauffeur, “good;” a whiz at digital technology, displaying all the “sensitive, feminine qualities” that the world expects from women; and all the rest.

Women are being crushed by the demands the patriarchy makes on them simply in order to survive – and this has to go. But if you don’t understand how male domination works in relation to women’s problems – and can’t make the arguments that must be made to create a fair, humane society for women – then you cannot change it, nor your life.

But we must change it. The forces that destroy women’s lives are the same ones that are destroying the planet. These are the forces of patriarchal power and domination.