Why barbie is a feminist

By Megan O'Kane

In May 2013, Europe’s first life-sized Barbie Dreamhouse opened its doors in Berlin. The opening of this pink paradise was overshadowed in the media by a feminist protest, involving a topless woman and a burning cross.

Michael Koschitzki, a member of the Occupy Barbie Dreamhouse protest group argues that "… this so-called Dreamhouse symbolizes the beauty craze and the discrimination of women in modern-day life. It presents a cliché of the female role in society." I very much disagree with this viewpoint. I believe that Barbie and her empire, which has grown steadily over 50 years, are an example of feminism at its best.

If feminism is broken, don't blame feminists

By Madeleine Whybrow

In a recent article for this blog, Ross Parry offered his views on the flaws of feminism. He argued that things such as the disproportionate amount of attention given to radical feminists and that even the outdated and divisive connotations of the word ‘feminism’ are holding the movement back. On both these points, I cannot agree more.

However, I have to take issue with one of his arguments, the suggestion that feminism is failing to educate enough people, especially men, and that feminists should be less “emotional and ignorant” when people question their views. In an ideal world, feminists would, of course, spend their time engaging in calm, constructive discussions and educating people about sexism and ways to fight it. However, our world is flawed, and any issues with feminism simply reflect that. 

Stop being so sentimental – feminism needs a reboot

By Ross Parry

I’m sure that, if you’re reading this blog, you have come into contact many times with the argument that feminism is a female-superiority movement. I am equally confident that at least half of you lovely readers know that this is rubbish.

Feminism is a movement which believes that gender inequality is an issue in much of the world and that this takes the form of women having fewer rights than men (in most instances, anyway). So where does the image of feminism as a tribal, man-hating world domination group come from?

Is the internet good for feminism?

More and more women are engaging with feminism because of the internet; some even believe that we are witnessing the movement’s fourth wave. The online community provides us platforms from which to voice our opinions and safe places to host our discussions. However, it has also brought us LadBible, Twitter trolls and objectification far worse than the content of lad’s mags. The same things helping feminism to flourish are being used to equal effect by those intent on destroying it. So, do the benefits outweigh the negatives? Or is the internet harming the fight for women’s rights? Three of our writers air their views.

Warning: Article contains some explicit content.

Primary School Teachers: The Great Divide

By Mia Chapman

Before I begin, I would like to explain why this post may not come across as particularly feminist. Until recently, I would not have used this word to describe myself because for me, like many others, this label came with negative connotations of the extreme. I have now come to realise that I do, in fact, agree with the cause: equal opportunities and free choice. I am in no way a man hater, which is what I once believed you had to be, and that is why I am writing this post; because I believe in equal opportunities and freedom for men as well as women.

Think back to your primary school days and try to remember how many of your teachers were male and how many female, particularly in the early years. I believe I had two throughout my entire seven years, and these were in years five and six. I am about to go to study to become a primary school teacher at University, which is a particularly female dominated profession; further indication that there is still a huge amount of gender division within the workplace.  I have not yet started my degree and do not know exactly how many men are on the course but, from my experiences at interviews and talking to future coursemates via Facebook, it is clear that the men will be significantly outnumbered. The numbers of male primary school teachers are increasing, albeit incredibly slowly, and, from the most recent 2011 -2012 statistics, a mere 19% of trainee registrations were in fact male [Source: The Department for Education, 2012].

Male and female brains

By Madeleine Whybrow 

The idea that men and women are inherently different, particularly in psychological terms, is a popular, perhaps even obvious, view. Common sense tells us that behaviour depends heavily on gender; men are often more aggressive and prone to risk-taking, whereas women tend to be kinder and more communicative. Could it be that these differences are hard-wired into our brains?

First World Feminism

This year I took part in a feminism campaign organised by my university’s student union’s women’s campaign, in which pictures were taken of students holding a whiteboard with the message “I need feminism because...”. On my whiteboard I wrote the message “I need feminism because Private Eye, the Economist, NME, New Scientist, etc. shouldn’t be categorised under ‘men’s interests’”. Though mainly positive, the picture did elicit some negative feedback, perhaps most annoyingly a comment that read “Nice to see you all keeping the major issues in the spotlight...”.

#shoutingback

 ‘Feminism’ used to be a bold, italicised, negative word to me. I saw it as connected to narrow minded women who refuse and discourage genuine chivalry. Those who in the process of fighting for women’s rights are treading on the voices and rights of decent men. And I would to this day still hold to that. The end goal is equal rights, but recently I’ve realised that to create a balance there needs to be a push towards working on the female side of that.