Another Day, Another Stupid Article About Feminism

It's the blame game again: everything which is wrong with society is the fault of Feminism for Just Not Being Good Enough. This time it's the Guardian reproducing some dire twaddle from the Associated Press. Now, I'm not going to pretend feminism is perfect because it isn't. After all, feminists are only human. We make mistakes. We make compromises that we shouldn't.  We don't always hear what our sisters are telling us.

This is because we are human and humans make mistakes.

And, yes, it would appear that feminism is an exclusively middle class movement. If you don't bother to actually look at the gains that feminism has achieved. Last time I checked, working women have the vote too. Rape in marriage is illegal, regardless of class. It was working class women who fought for the equal pay act; as feminists. We have maternity leave. And, until today, had a fairly decent welfare system designed to protect women. It wasn't feminists who destroyed the welfare system which has disproportionately affected the lives of working class women.

Here's the thing: the problem facing working class women isn't feminism. It's the Capitalist-Patriarchy which place women, especially working women, at the bottom of the pile.  It's the Capitalist-Patriarchy, under the guise of the ConDems, which gave tax breaks for childcare to middle class women and not poor women. Feminists are the ones standing up and calling the ConDems out on this. Feminists are the ones agitating for universal 24-hour subsidised {or free} childcare.

It's the Capitalist-Patriarchy which devalues women's labour within the home and underpays all employment deemed as "women's work" like childcare, nursing, teaching, and cleaning. Feminists believe in a universal living wage for everyone. Feminists fought for the welfare state and are heart-broken at its destruction. We know how much harm this will do to women.

The only way you could conclude that feminism focuses only on gender equality for middle class women is if you don't understand that feminism is a political theory which fights for the liberation of women: all women.

The real problem for working class white women are middle class and wealthy white MEN who don't want to give up their privilege and actively harm women by firing them whilst pregnant; an action which is supposed to be illegal but happens every day. It is men whining about women "stealing" their jobs. It is men, since most of parliament are male, who voted in the destruction of the British Welfare State and who destroyed our NHS. These are the things which harm working class women.

More importantly:

ALL WOMEN WORK. 

This is a fundamental tenet of feminism: not all women work in paid employment but we all work. This idea that women don't: that would be misogyny.

FFS, all women are affected by the failure of the Equal Pay Act to be implemented properly.

And, yeah, we make mistakes. Who doesn't? But, this idea that working class women are actively being harmed by feminism is misogynistic bullshit.