“I’M NOT CONVINCED THAT WOMEN SHOULD VOTE.” I say this to get people’s attention, to shake their assumption that because I am young, single and female, I will insist on my right to an abortion, or frown on anyone who dares use the word “manpower”.
Feminism has so dominated the public discourse that perfect strangers assume my full sympathy on contentious political questions. Men in particular mask their opinions, fumble their language, apologise for giving offence to a political agenda that I do not support.
Even when I taught overseas, a colleague sought to establish common ground by apprising me of an article she had read by Hillary Clinton. This article apparently lamented the persistence of the glass ceiling — as evidenced by the author’s failed presidential bid. Despite everything Clinton had accomplished, my colleague sighed, she still faced discrimination.
Must be nice, I thought as I listened with a fixed smile, when “equal rights” means that you should be president.
Perhaps people expect women to be feminists because they assume that feminism advocates in the interests of all women. If this was ever true, it has become increasingly less so in the era of postmodern critique. Feminism is anything but monolithic. Louise Perry, Victoria Smith and Mary Harrington are among those who challenge prevailing narratives, re-examining the nature and purpose of feminism.
