This month our regular columnist Nadia Whittome talks feminism...
Wednesday 8 March marks International Women’s Day. Like every year, there will be countless events promoting the achievements of women, and feminist marches reminding the world of the struggles we still face.
While almost everyone is familiar with the celebration, fewer people know about its radical origins. The idea for a Women’s Day was first proposed in 1910 at the International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen. While its original headline demand was women’s right to vote - regardless of wealth or class background - the proponents of the day had much broader ambitions too. They didn’t want the integration of women into a deeply unequal and oppressive society, but its transformation for the benefit of all working people.
More than 100 years on, thanks to generations of feminists, we live in a country where women can vote, work, marry who we want and divorce when we wish; overt discrimination is banned by law and social attitudes towards gender roles have shifted significantly. Wednesday 8 March can serve as a reminder that these rights were not given to us but won: by people who were not afraid to confront those in power, break social norms and even the law when needed. But it’s also as good a time as any to remember that the fight is far from over.
When I first learned the word “feminist”, it was often used as an insult, and even many progressive women preferred to distance themselves from it. Over the past decade, this has changed dramatically. Today you can hardly find a female celebrity who doesn’t call herself one, and slogans about gender equality are being used to sell us anything from trainers to razors.
Over a century since International Women’s Day was established, its founders’ core message still rings true: there is no fairness for women without economic justice
This mainstreaming of feminism could be seen as a step forward: it’s now more normalised than ever to talk about the injustices and double standards women face. But the commercialisation of the women’s movement also risks stripping it of its urgency and radicalism. It’s easy to design an advertising campaign where conventionally attractive models talk about the importance of loving your body. It’s much harder to stand up to the power structures that hold women back - including in the very businesses that claim to be part of the feminist struggle.
Since 2021, a Twitter account called @PayGapApp has been resharing brands’ International Women’s Day posts with information about the gender pay gap within their staff teams. Multiple companies deleted their “feminist” tweets as a response.
Over a century since International Women’s Day was established, its founders’ core message still rings true: there is no fairness for women without economic justice. No awareness campaign will enable mothers to return to work when childcare costs more than their entire salary. The housing crisis makes it harder for women to leave abusive relationships. Without strong workers’ rights, it’s easier for sexist and predatory bosses to carry on without consequences.
Cuts to public services also disproportionately impact women: both because they make up the majority of public sector workers, and because they depend on the welfare state more than men do. Since 2010, it is estimated that 86% of the costs of government cuts fell on women.
We need a feminism that doesn’t just focus on helping a few women get to the top, but on lifting up the majority
For the woman worker, it is a matter of indifference who is the “master”, a man or a woman - wrote Alexandra Kollontai, one of the initiators of International Women’s Day. The aim, she argued, was to abolish all privileges deriving from birth or wealth.
These words remain as relevant as ever. It’s not a victory for women if a female Home Secretary sends victims of human trafficking to detention centres. An employee struggling to feed her family won’t feel empowered knowing that her CEO is a woman. We need a feminism that doesn’t just focus on helping a few women get to the top, but on lifting up the majority - while paying particular attention to the needs of those most marginalised.
This means recognising the specific forms of misogyny faced by women of colour, and the overlapping discrimination they face. It means standing with migrant women who can’t access domestic abuse support out of fear of being reported to the Home Office and deported. It means listening to the voices of sex workers, who tell us that decriminalising their jobs is the best way to improve their safety and help them exit the industry when they want to. And it means extending solidarity to our trans sisters, who also face the consequences of the patriarchy every single day.
From the epidemic of gendered violence to persisting pay inequality; from ubiquitous sexual harassment to the underfunding of domestic abuse refuges - the women’s movement in 2023 still has plenty on its hands. In honour of those who came before us, this March let us all pledge to help build a better world for women, in whatever big or small ways we can.
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