I think a lot of people do take it for granted that equality has been achieved - we have declared the achievement of equality before the event - and that is part of the problem. It pulls a curtain over the problems that still need to be overcome and conceals the "micromachismos" that occur in the interactions between women and men on a daily basis. Also, it promotes the view that feminism is no longer necessary (a view I personally don't agree with), and thereby a negative perception of feminists as "mad extremists".
For me, one of the most horrific examples of the continued existence of gender inequalities is the lack of measures taken by our government to tackle the growing sex-slavery trade in which tens of thousands of children and women are trafficked into our country to work as prostitutes. There is virtually no support for these women. If they manage to make it to a hospital or police station it is my understanding that they will be treated without compassion and sent back to their "own countries" as "illegal immigrants" where they face being trafficked back through Europe once again. Also, the fact that there exists a demand for this is shocking, and I think it is part of one of the many manifestations of a rape-culture that banalises rape, sexual harassment and the objectification of women. Other examples might be the popular "lad's-mag" Nuts - which publishes photos of smiling "barely-legal" girls in skimpy underwear "just waking up after a drugging" and claims that women actually enjoy being raped - or my university's men's hockey team, which picked the theme of rape victims for their fancy dress party in the Union bar (for me, this last example highlights the way in which some forms of male bonding rely on misogyny). I could also go into the extremely low conviction rates for rape, the treatment of victims by the police and courts, the highly sexualised and degrading representations of women in the media, sexual harassment in the streets and the workplace (which girls and women are encouraged to accept as compliments, or innocent jokes, rather than linking them to forms of sexism that are more commonly recognized as serious, such as physical violence), the licensing of lap-dancing clubs as if they were cafes etc. I think it was Mary Daly who coined the term "rapism" to describe this sort of culture in the West. I think she was right and that rapism is proliferating. Sexual violence permeates our whole society.
Of course, all this has been a contentious issue in feminism, and brings up the pro/anti pornography and pro/anti legalisation of prostitution debates... you can probably guess what my view is!
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I read in saturday's paper that a new court ruling allows judges to advise jurors on a common reason why victims may delay in reporting a rape. Ie. due to feelings of shame and guilt brought on by the trauma of the attack, not because the victim has made the whole story up, as rapists' lawyers often argue, according to the Guardian.
The court ruling seems like a step in the right direction, but other rape myths still riddle society:
http://www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk/home/
This is a really cool campaign (I think)that tries to dispel some of the preconceived notions that surround rape, eg. she was asking for it because she was wearing revealing clothing etc.
But when I looked on the "have your say" section, although most of the comments were positive, I was really shocked by some of the men's reactions. Whereas some maintained that a woman is to blame for her rape in certain circumstances, others seem to have come straight from the hockey team fancy dress party and referred to rape as "surprise sex". For me, these attitudes are apalling, yet they also seem widespread and difficult to fight. A culture of rapism?
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