Equality

Is Gender Equality Really Possible?

Women’s and men’s rights movements are still fighting

I was struck by the fact that when Cassie Jaye released her film, The Red Pill (2016), she was attacked by feminists who had never even seen it. They were making their voices heard — chanting and protesting — without ever bothering to view it.

The film is about men’s rights activists and is an attempt to reveal what men’s rights really involve. Even before she made the film, Cassie had problems as regards funding and also finding an executive producer.

She found that there were several categories for women’s films and those for minorities when applying for a grant. As regards films about men’s rights, there were simply none at all. She decided to file it under human rights and received no funding.

She set up a crowdfunding page where she clearly stated that the film would be exploratory. It would try to avoid the “rabbit hole of gender politics.”

Interestingly enough, this was one of the main points of the film. She had to control her own bias as a feminist in order to get a more balanced and humane view.

Men’s and women’s rights are basically human rights but the whole issue has become so polarized that few see it in those terms.

Mainstream feminism seems to have forgotten some major issues

Many of the fighters for women’s rights are already focusing on extending their privileges and gains already won. But what about survival? Many women have to fight hard to earn enough to feed themselves and their kids or to find a decent job or to get adequate health care.

According to the USDA 2018 report, single women represent more than double the national average when it comes to low food security. Poverty and poor housing are rarely mentioned in mainstream feminism. They seem to think this has got to be solved by someone else. Are politicians even mentioning this in their campaigns?

As regards domestic violence and femicide the shocking fact is that the abusers who have firearms are five times more likely to kill their victims.

Given the enormous gaps in gender equality as regards pay (200 years to go according to the World Economic Forum) and reproductive rights which have to be fought for with tooth and nail, it is hardly surprising that the whole issue has become so polarized.

Men’s rights activists have also been polarized

When we look at what the incels (involuntary celibates) are preaching, we tend to ignore what are the real issues affecting men today. It is a pity that these have been ignored. That is why The film The Red Pill is so important because it seeks at least to paint a more balanced and less biased view.

Jordan Peterson, the clinical psychologist at the University of Toronto who has written the bestseller Twelve Rules for Life, has fought for men’s rights.

He has often been criticized as having exploited the misogynistic backlash but it is not as simple as that. His views are basically that men need to regain their strength physically, mentally, and morally. There is a lot of self-improvement for men, Jungian psychology, and taking responsibility in his books. Peterson has claimed that he has received 35,000 letters of appreciation.

Men’s rights activists are keen to point out some of the major issues affecting them which are too often ignored. Some of the points they often raise are:-

• Why do boys do worse at school and fewer enter university?
• In the UK & Ireland, men are three/four times as likely to die from suicide than women.
• Male circumcision which is sometimes called MGM (male genital mutilation) is not justified medically.
• Little or no support for men who are victims of domestic violence.
• Male stereotyping in films and TV should be curtailed as this often causes unnecessary stress.

How can we move away from the polarization of men and women’s rights?

Why do we always have to put it in terms of men losing so that can women can gain or vice versa? We should be aiming for equality of opportunity and rewarding merit regardless of gender.

These are the questions that both women’s and men’s rights activists should be trying to resolve and answer rather than entrenching themselves in embattled positions.

Society as a whole will have to change. At every level, from work to politics, personal relationships, personal behavior, and parenting.

“We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”― Gloria Steinem

Are we willing to take the first tentative steps?