Feminism: The Hardliners Fighting Themselves

It’s hard to believe but, even with the rapid advancement of time, knowledge and understanding we are going backwards. Admittedly not all of us, not the entire civilised or uncivilised world, but a few. And it is these few who seem capable of grabbing the headlines which, as we know from the way the press works, should not be that much of a surprise. What is a surprise, though, is that despite the opening up of western society to more equality and fairness, despite the work of feminism and feminists – as much as ordinary people who would not wish to be categorised as such – many women are supporting the repressive measures, if not bringing them into legislative bodies for enactment themselves.

Perhaps courage was like beauty. A beautiful woman grows old: she sees only what has gone; others see only what remains.

Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time (2016)

Where the more enlightened can see that which is described by Barnes (above), too many are taking the stance that Mitchell (below) was right, and women have their place in the home, in the kitchen, with the children, seen but not heard and, if possible, not necessarily seen either. Except, of course, all these women fighting against the freedoms achieved by feminism, by the various women’s rights movements, are doing it to impede others. They do not imagine it will come back and hit them, their family, their way of life.

Today the American woman is, to speak plainly, too often physically unfit for her duties as woman, and is perhaps of all civilized females the least qualified to undertake those weightier tasks which tax so heavily the nervous system of man. She is not fairly up to what nature asks from her as wife and mother. […] we expose them to needless dangers when we attempt to overtax them mentally.

Silas Weir Mitchell (1829 – 1914), Wear and Tear: Or, Hints for the Overworked (1871).

Until it happens. Until, as has happened with many racists, their own family is split by the removal of their breadwinner (to resurrect an old adage which should remain in the annals of history) by authorities working on a legal basis not exactly legal, but supported by the bigots and Patriots of their nation.

Society functions far better – and is intended to function – where all the genders come together and work for the good of all as a whole. Pushing one portion of society down into a hole, restricting their rights and freedoms, damages all levels of society as much as it damages those targeted by the legislation. This, naturally, does not just apply to women, it is not just about feminism, but also to those who have accepted other genders and come to realise and accept themselves for what they are. Forcing society back into a time where certain groups had a level they were not to rise above, where the boundaries were not laid by ability, intelligence or education but by biological and gendered sex causes no benefits, only damage. It ruins lives, as well as being detrimental to society, to the arts, to science, to civilisation.

Du warst das Zarteste, das mir begegnet,
das Härteste warst Du, damit ich rang.
Du warst das Hohe, das mir gesegnet –
Und wurdest der Abgrund, der mich verschlang.

You were the most tender thing I encountered,
the hardest thing I wrestled with.
You were the exaltation that blessed me –
And became the abyss that swallowed me.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926), Abschiedsgedicht (1921).

Sadly those pushing for this return to considerably worse times do not come to realise they are fighting against their own freedoms, their own advancement, their own peace of mind and place in society until far too late. It is far easier to destroy than it is to build, and some legislation being forced through in the small time-frame before political change could be activated will take a lifetime to rollback and correct.