How many of you would call yourselves feminists?
Would I call myself a feminist?
If feminism means to advocate for equal rights between both genders, then yes, I would consider
myself a feminist.
By the definition I gave, I would be a feminist.
Yes.
I like to go out and feel safe the same way men do.
Not having to feel like I have to hold my keys between my knuckles.
Would you shout from the rooftops, "I am a feminist!"
or is there something stopping you?
There are definitely some negative stereotypes.
When people say feminist, they hear that word and think all women who just want to be better
than men.
Feminism is a political movement against sexism.
There's a backlash to new movements of feminism, unfortunately with the idea of men's rights
groups, that are not feminist groups, that see contemporary feminism as taking something
away from them, when it's not.
It's about creating a more equal world for all inclusive.
These misunderstandings about feminism have been around for a long time, pretty much from
the start of the feminist movement in the late 19th century when the campaign to allow
women to vote hit Australia.
Around the world, similar movements were led by an activist group called the Suffragettes.
At this point in history, women had a very small amount of independence and that was
all taken away from them as soon as they got married.
After they tied the knot, women weren't allowed to keep working, they weren't allowed to own
property, or easily file for divorce, or maintain custody of their children, or have any financial
independence.
In 1902, Australia became just the second nation in the world to allow women to vote
and run for parliament.
Thanks to this first wave of feminism, women could now elect women, who could create laws
for women.
Fast forward a few decades and couple of world wars, and we get to the roar of women's liberation
in the 1960s and 1970s, known as the second wave.
In the early 60s, a little thing called the contraceptive pill came on the market in Australia,
which meant women no longer had to choose between a career and having a relationship
or a family.
So, they went to work.
There was more awareness about reproductive rights in general, about violence against
women and sexual harassment in the workforce, and some of the most celebrated female writers,
that we still study today, came into the spotlight.
And now, in 2023, we can vote.
We can hold jobs even after we're married.
We can get divorced, run for parliament.
We can drink in bars, own houses, we've got the pill, the Sex Discrimination Act, we've
had a female prime minister, and her misogyny speech...
I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man.
We play footy and cricket and any other sport we want.
We've had #metoo and March4Justice.
It's all progress.
So, do we still need feminism?
Yes, I still think that feminism is still required.
There's still an idea of women being objectified nowadays so there's always that lingering
fear as a woman to walk around alone.
We definitely still need feminism.
Absolutely.
We don't live in an equal world.
We don't live in a world where women and gender diverse people are safe.
The Britney Higgins case and Grace Tame are really important for people around Australia,
not just women, not just gender diverse people around Australia, to take a look at the country
and think ‘Hold on a minute, we might not be as equal as we thought’.
Feminism is very much needed today.
Aboriginal women experience sexism and other forms of oppression more often because of
the way that race, and gender intersect.
That’s a very good point.
Before we go any further, I want to draw your attention to something.
These movements, that led us here, have been almost exclusive to white women.
Feminism worldwide hasn't always been inclusive of First Nations women, black women, or women
of colour.
So, in Australia, it has taken many waves of feminism to start to give space to First
Nations women in these discussions.
While the second wave was hitting Australia in the 60's, First Nations women were only
just allowed to vote.
When we look at feminism today, there’s a word that helps us describe this inequality
between women.
It's called intersectionality.
Intersectionality describes the way that multiple systems of oppression can impact one person
as an individual.
Being First Nations, you're much likely to experience that lack of power in a greater
sense but if you also bring gender identity, if you're a member the LGBTIQA+ a community,
if you are live with a disability, among many other things like socioeconomic status, that
is intersectionality.
We layer all of those experiences for an individual, so we just need to look at domestic violence,
for example, to show that Aboriginal women are disproportionately impacted and affected
by domestic violence in Australia.
In fact, they are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised.
It's really critical to understand where power play and intersects with racism and sexism
in those spaces.
There's clearly still a lot of work to do, for everyone.
We should all be feminists, we should be anti-racist, feminists that are inclusive and aware of
inequalities.
Men can be feminists too.
Calling people out for sexist behaviour is hard.
But we can all do it.
I think all young people need to understand feminism under the modern lens, push away
some of those messages that have been sent about the negative implications of feminism
and really start to understand that it is just a space to create equality for all.