I’ve just caught up with a great little tumblr site called Is This Feminist? The subtitle, ‘because being a marginally acceptable feminist is a full time job’ says it all, really. There’s no one more critical of women than a woman who’s doing it (whatever the ‘it’ is) better.
As Is this …? proves in a series of very funny posts, almost anything can be deeply, deeply unfeminist, from taking a selfie to wearing a Halloween costume. And, of course, while we all ponder what is feminist enough and what isn’t at all feminist, the world goes on turning, with equal rights, equal wages and, just generally, equality, not really happening much at all.
I’m not sure why women feel this need to attack each other. You see it in hens – one will get picked on, for no apparent reason, even when there’s no cockerel around to compete for. Do we really see each other as threats? Do we basically not like our own sex? It’s very peculiar. I’m not saying I’m immune from the competition to raise the best children/cupcakes/or whatever else. Just that I don’t like it.
One book which I’ve recommended to loads of people, and which seems to try to get us all on the same team, is Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman. Child One hated it, but the rest of us loved it. We even all stood on chairs in the kitchen, shouting ‘I am a feminist’, including TL, who rather spoiled it by saying ‘what’s for supper?’ straight after.
There’s a long way to go, girls. Let’s try not to trip each other over. No one wants to go face-first into the cupcakes.
