Re: Feminism gone too far in Canada, Off the Notepad, March 4, 2011.
This column provides a provocative title, but falls flat in delivering anything worthy of discussion or debate. In fact, it appears poorly organized, poorly researched and contradictory.
To clarify: feminism refers to movements aimed at establishing and defending equal political, economic and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Not more, but equal.
Simply put, a feminist is a person (woman or man) who believes in equal rights.
Surely this isn’t extreme “militant” activism. The author admits that women are paid less for equal work and occupy only a small proportion of top CEO jobs and political seats. She could have added that most single parents are women (not always by choice), and that they are a significant percentage of those who live under the poverty line.
She could have mentioned that most unpaid work (child care, housework, volunteering) is done by women and continues to be undervalued and unacknowledged. And recently there have been even more government funding cuts to the programs that help women to become equal citizens, such as safe houses, sexual assault centers, women’s studies at universities and social housing.
I think it’s pretty clear that equal rights have yet to be achieved. In light of the above, the author then wonders “is feminism still necessary?” Are you serious? Not one point in the column, particularly those made about family law and spousal support, was significant or researched enough to support the ridiculous headline.
Has feminism gone too far in Canada? Clearly it hasn’t gone far enough.
Lara Reynolds
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