Feminism in the 70’s and 80’s shook up men’s complacent assumptions about what was good for women. A lot of legislation came in providing protection from abuse. There is now a newer breed of feminism which is very active on social networking circuits, The movement has gone global, when a girl is raped in India people demonstrate in N America. When someone calls a woman a slut in the US, a slut walks gets invented in Toronto but then goes global so everyone have slut walks.
Institutions such as the RCMP or the US military are questioned about what are acceptable practices to women and it’s seen all over the world. Their voice gets louder and they resent about being portrayed as sexual objects which they find de-huminizing. Pushing newspapers to stop publishing topless models, attacking Disney for portraying women as princesses as sexual objects. They say society sees women through the eyes of a twenty year old male.
They remind people that because the world is now accepting equal pay, voting rights for women etc the world is by definition a feminist world. Facebook and other social media give women a vehicle to express their frustration and over come their inhibitions of speaking up
They see sexism and sexual violence coming at a much younger age. In the US, feminism has a sexual focus while in Europe it is more intellectual. Their issues are alien to men; female genital mutilation,, access to better sexual education, birth control, more equal opportunity are below the male radar screen.
When political votes are at stake laws change and then it takes time for it to sink in. Like it or not this story will continue to unfold.
