Gender equality is still a major dividing factor in today’s society, despite progress over the last 50 years or so. Did you know that during the 1931 general election, there were just 13 Conservative women MPs? Guess how many in the 2005 election? You guessed it… 13.
Women still lag behind in terms of equality in pay for the same job roles as men, are still grossly under-represented at a government level, hideously under-represented within the cabinet itself (similarly to ethnic minorities), and occupy few senior positions within the boards of the FTSE 100.
I’ve created a little infographic to illustrate some of the issues of gender equality we face as a nation today. You might be as surprised as I was in making it, at just how bad the situation is…
Please feel free to use this infographic if you’d like to for any purpose, but please remember to link back to onenineeightfive.com if you do so.
Attitudes to gender equality have also been in a downward spiral for some time. It seems that the gains made for example in securing women’s right to vote are no longer viewed with the same value as they once were, with ‘lads mags’ never more acceptable, the absorption of the largely unmonitored and unregulated online pornography industry at an all time high, and massive sexualisation of the overwhelming majority of female role models in the media. ‘Feminism’ has become somewhat of a killjoy as a term. It’s unfashionanable, and frankly, it’s not sexy enough to mean much to today’s young men and women.
The Conservative-Liberal coalition government’s efforts to represent women in its cabinet has been meagre at best, and has certainly shocked many of my female friends into a new found realisation. I think there’s always been a knowledge of this disparity in society, but perhaps it was placated or made just a little less vocal during New Labour’s 12-13 years of power. Labour at least secured 20% or so in women MPs in ’97, with a few especially prominent members during their time including Harriet Harman (Labour’s first female party leader during the interim between Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, sort of an achievement in its own right), Jacqui Smith and Clare Short – household names. Conservative MP Theresa May (Home Secretary), in contrast, has already been the subject of massive online petitions against her appointment as Minister for Women and Equality, largely due to her stance on homosexuality and voting record against repealing Section 28… shall we say that perhaps Theresa is not the ideal role model for modern women that you might expect for someone holding the position of equalities minister in 2010?
Despite this downward trend, I’ve noticed a strong resurgence in an interest in gender equality, with some women even going so far as to openly redefine themselves as Feminist and debate this critical issue on social media sites like Twitter. Is a new, progressive wave of Feminism boiling under the surface in 21st century Britain?
Beyond Retrograde is a great blog recently started by a close friend of mine that discusses the issue of gender equality in an open and frank way, with a particular focus on current affairs from a female point of view. I think it’s a cause worth getting behind, so please give some of the articles a read if you get a moment and consider subscribing to the RSS feed too.
On Saturday 23rd October I will be attending ‘Feminism in London‘, a conference organised by the London Feminist Network, and will be featuring many of the feminist organisations and activists operating in London right now. I’m pretty excited about it, and I really hope you may consider joining me!
