In the long history of humanity, feminism is a recent movement.
Not so the structural inequality between men and women, present in all civilizations, in all cultures and in all times.
Even in the current one.
The only way to promote equality is to educate about feminism
: learn about the history of women's struggle against discrimination based on sex;
understand how the construction of society with gender (patriarchy) intensifies inequality,
also deconstruct the criticism of feminism that seeks to disqualify or criminalize it,
well aware that this does not promote equality in every area from work to private life.
What is and what is not feminism?
A definition of feminism is the one we find on the website of the National Institute of Mexican Women: "Political, social, academic, economic and cultural movement that seeks to create awareness and conditions to transform social relations, achieve equality between people and eliminate any form of discrimination or violence against women".
Nigerian writer and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie believes that
“we should all be feminists
”.
But in some contexts being a feminist is not popular.
Being a feminist is a threat to the status quo
.
For those in a position of privilege, feminism may bother them.
This is why feminism is necessary.
A goal achieved?
Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, women and men have been equal in rights, even if not in their realization.
Therefore,
the United Nations continues to include the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls among the goals to be achieved (Sustainable Development Goal number 5 of the 2030 Agenda)
.
This dual objective is considered the basis for building a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
In the collective patriarchal imagination, feminism and, in general, the independent activity of women, has been full of suspicion, if not repression, as happened in the past with witch hunts.
The sexual division of roles, which we try to explain for ancestral biological reasons, continues to weigh on current statistics on issues such as the unequal distribution of care, conciliation, salaries, glass ceilings or sexual assaults.
For this reason, a book from the middle of the last century like
The Second Sex
by Simone de Beauvoir continues to be a reference to defend the need for a change towards a society in which women are not in a subordinate position.
The path towards equality must be developed in a double sense: from the top down, through equality policies;
and from bottom to top, in the activities of daily life.
In both, education for equality, that is, education for feminism, is necessary.
Feminism and equality
Feminism is not the opposite of machismo.
It does not aim at the supremacy of women over men.
Seek equality between men and women.
For this reason - reflects the political observer Laura Hood on The Conversation - we can say that "
everything that is not educating for equality is educating for machismo and sexism
".
The sexual division of roles marks, as well as limits, boys and girls in their way of being and being in the world.
When we help new generations of boys and girls to become aware of gender stereotypes and constraints, we are taking the first step towards freeing them.
How to get it?
We learn from the models close to us.
The socialization of boys and girls is different and so is the perception that boys and girls have of the characteristics of the opposite sex.
There are also different messages that each person receives through textbooks, the media and other socialization agents.
This is why
educating for equality represents a challenge for families, schools and society as a whole
.
A challenge we can address with coeducation and an updated approach to masculinity, which seeks fairer and more egalitarian relationships between men and women through their greater involvement in the provision of reproductive care and tasks, which is critical of the lack of respect and violence against women, and to actively participate in the defense of women's rights.
It is necessary to strengthen initial and continuous training for the equality of teachers and all educational agents, that is, of the entire society.
Men also suffer from patriarchy
In the journey towards equality and in the fight against the various forms of violence that women suffer, it is necessary to point out patriarchy, of which men and women are victims, as responsible.
Along with power and privilege based on sex, patriarchy imposes models of hegemonic or toxic masculinity on men: the repression of emotions or the exercise of violence against women.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA