A very interesting conversation between Trisha Jha and Parnell McGuinness on feminism.
Trisha Jha, it seems, won’t be calling herself a feminist any longer:
It’s been a long time coming – no-platforming, abuse of safe spaces, trigger warnings, microaggressions, you name it. Ideas that were once useful in improving understanding of gender and feminist issues are now instead being used to shut down discussion, rather than enlighten it.
By contrast, Parnell McGuinness:
In the Western tradition I grew up, feminism didn’t just shape my life, it made my life possible. …
For all the bleating about “privilege”, the identity warriors seem blind to great Western privilege that has been conferred on them by generations of feminists. That is the privilege to live in a society in which microaggressions have largely replaced macro aggressions, to be triggered rather than silenced, to be queer, promiscuous, or pretty much anything else you can persuade someone to consent to.
Be sure to read all of Parnell’s piece – it is magnificent writing. The overarching point being that we should never forget or trivialise the feminist struggle for equality.
I find myself being in the position of agreeing with both of them. But Trisha’s point is more valuable. The fact is – in many parts of the world, but not all – feminism has realised a glorious victory. To be sure, the victory has not been as complete as some would have liked, but legal, social, and political obstacles to female advancement are largely gone, or going. The gender pay gap is largely a statistical artefact. Parnell is quite right to suggest that we should never forget where we have come from in this regard.
The point is, however, the war has been won. Now nobody is asking the feminists to go quietly into the night – enjoy the victory. This is where Trisha’s point comes in. Feminists are keeping up the fight and moving well beyond equality between the sexes to social engineering.
Anyway – read the exchange for yourself.