Women have the same rights as men and are free. They can make decisions about their bodies and their lives in all aspects, with the sole limit of respecting the rights of others. They can also dedicate themselves to whatever they decide, including prostitution if that is their free choice. It is not fair for them to have any privileges over men, just as it is not fair for men to have them over women.
True feminism focuses primarily on fighting against macro-sexism, maintains a moderate stance toward medium-sexism, gives little importance to micro-sexism, and remains silent regarding non-sexism.
MACRO-SEXISM
Some examples that take place both in the most underdeveloped countries and in the most civilized Western ones (or the least uncivilized, depending on how you look at it) are the following, to the extent they are carried out due to the belief that women are the property of men, that they exist to serve or please them, that they must obey them, and/or that they are inferior:
1.- Physical, verbal, or psychological aggression.
2.- Rape, especially when committed in groups. A type of women who are particularly victimized are those who dress in a sexy manner, as there are men from sexist cultures and ultra-religious backgrounds who believe they deserve it for breaking their puritanical dress code and being provocative.
3.- Honor killings, in which family members murder young girls or throw acid in their faces for not marrying those they decide or for having relationships (sexual or otherwise; sometimes just for talking) with someone the family has not authorized.
4.- Clitoral ablation and vaginal sewing.
5.- Forced marriages, even with someone much older or who repulses them, which means they remain enslaved for the rest of their lives. In fact, NGOs dedicated to fighting modern slavery consider this to be slavery.
6.- Domestic confinement, in fundamentalist Muslim environments, where the woman can almost never leave the house and, when she does, she must always be accompanied. Therefore, she cannot do what she likes with her life and must always obey her husband because if she does not, he hits her. In other words, slavery.
MEDIUM-SEXISM
This refers to discriminatory laws that grant fewer rights to women, such as the prohibition or limitation of access to education, certain jobs, inheritances, the free disposal of their money and bank accounts, the free acquisition of property, free mobility, etc. 155 out of the 173 countries in the world have them, especially Muslim countries, but also some Western countries.
Likewise, medium-sexism includes social obligations, prohibitions, or pressures to do or not do certain things simply because of being a woman, as a consequence of a specific cultural role considered correct for the female gender, distinct from the male one. Some examples include not pursuing certain studies, not working, not doing so in certain trades, or having to get married, as otherwise they would be considered poor “spinsters,” a kind of second-class women, while men could even be “eligible bachelors.”
Another type of medium-sexism is found in organizations that veto women’s access to certain jobs or positions simply because of their gender, whether through internal regulations or by de facto decisions of male leaders.
A clear example of this is found in the major religions, especially within the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, where only men can lead them and women are imposed the role of sheep who must follow their male shepherds.
In some first-world countries, the paradox continues of forcing large companies to have a minimum percentage of female directors on their Boards of Directors, despite the fact that this is an interference in private enterprise that may be contrary to meritocracy and affect the proper functioning of the company. But, on the other hand, for churches, they not only fail to set quotas, but they also say nothing about the fact that it is forbidden for there to be even a single female cardinal, bishop, or parish priest, even if the most suitable person for those positions might be a woman. Again, a very large double standard.
This is as aberrant as if a supermarket chain modified its statutes to prohibit women from any type of management or middle-management position, relegating them, simply for being female, only to positions as cashiers, shelf-stockers, and cleaning ladies who must obey their managers, who can only be men. There would be a great media, political, and social outcry, and it would probably lead to a boycott against said company! But the same thing happens with that other private institution that is the Catholic Church, and nothing happens, absolutely nothing. Hardly anyone even asks it to please reform, as the Anglican Church has done, where women can now even be bishops.
A non-consensual kiss could also be considered as such, although, depending on the circumstances, it could simply constitute low-level sexism or even non-sexism, but rather simply invasive behavior that can be carried out by both a man and a woman.
MICRO-SEXISM
Some examples are the unequal distribution of household chores (without the man compensating for that inequity in some way), believing that pink is for girls and blue is for boys, that crying is for girls, that it is the man who must give way to a woman, that he must give her his hand to help her climb a mountain because he considers her the weaker sex even though she can do it perfectly well on her own, or that he must pay the bill at a restaurant.
NON-SEXISM
There are certain behaviors that some claim to be sexist, but which in reality are not, as they do not involve inequality of rights between genders:
1.- The free practice of female prostitution. In fact, feminism is freedom for women, the same as for men, including having consensual sex, whether in exchange for money or not.
2.- Dressing in a sexy way to be attractive to men, as true feminism recognizes the inalienable right of women to do whatever they wish with their own bodies. It is part of the nature of both women and men, especially when they are young, to want to be attractive to the opposite sex, the same sex, or both. And everyone has the right to try, if they want to.
3.- Comments relating to women that do not convey the belief that women have fewer rights and freedoms than men, are inferior to them, or must remain subjected to or dependent on them.
Let us be fair and proportional, with forceful reactions to macro-sexism, moderately firm ones to medium-sexism, mild ones to micro-sexism, and none to non-sexism.
What can a good and ethical person do to fight for women’s rights? Read in LIVING WITHOUT HARMING:: Nor to women…
Thank you for sharing if you believe this will contribute to a better world, with fewer abuses and unnecessary suffering.
Xavier Paya
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