Redefining feminism

Every goal achieved opens a new vista of possibilities for women.

by Jody Dallaire

The Regroupement Féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick (RFNB – which is a New Brunswick based francophone feminist organization) recently launched a series of workshops called Feministe101, in Moncton (last week), Shippagan next week,  and Edmundston in mid-October.

The Moncton event was well attended. Fifty young women came out to discuss how they can “clarify, demystify and reclaim the word feminism.”

This columnist’s research found that  the word feminist “les féministes” first appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872 and has been used to describe the women’s movement since 1882.

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to feminism. The people involved in the women’s movement, like in any other movement, debate various ideas and have disagreements.

In reality, there are several different feminist philosophies, and people do not necessarily agree on the issues and the best ways forward. It is more accurate to talk about several types of feminisms, rather than merely one type. Women speak from their communities as well as speaking to the great community of women.

Likewise, women are active in advancing their rights on many fronts; for example: in politics and public policy, in legislative circles, as workers, socially, economically and culturally.  What is consistent throughout the women’s movement, though, is the taking stock of the fact that women’s lived experience is different from that of men’s.

As with all ideas, feminism has evolved over time, expanding horizons as women achieved goals — usually incrementally, case by case and law by law.  

In the workforce, thanks to activism by generations of women, there are no longer two minimum wages – one for women and one for men. Women no longer lose their jobs when they get married, or when they get pregnant. Some women qualify for maternity and parental leave benefits when they become new mothers. Most, although not all, female employees have the same salary as male employees in their organizations for the same work. These are important victories.

Yet other goals still require more struggle.  Work done mainly by women remains less valued than men’s work, in certain fields. When a job is judged by skill, effort, and responsibility, many traditionally female jobs are paid less than traditionally men’s jobs – even when both jobs have equal value by objective measures.  For example, (mostly male) technicians usually have higher starting salaries than (mostly female) office managers.

When Justice Rosalie Abella reported on the concept of “equal pay for work of equal value that is different but of equal value,” she re-named the idea “pay equity”, a made-in-Canada definition of equality in the workforce. Unfortunately, Canada has yet to achieve pay equity. That’s a feminist goal.

Another feminist goal is universally affordable and accessible child care services, to support parents in the workforce. Several countries have already implemented this type of program. We just need to get it done now in Canada.

Sometimes I wonder if feminism is a concept whose time has come. Not only are women in the workforce to stay, but more and more are making inroads into the corridors of power in the business and political world.

Then I wake up and smell the coffee.

We now live in an era when most post-secondary graduates are women. Even so the wage gap persists. According to 2012 Equality Profile released by the Government of New Brunswick, women earn 88.3 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Regarding women’s participation in government, Canada ranks 45th of the 190 countries evaluated. Fewer than 15 percent of our elected MLA’s are female and about 25 percent of our MPs are female. Things are not better in Corporate Canada either. Only 14.5 percent of the members of the board of directors of Canada’s 500 largest companies are female.

As you can see, there is still room for a significant improvement on these fronts.     

Feministe 101 workshops invite us to reclaim and redefine the word “feminism”.  So let me ask you a question

Do you believe that women and men are entitled to fully participate in society?

If you answered "yes",  then congratulations! You are a feminist.
 

© Copyright 2012 Jody Dallaire, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca