Modern women don’t need feminism any more: survey
19 Oct 2012 5:32 AM IST
Only one in seven women describes herself as a ‘feminist’, while one in five said feminism was ‘not relevant’ to the modern generation, according to a new UK survey. One in three modern women view traditional radical feminism as ‘too aggressive’ towards men, the survey by a UK-based parenting website found.
Fewer than one in ten women aged 25 to 29 identified with feminism, compared with a quarter of those aged 45 to 50 and just one in seven women describes herself as a ‘feminist’ with younger women even less likely to describe themselves as such. A third view traditional radical feminism as ‘too aggressive’ towards men, while a quarter no longer view it as a positive label, the Daily Mail reported.
One in five describe it as ‘old-fashioned’ and simply ‘not relevant’ to their generation. On Thursday’s women are also more likely to see millionaire author and single mother JK Rowling as a good role model than feminist icon Germaine Greer ? who received only one in 50 votes among respondents, the paper reported.
The results prove just how much the movement has achieved - because women no longer feel oppressed, said the website Netmums.
‘Modern women feel traditional feminism is no longer working for them, as it’s aggressive, divisive and doesn’t take into account their personal circumstances,’ the website’s founder Siobhan Freegard added.
‘They simply don’t view men as ‘the enemy’. And it’s clear there is no longer a ‘battle of the sexes’ but a coming together of the sexes to make society work for everyone in it,’ Freegard said.
The survey found that more than a third of younger women cannot imagine a time when men and women were not equal - a far cry from the society which inspired the Suffragette movement, which helped obtain universal franchise for women in 1928. One in six said feminism had gone too far, ‘losing sight of the natural roles of men and women’. Instead of fighting for equality, two in five now want to ‘celebrate difference’ instead.
The majority of the 1,300 polled felt feminism should be about ensuring women have ‘real choice over their family, career and lives’, and to reinstate the value of motherhood.
However, 70 per cent of younger women feel far too much is expected of them, with unprecedented pressure to ‘be red-hot lovers, domestic goddesses, climb the career ladder and look like supermodels’.
Fewer than one in ten women aged 25 to 29 identified with feminism, compared with a quarter of those aged 45 to 50 and just one in seven women describes herself as a ‘feminist’ with younger women even less likely to describe themselves as such. A third view traditional radical feminism as ‘too aggressive’ towards men, while a quarter no longer view it as a positive label, the Daily Mail reported.
One in five describe it as ‘old-fashioned’ and simply ‘not relevant’ to their generation. On Thursday’s women are also more likely to see millionaire author and single mother JK Rowling as a good role model than feminist icon Germaine Greer ? who received only one in 50 votes among respondents, the paper reported.
The results prove just how much the movement has achieved - because women no longer feel oppressed, said the website Netmums.
‘Modern women feel traditional feminism is no longer working for them, as it’s aggressive, divisive and doesn’t take into account their personal circumstances,’ the website’s founder Siobhan Freegard added.
‘They simply don’t view men as ‘the enemy’. And it’s clear there is no longer a ‘battle of the sexes’ but a coming together of the sexes to make society work for everyone in it,’ Freegard said.
The survey found that more than a third of younger women cannot imagine a time when men and women were not equal - a far cry from the society which inspired the Suffragette movement, which helped obtain universal franchise for women in 1928. One in six said feminism had gone too far, ‘losing sight of the natural roles of men and women’. Instead of fighting for equality, two in five now want to ‘celebrate difference’ instead.
The majority of the 1,300 polled felt feminism should be about ensuring women have ‘real choice over their family, career and lives’, and to reinstate the value of motherhood.
However, 70 per cent of younger women feel far too much is expected of them, with unprecedented pressure to ‘be red-hot lovers, domestic goddesses, climb the career ladder and look like supermodels’.
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