Feminist of the week: David Nowell

Name: David Nowell
Age: 64
Occupation: Business Engineering Consultant

How would you describe yourself and your life?
My life is very full and with many aspects of happiness and enjoyment in all areas.  I have a great mix of work, social and relaxation in essentially a carefree arrangement. I can pick and choose what I wish to do which is so comforting to have such options. This situation is assisted in being financially secure and independent as well as enjoying very good health. Having a very nice mix of friends and family makes for a complete picture. I furthermore have a number of interests and hobbies to take up when not at work in the Office or out on a construction site.

What does Feminism mean to you?
For me it means women who are focused on themselves / collectively as to their improvement in what has essentially been a male dominated world. This improvement I understand to be in the areas of respect, equal pay and conditions, equal opportunities in all aspects of work and life in general. Also a female being able to have her own thoughts and to be able to make her own decisions in life.

Do you think feminism has a place in today’s society?
Yes feminism does still have a place in society today as the fact remains that discrimination from males / society still very much exists and it will take some time to affect a complete change. With a complete recognition of women with respect, equality and rights will help ensure that the cultural change has taken place and never to return.

Which feminist stereotype annoys you the most? Why?
These days the standout stereotypes don’t seem to exist, well not with the women I bump into. All women seem pretty normal even though they could have strong independent feministic views, which are now not so much in your face.

If you could pass on one piece of advice to other feminists, what would it be?
It can be the case that due to their strong feministic attitude some women can convince themselves they can do anything that a male can do, maybe better. The facts of the matter are that this is simply not true and to that end they should relax a little and concede that males can do things better in certain instances – but so what anyway! Feminists with such strong attitudes need to relax a little and to take genuine assistance / advice from males in a proper non-judgmental or biased way.

Has your attitude towards feminism changed with time? Explain.
Yes it certainly has. In the past we were conditioned as males to act as the superior of the sexes. Thank goodness that this has, over the past decades, been slowly eroded as women have so much to offer in all aspects of life with them often being better equipped to do things than males. For this, women should be fully respected and fully rewarded for all their attributes. With women moving more into senior / management roles in industry and government has made significant inroads as women can be seen more regularly in respected leadership roles. My strong view is that I don’t think ever about past conditioning as to women’s roles as the under class.  Things have changed and my view certainly has together with a majority of the male population especially the younger generations.