feminist of the week: chris finnigan

Name: Chris Finnigan
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Canberra, Australia

Describe yourself in one word:
Privileged

What is your feminist philosophy?
My core philosophy is no one should be discriminated against, or defined wholly, by their gender. In my own society, this philosophy is orientated around the goal of ensuring that men and women have equal opportunity to attain any role and furthermore that, in cultural terms, women’s agency is given equal value to that of men.

Why is feminism important in today’s world?
Because the world we live in does not reflect the above philosophy. The barriers to gender equality vary in nature and intensity across different areas of the world, but they are evident in all cultures – from the archaic treatment of women as male property that characterises various traditionalist regions in the sub-continent and Middle East, to the barriers preventing women in Western countries from properly integrating into the political, economic and cultural elite in a way that reflects their presence in society.
There is not a country in the world that could not benefit from a greater commitment to feminist ideals.

Do you think that feminism has a branding issue? If so, why and how do you suggest the movement can fix it?
I think the problem actually stems from the separation of the personal from the political in the feminist movement over the past decade. The way feminism has been conducted has largely come to reflect our increasingly market-orientated society. Feminism, accordingly, has been reduced to the personal – with the questions of feminism largely centering on whether this or that cultural activity/figure/product is sexist, with the emphasis falling on the individual to make better consumer choices.

The conflation of capitalism and feminism is in fact reflected in the terms of the question, which describes the problems with feminism as a “branding issue”, and I think seeing the problem is these terms only serves to encourage us to debate relatively inconsequential things, such as whether Beyonce or Thatcher are feminists, and whether it’s feminist to pay on first dates or like certain bands etc. The problem with these debates is that the meaning of feminism gets watered down so much that it loses all impact.

I think the key to fixing these problems is to engage the movement more closely with broad political goals, such as campaigning for social support for single mothers suffering from austerity budget cuts, inquiries into the handling of sexual assault cases, or an improvement in the availability of childcare. The merits of achieving breakthroughs in these areas would have a greater positive effect for feminism than any manner of re-branding could achieve.

What is the most important feminist cause in your life? 
While there is no shortage of important feminist causes to engage with, I think one of the best ways to reduce gender discrimination is to ensure that women, in all countries, have access to an education. I think a major priority of western foreign aid budgets should be centred around ensuring that women in all recipient countries, no matter how traditionalist or homogenous, have access to a life outside of the home.

What does the feminist movement in Australia look like?
The feminist movement in Australia has a growing resonance among young people, which is reflected in the growing popularity of online feminist magazines such as Lip and also of online clicktivism groups such as Destroy the Joint. In contrast to the “new” media, the “old” media is still largely run by white males, as shown by this New Matilda study, and powerful proponents of this old media – such as Alan Jones, Kyle Sandilands, and Andrew Bolt – still have significant influence in public debate.

The prevalence of traditionalist attitudes in the old media have ensured that our unmarried female Prime Minister has been forced to constantly endure sexist invective, while the strength of the feminist movement on the internet has caused many of those journalists to receive heated return fire.

What is the most annoying feminist stereotype in your opinion? Why?
An increasingly prevalent stereotype is that of successful women being, by definition, feminists. It is a view championed by former UK Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who is a proponent of “power feminism”. By this definition, and in Louise Mensch’s eyes, women such as Sarah Palin, Margaret Thatcher and Gina Rinehart would qualify as feminists.

I think this is a vapid hollow stereotype of feminism because simply being a successful woman is not the same as being committed to reducing the amount of gender discrimination in society, which is surely the true goal of feminism. If anything, women in positions of power should have a responsibility to do more to help others.

What are the main challenges Australian women are facing today?
Just reading Lip for a week will help to give some perspective on the diversity and scale of the challenges facing Australian women. These problems are varied – the shockingly low sexual assault conviction rate, the “glass ceiling” effect preventing women from fully integrating in the societal elites, and the depiction of women in mainstream culture – but they all stem from the legacy of institutionalised discrimination in Australia that, despite great advances being made in the past forty years, still prevent us from attaining an equal society.

When did you have your feminist awakening?
My feminist awakening was caused by my love of studying history, and my gradual sombre realisation that the treatment of women in most cultures and historical eras was barbaric by modern standards. I realised that despite the huge advances that had been made by first and second wave feminism, the historical legacy of gender discrimination is so great that we are still fighting its effects today.

Why should men take up the feminist cause?
Feminism is not about whether you’re a man or a woman, but whether you believe that gender discrimination should be eradicated from society. Men have just as much interest in working towards a fairer, more equal society because ultimately we all benefit when there is a greater equality of opportunity. These days, no one seriously disputes that white people, just as people from different ethnic backgrounds, benefit from living in a less racially discriminatory society, and it should be the same with feminism.

What’s your advice to other feminists?
With an incoming right wing government in Australia likely in 2013, there will be a range of challenges for the Australian feminist movement. There will be calls from within the Liberal Party and from the right wing think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, for the [Paid] Parental Leave scheme to be abolished, and for the working rights of poorer women to be curtailed to fit the inflexible demands of large employers.

My advice to feminists is to be prepared for what will be a long period of political wilderness for progressive politics, and to try and make the most of a bad situation.

2014, for example, may herald a flood of conservative policies, but if we campaign vigorously against policies that perpetuate gender discrimination, it may help to give the feminist movement a fresh relevance and value for some who hadn’t previously thought they had needed it before.