Fourth Wave Feminism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3uMgcRUYBs

Today It's Feminism From Which We Need Liberating

It is being noted that over the past five decades women have taken public institutions by storm. In terms of education, employment and pay, women are not just doing better than ever before, they are doing better than men. For more than 25 years, girls have outperformed boys at school. In the US 60% of bachelors degrees have been awarded to women. More women than men graduate school and more doctorates are awarded to women than to men. Women now comprise just over half of those employed in management, professional and related occupations. Much of this has been the fantastic and laudable achievement of feminism in its second wave women's liberation form.

But don't be deceived into believing that's the aim achieved. Job Done. Feminism has not packed its bags and gone home victorious. Instead, it has continued to re-invent itself. #MeToo is the resulting cause je jour, of 4th wave feminism, a form of liberal and progressive thinking carrying a claim of 'true' belief that the masses are morally and ethically obligated to believe in. This has become the current fad that is trending like wildfire in the mainstream media. As I am bombarded daily by radio 4 programmes such as "Women's Hour" for example, I worry that this is taking us further and further away from liberation towards an increasingly illiberal and darkly authoritarian future.

Time To Reconsider

Way back in 1986 the Supreme Court in US ruled that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. The effect on all aspects of employment legislation has been profound The result has been a layer of managers and administrators, referred to as 'femocrats', are employed by companies to oversee sexual equality and manage sexual sexual harassment complaints in the workplace. When Title IX of the Education Amendments was passed in 1972 it was designed to protect people from discrimination based on sex in education programmes receiving federal funding. It was a straightforward piece of legislation introduced when women were underrepresented in higher education. But it took on far greater and significance and profound importance when following a 1977 case led by the feminist lawyer and academic Catharine McKinnon, a federal court ruled that colleges could be liable under Title IX not only for acts of discrimination but also for failing to respond to allegations of sexual harassment. Moving forward under Obama's administration, sexual misconduct cases on campuses were tried under a preponderance of the evidence standard (similar fact evidence 'the more, the merrier') rather than the higher standard of clear and convincing argument.

Extra-Judicial Tribunals

All of this meant that within these extra-judicial tribunals, (rather like the UK 'Risk Assessment' scheme), students - mostly young men - could be found guilty of sexual assault or even of rape, and summarily expelled without due process following unsubstantiated allegations and with little opportunity to defend themselves.

These kangaroo courts have now been revoked by education secretary Betsy DeVos, but Obama-era institutions under pressure to react have expanded their zero tolerance policies. This is often at the expense of basic due process and fairness. It's the old story of a race to protect the reputation of the institution over a desire for truth and justice.

Collusion and Shaping Policy

Today 4th wave feminist outlook shapes policy, practice and law at all levels of the US government as feminists seek to transform society through the state rather than by opposition to it. When the USA catches a virus, the UK is bound to follow. In recent months this power took shape in the form of a demand for affirmative consent, or "yes means yes," to become the standard in rape cases, placing the burden upon the accused to prove they had sought and obtained consent. In other words, for the burden of proof to be removed from "innocent until proven guilty" to "presumed guilty until proven innocent" in a reversal of the principles of due process. The proposal was eventually rejected by the American Law Institute in discussions with legislators, but the fact that it was even seriously considered shows feminism's growing legal influence, and proactive determination to pursue its darkly pessimistic misandry.

The Feminist Achievement

All women have benefited from feminism's decades-long campaign against inequality. But it is clear that some women have benefited more than others. Particularly middle and upper-class women who have graduated from college. Feminists in the 1960's argued for the shared commonality of inequality among all women. There were no distinctions. All women were oppressed and disregarded. The same cannot be said today. An elite group of females with professional careers and high wages has little in common with women juggling two or three part-time, low-wage jobs just to put bread on the table for their children. Yet the feminist voices that are heard most loudly continue to be those of privileged women and whose substantial demands are not for the oppressed but for increased power to themselves and members of their class.

" Illiberal And Authoritarian "

Increasingly illiberal and authoritarian 4th wave feminism continues to impact speech and behaviour for both men and women. Their campaigns around "rape culture" and "#MeToo" seek to constrain and police females just as much as males, instructing them about how to talk and think about these issues. Referring to a Globe and Mail essay entitled, "Am I A Bad Feminist? The author of "The Handmaid's Tale", Margaret Atwood commented that when she had the effrontery to advocate for due process for men accused of sex crimes, her normally adoring feminist fans rounded on her. "In times of extremes" she wrote, "extremists win. Their ideology becomes a religion, anyone who doesn't puppet their views is seen as an apostate, a heretic, or a traitor, and moderates in the middle are annihilated."

Men and Poor Women

The fact is, in our UK courtrooms up and down the land men are publicly shamed and excoriated every weekday. They are often separated from their children and their families torn apart months and even years before their cases are brought before the court and the evidence tested. Their livelihoods and reputations are teetering on the brink of disaster. Many commit suicide. Many more are rejected from their professions and others spend their remaining years seeking psychological support in dealing with the resulting symptoms of PTSD - a burden on the state's medical services. Meanwhile, the real daily problems experienced by many ordinary women, such as working long hours for minimal pay, having little or no social life and struggling to pay childminder costs in order to work, are completely overlooked. They are not privileged. They do not have academic degrees or access to policy-making. But they form the major part of ordinary working society.

The pursuits and concerns of 4th wave feminism do not come near or touch them.