Did You Read it? Did You react? But Did You Act?

Misogyny in political fringe groups is apparently well and strong, detailed by the Evening Standard here

These myths, that women instigate domestic violence, that feminism is a "nazi style" institution and that rape by someone you know is simply sex, are just some of the abominable issues that help perpetuate female submission in society.

There are a plethora of government investments in advertising and classes to help women recognise domestic violence.

Yet at no point are they investing in telling people violence is not acceptable.

Feminism as a "nazi style" phenomena is one women have been fighting since the second wave feminism of the 1960s. The term feminism has become synonymous with "shaven haired, hairy armpitted lesbian" and blogs of this thought help perpetuate the myth.

Even in University, people were reluctant to call themselves "feminists", prefering the less perjorative term "equalists" or similar.

As a result, we are now raising women who believe they should be "sexy", they should base a career around having babies, and their ideal ambition is to be an "it girl" or "wag" who shops and projects "sex" as a marketable product.

Then, of course, we wonder why people do not complain when they are raped, or consider it acceptable to be struck by a man, or think that their lives are second class.

We live in a society that should have evolved beyond patriarchy. We have had many thrusts towards acheiving equality, but the negative press and colloquial network has now expanded to the blogosphere to continue to perpetuate myths and representation of gender.

I complain if someone calls me "chick", or "sweetpea" or any other derrogative femine term. And it takes courage to stand up to the image of you they then project, of an aggressive woman with no sense of humour.

The constant drip drip drip of rightwing media streams has set gender equality back another generation, and this blog demonstrates another strand to the BNP who were pretty low in the pile anyway.

But is anyone listening? With their sexist jokes and indirect discrimination of women? Or do they read this and say "oh, that's terrible" and then sit on a jury who aquits a man of rape because his victim was drunk?

Do the public read it reviled, yet not complain when they are referred to in terms of gender typecasting ("oh, it's her time of the month" et al).

I could link to a hundred blogs that rant in similar terms, so here is my tuppence worth.