EngineerHer

I spent … more than a few hours… on Threads over the Christmas. And, I have to say, it was illuminating. (If you fancy listening to more of my ramblings, you can check me out here)

One thing that shocked me was this attitude among certain members of the Threads community that feminism is sexist. Hence the title of this post. (I know, I really reached out of the box with that one! It’s the season for shortcuts and lazy thinking, right?)

So, I’m going to dive into it today.

What is feminism?

OK, so there are mounds of books out there saying feminism is this, that and the other. I’m going to be very clear with this: this is my interpretation of feminism.

And it’s pretty simple: one’s sex and/or gender should not affect the opportunities and challenges one faces in life.

i.e. whether you were born with a vagina or a penis, or a mixture or a lack, or you were born with one and would prefer the other, or were born with one but would prefer to face society with the outward appearance that you were born with the other, or if you would prefer for everyone to feck off and leave your genitals and sexuality alone – none of this should have an impact on your path through life.

(And if I’ve left out your specific circumstance above, I’m very sorry. It wasn’t on purpose)

Me being a woman shouldn’t hinder my professional career. In the same way that my brother being a man shouldn’t hinder his. It shouldn’t affect our access to credit, banking, education, health care, etc, etc, etc.

That’s my take on feminism.

But what about [insert community here]

Gonna be honest, I paraphrase or use Flavia Dzodan’s words below fairly often:

MY FEMINISM WILL BE INTERSECTIONAL OR IT WILL BE BULLSHIT!

Feminism to me must be intersectional. It’s not just gender. Because most of us don’t just have gender working against us. I’ve found different reports of Martin Luther King Jr and Maya Angelou using the below quote, but the earliest mention of it I can find is a 1883 essay, “An Epistle to the Hebrews”, by Emma Lazarus.

Until we are all free, we are none of us free

It’s not just words. As long as we are helping to keep others down, further barriers and obstacles will appear on our own path.

Now, the question at the start of this post indicates gender is the big one. But there are so many more:

• Racism
• Classism
• Ableism
• Homophobia
• Transphobia
• Ageism
• Access to education
• Poverty
• Food scarcity
• Homelessness
• Access to healthcare
• Climate and environmental justice
• Media representation
• Religious freedom
• Colonisation

And let’s face it – that’s not the whole list. I’m sure there are plenty of people reading this thinking, “OH MY GOD, Orlagh, how could you foget X”

Chances are, it’s not that I’ve completely forgotten it, I just can’t think of it as I’m typing.

All of these things impact feminism. And anyone who says otherwise isn’t a feminism. (Yup, looking at you, TERFs. Or FARTs – Feminism-Appropriating Radical Transphobe).

Is feminism sexist, then?

I don’t believe so. Especially not intersectional feminism. Any time I write about this, people start giving out about more women than men achieving higher degrees in Ireland. And yes, according to the CSO, in the last year for which stats are available (2021), 64% of graduates from 3rd level education were female.

My next question is why?

• Are men being put off college for some reason?
• Are more men going into trades or apprenticeships rather than degrees?
• Are the college courses being offered more attractive to women than to men?
• Do women see more value in education?

There are all sorts of questions we need to ask about these. But I have written before about women feeling the need for more training, more education, more everything before tackling the next step in their career. This applies to both formal and informal education.

And yes – sexism hurts men as well. There is a breed of toxic masculinity that rejects safety reform in the workplace – or at least, there was, when I started my career. Mostly these days, people are aligned that going home at the end of the day in one piece, mentally and physically, is a good thing. But I remember in my very early career, men complaining about “all this H&S nonsense! [well, they didn’t use the word nonsense to be fair]. After all “real men” could look after themselves. “Real men” dealt with injuries and looked after their families. The fact that few enough of those “real men” survived til retirement in one piece, or if they did, started having serious health issues as soon as they did retire didn’t seem to matter.

Toxic masculinity hurts men as well as women. And, yeah, feminism is the answer.

Where do we go then?

Well, maybe, try and contain the knee jerk reaction when someone mentions feminism. It’s not a dirty word. The work isn’t finished.

There is so much more to be done.

Look the very fact I’m writing a blog about women in engineering and the issues that face us, mean the work isn’t finished at all.

And if there is something bothering you or you feel the need to talk about things, reach out. info@engineerher.org is the best email to get me on or drop me a message on LinkedIn. Or, y’know – pop over to Threads and see what random nonsense I’m spouting today!