"Without Feminism There Is No Revolution" - Feminism in Chile

“Mujeres” is a beautiful word for “women”, especially because it doesn’t include the word "men". Why is Spanish important in this article? Well, because it is the language spoken in my country, Chile.

The feminist fight is something known worldwide, because women struggle in all the corners of the world. I am a feminist, born in the 90´s, living in a conservative country in South America. We’re mostly known for our wine, the accident of the 33 miners and the moai statues. But I believe Chile is a lot more than that.

Page 3 - Doris Lessing

When accosted by reporters two hours after the announcement that she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007, Doris Lessing responded with an ‘Oh Christ.’ She then went on to snap rather irritably, when asked what it meant to her, that she ‘had won every bloody prize in Europe, OK, so it was nice to get all of them. It’s a royal flush’. Later, when being handed flowers on her steps, she bemoaned that she ‘was going to have to think of nice things to say, any minute’, when really she should have been ‘left in peace’. These scenes form the opening few minutes of a recent Imagine documentary about this extraordinary novelist, give the impression of a cantankerous and frankly rude woman, and I’m ashamed to say I took rather an instant dislike to her as a person, as much as her novels are beautiful pieces of literature.

Vodka for MEN

A few days ago, I was sneaking a teeny bit of winter sun in Florida, stopping off for a couple of days in Miami. In between drag racing on Miami beach in a yellow Lamborghini, hanging out with drug barons and otherwise partying in the place where the heat is on, I found myself in a taxi after a cocktail or two en route to a night club.

Sitting in traffic, I noticed the ad on the taxi next to mine, for Ketel One vodka: 'Gentlemen, this is vodka.' Now, it may have been the lychee martini taking effect, but I found myself feeling quite hurt by this gender-specific advertising. I like my V&T and martini as much as the next person - hell, I enjoyed it neat in my heyday - and I earn good money to spend on it. What's wrong with me as a vodka-consuming consumer??

Are feminists bitches?

If you have read at least one feminist article in your life or pay the minimal attention to feminist issues you are probably aware of the role labels play in constructing gender stereotypes. One of the most criticised manifestations of that in our society is when men and women get labelled differently for doing the same thing. Watch the Philippines Pantene commercial, Labels Against Women, for example. It shows hard-working career men and women while different words flash up in the background depending on the person’s gender: “boss” for a man, “bossy” for a woman, “persuasive”-“pushy”, “dedicated”-“selfish” and so on, you get the idea. At the end of the video the message is clear: “Don’t let labels hold you back.” Now, setting aside the fact that the main purpose of this ad is to sell their products by manipulating our emotions, their message is all well and good. Yes, we do need to speak up against the different labels attached to our genders and the effect it has on our lives. However, I started to wonder whether ads like this actually did more harm than good by perpetuating these stereotypes.

Look like a girl, think like a man?

Doesn’t it seem there’s a lot of talk about gender equality at the moment? In the past month alone, there have been numerous news stories showing the extent of male power. We’ve watched over 2,000 business leaders meet at DAVOS and found that only one in seven were women. We’ve been reminded that male entitlement is by no means dead when Lord Rennard, refusing to apologise for alleged cases of sexual assault – galling in itself – was backed up by fellow Lib Dem Chris Davies who brushed aside certain types of molestation as unimportant. As if there’s an acceptable kind of sexual assault. Then, UK Parliament was shown to be quite literally a picture of male privilege and, more than this, white, male privilege. Off the back of these stories, criticism has flowed. I’ve heard journalists, colleagues and friends criticise the evident gender imbalance in our society and agree that things need to change.

Can "Women's" Magazines be Feminist?

 

Alongside shaving, high heels and crash diets, the consensus seems to be that so-called ‘women’s magazines’ represent one of the soul-sapping lower level sexist annoyances faced by the modern woman, who must apparently attempt to navigate life and career while remaining AT ALL TIMES eminently fuckable. Magazines seem to be just another eddy tugging you down into the swirling whirlpool of insecurity, self-doubt and limitations that is endemic of contemporary culture’s attitude to women. 

Page 3 - Gráinne Mhaol/Grace O’Malley

 

 

Who?

Grainne/Grace was born in 1530, the daughter of the Chieftain of the O’Malley Clan. According to legend upon being told she could not join her father on an expedition to Spain because her long hair would get caught in the ropes, a young Grace cut off her hair thus earning the nickname ‘Gráinne Mhaol’ meaning ‘bald O’Malley’.

To Eat, Or Not To Eat...

I would consider myself a confident young woman, content with my capabilities and the skin in which I live. However, as a lot of individuals do, I struggle a little with my weight. It does not help that I have one of those boyfriends who eats food like Noo-Noo from the Teletubbies, and somehow transfers those excess trans-fats over to me instead of him. I also have terrible commitment problems with exercise. It is not my friend. This morning I decided to go for a ‘run’, 20 minutes later I was back in the sofa eating a cookie watching ‘How I Met Your Mother’. I fully acknowledge that my NHS proclaimed overweightness is due to my own doing and regardless, as previously stated, I remain confident in myself.