Feminist Britain

I recently had a conversation with an Iranian friend of mine. From his perspective, women in Britain were entirely liberated from any sort of oppression. Granted, in comparison to a country where it's not uncommon for an unmarried man and woman to be stopped by police for merely driving in a car together, Britain may seem a utopia, where women's struggle for equality ended successfully long ago. "Feminism here is done" he said.

I wanted to mention so many things, but their mention felt largely superficial when talking to a man whose country demands the wearing of headscarves for women under Sharia law, when men are free to wear whatever they choose. Things certainly aren't as oppressive in Britain, but that's not to say that feminism here has persevered and slayed male chauvinism. Though if it had, and today's media is the result, one would assume the grisly deed was done with a pretty pink rose-scented sword. With flowers on.

There are countless products advertised to us that reinforce gender roles that are entirely archaic. If feminism had its day in Britain, would we still see these?

 Of course, because women's ears are delicate precious little things that require pink, silky soft earplugs to protect them from the battle cries and axe-sharpening of their Viking of a man. The only things remotely sufficient for men's ears, on the other hand, are...

 

Screws! With skulls on! Because if you're a man and something's too loud for you you're a wimp. Unless you're blocking out all that nail-filing and blow-drying with metal screws and the skulls of your enemies.

This gendering of products is nothing new, and largely goes unnoticed. But it has the effect of conditioning an entire population to believe that women fit in box A and men into box B and never the twain shall meet. Unless it's for sex. After which it's back to your respective boxes for Heat magazine and some unnecessary sanding of things.