LINDSAY SAWERS
Gender equality is so much more than allowing men and women the same opportunities. There is a stereotype around the world, whether we like it or not, demonstrating what it is to be masculine and what it is to be feminine. It has been around forever and will take just as long for it to fade. Without the entire population agreeing to stop judging each other this problem will not go away. There must be no more competition or stereotypes in order to have total gender equality. Unless people feel completely safe in being exactly who they are then we are going to continue living as though we are scared to be judged; judged by our gender, our views, our religious beliefs, our sexual preferences, our skin colour, our achievements, our failures. Until we agree to be bold and live outside our given stereotypes, we will not have gender equality. The words ‘manly’ and ‘girly’ are used as adjectives. If a man is called girly, it is an insult. If a woman is called manly, it is an insult. Why? Who decided this? Who claimed that it is not okay for a man to wear pink or for a woman not to shave her legs? If a woman is raped or abused it is seen as an offense, the police are involved and she automatically becomes a victim. If a man is raped or abused, he becomes the punch line to a tasteless joke or a pussy for allowing someone to hurt him.
If a man is high up in the work place he is successful and smart; a woman who is high up is bossy, feisty and intimidating. The concept of ruining society and fighting with the system seems to scare most people. The idea that patriarchy is no longer essential and that women too, can be the breadwinners in the family, uproots societies history. It is wrong for people to see two options, a man or a woman. There is a spectrum reaching from one to the other, every woman has a ‘manly’ quality to her and every man has a ‘girly’ side to him. It is not okay that men who cry in public, who express their feelings or ask for medical help are seen as pathetic. Neither is it okay that women are called sluts and whores for doing things that men would gain respect from. Feminism is about equality and the same rights for all. Feminism has recently become a dirty word, an aggressive statement. Feminism is connected to human rights, gender equality, racial equality, how is it possible for people to put their foot down and claim that the do not agree with this? Feminism is not man hating, it is allowing people to understand that until both genders are equal, neither one will be free.
twenty-three | 23 WOMAN FASHION POWER- THE DESIGN MUSEUM
nineteen | 19 SHORT SKIRTS, NO TITTIES
fifteen | 15 DO YOU FEEL THAT BOTH GENDERS HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY?
thirteen | 13 IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN FEMINISTS AND VEGETARIANS?
seven | 7 WIDENING WAGE GAP
five | 5 WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD FEMINISM?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DO YOU THINK MEN WOULD BE EMASCULATED FOR WOMEN TO BE ALLOWED THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES?
forty-eight | 48 IN FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES DO YOU THINK WE HAVE AN EQUALITY PROBLEM?
forty-six| 46 FROZEN EGGS? HAVE APPLE AND MICROSOFT CRACKED IT?
forty-four |44 IF WOMEN GAIN THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS MEN, WHERE WOULD “THE MAN’S PLACE” BE?
twenty-nine | 29 WhOdaMAN
twenty-seven | 27 HE FOR SHE
twenty-five | 25
WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD
FEMINISM? Answers throughout publication; randomly selected answers from anonymous participants.
from given questionnaire.
“When I first hear the word feminism, I think of equal rights. However it comes with an after taste of the people who I believe have turned it into a dirty word. The people who use it to unfairly accuse, gain advantage of, or generally be a pain in the arse.”
“Feminism is the idea that women are disadvantaged in society and wanting to establish equality with men.”
“Feminism = equal opportunities (social, economic, political) for everyone regardless of gender.”
“Feminism to me is equality between genders; regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman you should be given equal rights. This does not mean to say you should be treated exactly the same, as biologically there are chemical differences which need to be addressed, however your gender should not determine your worth or opportunity.”
“Girl’s fighting for rights.”
“Suffragettes, when she ran in front of the kings horse.”
“I think of people burning their bras.”
“Unfortunately for actual feminists, a lot of what I see is sassy/whiny teenagers behind keyboards (thanks twitter). It really takes the light away from what some women out there at fighting for, because it also brings the internet trolls out. Not a day goes by I don't see a joke about either sex on social networking.”
“Feminism to me represents total gender equality, whether it be in the workplace, socially, culturally or politically.”
“Equality.”
When I hear the word feminism, I feel that it has become a dirty word. It has become associated with being militant in some way and it can be dangerous in a work context to raise it.
“I think of over opinionated feisty women and equality.”
“Ultimately it has the purpose of power to women, but I actually thinks it robs women of power and gives them a stereotype.”
six | 6
“When I hear the word feminism I firstly think of strong women, just because I’ve grown up around a lot of strong women and I have a huge amount of respect for them. But then I think there is a very stupid stigma around the word feminism being misunderstood for ‘man hating’. Yes, some feminists do take it to the extremes, however it is pointing out the gaps in gender inequality and the way women are mistreated in society.”
Widening Wage Gap
eight | 8
After questioning approximately 40 people on their views on feminism and gender equality, unsurprisingly, the question “Do you feel the UK has a equality problem?” divides the genders in two. Those who believe there is no disparate between genders believe that we are no longer an old fashioned country, the main issue for gender equality used to be a divide in salaries between men and women, something that had been addressed and fixed years ago. Legally this would appear to be true. It is 40 years since the Equal Pay Act was passed. With more women attending university and more men opting to be stay at home dads, job opportunities for women would seem to have risen. Subsequently, the issue of equal pay for both genders seems to have been swept under the carpet. However, in a recent survey ranking countries on equal salary for both genders, the UK has fallen from 18th position to 26th. The typical UK woman earns 80p for every £1 earned by an equivalently employed UK man. Women in the UK not only have lower pensions but, female managers are paid, on average, a quarter less than male managers. Women have to work till the age of 80 to earn as much overall as a male who retires at 60. 20 years extra in the workplace, and why? Because of their ability to give birth to a child? Should women be penalized for their child birthing abilities; after all, surely it should be seen as a great gift, to be able to be a mother as well as being able to be successful at work? The salary gap is at it’s largest when a female employee reaches the age of 30. It is not until the age of 50 that this gap begins to close, but only marginally. That’s 20 years in which women are paid a great deal less then men. And ‘coincidentally’ these years are a woman’s most obvious childbearing years. A maternal wall, described by an ‘ambitious and less family orientated’ woman as “the motherhood penalty”. The 4th November 14, a startling 3 days earlier than the comparable date in 2013, is this years equal payday. In a nutshell, this means that today, 57 days before the end of the year, is the day that, compared to a man in a similar position, women effectively work unpaid until the end of the year. >>
>> Despite it being illegal to pay a man more than a woman for the same job, it still continues to happen. The ‘maternal wall’ not only means that women will be paid less, but jobs are harder to find, especially to a woman with a family. Solutions to this problem are scarce but do exist. An increase in part time job opportunities, more flexible hours, jobs that allow working from home. There is also the issue of maternity pay. A benefit that encourages mothers to take paid time off work to be at home with their newborn children. But what of the opportunity for fathers to do the same? Most companies are looking at extending men’s paternity leave. On average most fathers receive 1-2 weeks paternity pay, whilst mothers receive 26 weeks maternity pay. The current idea that men could gain a maximum 26 weeks paternity leave if his wife returns to work opens up a lot more freedom in the family home, allowing the family the opportunity to decide who would be best suited to remain at home with the baby, as opposed to automatically assuming that the mother will be taking a great amount of time off work. The problem of gender equality haunts the work place more than most other issues. With employers questioning, in silence, the value of investing in the training of a recently married women in her twenties, assuming that it is very likely she will be claiming maternity pay or leaving them completely in a few years time to be with her children. If it comes down to two candidates for a job, both with equivalent degrees, CV’s and past experience, both at the same age and with the same talents, one man and one women, the
woman will be viewed as less reliable, less likely to remain in the role long term and more likely to be a flight risk. Equality in the work place should not be viewed as unrealistic goal. The pay gap between men and women carrying out equal roles needs to be addressed and a working woman’s maternal instinct to be a good mother to her children should not put her second best to a working man. But in the UK there is a huge gap to be closed to move up from 26th position in the equal salaries for men and women poll and begin to put an end to this gender imbalance.
Lindsay Sawers
ten | 10
THE CORPSE FLOWER
Amorphophallus Titanum- The Penis flower.. Blooms for a few seconds once every 2 years. The ‘Masculine’ flower.
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Feminist: someone who supports feminism; the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. Vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes-other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons. Can we really claim that there is a connection between the two? That if you’re one, you’re more than likely going to be the other as well? A feminist vegetarian or a vegetarian feminist? Without wanting to fall directly into the ‘man hating’ support group that being a feminist has become, I suppose I have to admit that I support gender equality; I am a feminist. At the age of 9, whilst going through my save the elephants, influenced by a Blue Peter charity, of course, stage, I put my foot down and stopped eating meat. This is who I am. And until recently I never presumed that the two beliefs/opinions might be connected. I have been deemed opinionated, strong minded, stubborn, argumentative; all of those words that you can never quite tell if they are being thrown at you as an insult. I suppose I am proud to believe what I believe and to argue for what I feel is right or wrong. It is ridiculously difficult to pinpoint what makes a person who they are, and why. Upbringing, parents, education, religion, gender, age, social class, wealth,
location, events in their life? There are far too many options to stereotype what makes a person opinionated or otherwise. But is it exactly that, everyone being split into two categories, opinionated or otherwise? Does this mean that the people who keep their opinions to themselves don’t have opinions? Or that the people who stand up for what they believe in have their own opinion loud on absolutely everything? On researching whether or not this was a coloration that had been spoken about before, I stumbled on a site that really is titled “The Vegan Feminism Society”. On top of this I found a public conversation on a dating site, plainly stating that a good few women would not consider dating a man unless he also agreed with gender equality as well as refusing meat. After speaking to 2 men, one married with children, one still in education, about what they felt about the coloration, they both came to the same conclusion; there are two types of women in the world. Women who argue and women who don’t. And the women, who argue, are apparently the terrifying, intimidating ones. I suppose that means that we, the vegetarian, feminists of the world, really are a man’s nightmare. In conclusion, I believe that: the coloration only stands by the fact that if you have one strong opinion, you’re bound to have another.
Lindsay Sawers
fourteen | 14
“On the surface yes, look how many women out there are now the sole bread-winners in their family. However, a friend of mine works for someone who doesn't employ women because he won’t pay for maternity leave. I know a girl who was sexually harassed at her job and was sacked for being 15 minutes late, it was pretty obvious it was purely because she didn’t give him what he wanted. So how much of this is going on out there? Probably a lot. Stats can say how many women are in executive positions etc, but those 2 examples I gave are disgusting. I don't think there's inequality within the system anymore, just individuals who abuse their position of power. Unfortunately there's a lot that do it, and until we have no one that gets away with it, then there is inequality.”
? Y D T O I N Y U O T
“We are all humans, we should be allowed the same opportunities in life regardless of our gender or our class and how it may make the other sex feel.”
T L E E F U
“No, because I think it is more difficult for women to get higher up in companies than it is men. You don’t see many women high up in companies. Women that are bosses, have to prove themselves and come across as pushy and intimidating.”
“Not yet, but it’s definitely changing. You only have to look at male dominated industries (which seems to be most of them) to be suspicious. However in the music industry, for example, there are a lot more female figures emerging in high profile roles, which suggests times are changing.”
“No, for example the fact that men get paid more than woman for the same job. The fact that the number of males in senior jobs is significantly higher than the number of women. The fact that there has never been a US female president for example.”
OP P O R
“Anyone can do what they want, whether or not they are capable of doing it is another question.”
“No. Although the pay gap has decreased over the last few years, on average men are paid 4% more annually than women, for the same job requiring the same skills. Sexual harassment is present at alarming levels, particularly in the workplace. It is much more common for women, although it can also affect men. Paternity leave is often turned down by many new fathers because they believe there is a social stigma attached to part-time working dads. ‘Lad culture’ at universities encourages misogynistic ‘banter’ and can lead to an increase in sexual violence. These are just a few examples, and unfortunately gender inequality runs deep through our culture.”
THAT B O
GENDERS H A V TH
“No I don’t, but as a female this doesn’t bother me, if I was more career driven I think it would bother me more, I think that men and women have different brains and are talented in different ways, I feel as women we have different roles in the world but there is nothing stopping a man being a good father or women being good at sport.”
“No I don’t feel they do even now, mainly in the working environment and wages, in other cultures obviously not, basic human rights are taken away from women depending on the religion the country is based on, Islamic for example, women have no power.”
“No, I don’t feel genders have equal opportunities. Women are paid less than men for the same job even though equal opportunities in the job place were brought in so everyone had an equal chance of employment. Gender is definitely looked at as two opposing ideals in today’s society.”
“Absolutely NOT. Society makes it very difficult for women to break through to the most senior roles. Society also makes it hard for men to choose the family type of role although increasingly numbers of women are the breadwinners. Women continue to have to fight for equal participation and are subjected to much more scrutiny than men doing the same role. Women do most of the work in society yet only own a very small percentage of the means of production. We are broadly fed a world of what men think we should have, say and do.”
QUA EE
nineteen | 19
WRITTEN BY KATHERINE THOMSON
SHORT SKIRT, NO TITTIES Earlier this year it emerged that the English right-wing party UKIP had reportedly accepted a donation from businessman Demetri Marchessini. In conversation with ITV he was seen telling the interviewer that ‘women should not be allowed to wear trousers’, and this was later misconstrued on social network as a policy that UKIP would enforce if they were to come into power. I saw countless status’ on my newsfeed from outraged friends, unaware that they were not only wrongly informed, but that their fury at his comments could be seen as hypocritical and altogether quite sexist. Would the same people be quite so angry if a law was to be instated banning men from donning a skirt? Hopefully there will never be any laws in this country to stop women wearing trousers, and similarly there are none to prohibit men from wearing skirts. But what there is, is a whole lot of ridicule when a man decides to pull on a gown outside the bounds of drag acts or Scotland. As a woman, I will never feel the thrill of pulling on a knee length Givenchy kilt and walking down the street, free from the shackles of crotch crushing skinny jeans (I can do that whenever I want and it doesn’t feel anymore liberating than it has for the last 21 years) but I can imagine the mocking wolf whistles and cat calls would quickly crush my spirit.
Marc Jacobs has been representing the male skirt wearing community for years, and he never fails to look like a complete hunk. In fact, skirts have been worn by men for centuries and continue to be worn in different cultures all over the world. Only in a few countries is it considered too feminine and therefore a no go for most men. France is no longer one of them though, it would seem. Schools in the western city of Nantes recently gave their male pupils the option to wear a skirt to school, with the desire to combat gender inequality. The schools welcomed their boys clad in minis, midis and maxis borrowed from their mums and sisters with open arms. And why not? Introducing boys to radical dressing at a young age can only be a good thing in terms of making them more considerate citizens of the future. A close friend of mine was recently given the aforementioned Givenchy kilt as a birthday present, and it looks fantastic. I’m not even going to use words like fabulous or chic because those words still have an air of femininity attached that would deter most red blooded men from venturing anywhere near the thing. There is a revolution on the horizon, and personally I would much rather look at a man in a skirt than Joey Essex in booty shorts..
twenty-two | 22
twenty-three | 23
London’s Design Museum has recently opened their new and much anticipated exhibition Women Fashion Power. The exhibition is home to outfits worn by some of the most powerful and memorable women of all time. The viewer walks through a lavish wardrobe of women’s fashion through the ages, including outfits belonging to some of the most influential and iconic dressers in history, from Queen Victoria to Princess Diana, Emmeline Pankhurst to Hillary Clinton. The exhibition focuses on how powerful women use their choice of clothing to define their positions and personalities. We are taken on a journey demonstrating how the woman’s role has changed and grown over the last 500 years and the impact her choice of clothes can have as a means of self-expression.
Side by side we view a gallery of corsets contrasted with the suffragettes and their choice of clothing; we view women’s role in society and her choice in clothing before and then after World War Two.
of Arc and female activist Emmeline Pankhurst were also included. The exhibition was opened by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris who was also featured in it as an iconic woman of power.
The exhibit manages to convey a message that most fashion exhibitions lack; it makes a point beyond the fashion content. It hails fashion as tool for women to define how they choose to be perceived. None of the clothes are judged; they are seen as empowerment accessories, used by women to build a personality and reputation. More important that the designs in creating this message were the choice of women selected to participate. Not only were there the expected princesses and models, but female CEO’s, historical figures such as Joan
This exhibition reverses the idea that powerful women are disinterested in fashion trends, with clothing taking a back seat behind their vocation or career. We hear women in positions of power talking about how, instead of viewing fashion as an outfit choice, they wear what they wear to assert authority, to feel comfortable expressing themselves in the workplace through the visual protection of what they put on in the morning. ‘Women Fashion Power’ portrays their fashion choice as armour. Lindsay Sawers
Do you feel that men would be emasculated in order for women to have the same opportunities?
“A tough one, but no. However I think it is far too easy for men in positions of power to deprive women of certain opportunities. Let's face it, would women actually want a world where men were truly emasculated? I don't think so. The best way to combat this is to educate people about it (in school/college etc) and to also find a way of policing the kind of inequalities I mentioned earlier. It needs to be easier for these things to be reported and stopped, to the point where no one would do it anymore.” “I think they could feel emasculated but shouldn’t. Our depiction of what masculinity is needs to be addressed in that situation, masculinity itself is also stereotyped.”
“They probably would feel emasculated but what about women feeling de feminised.” “No I don’t.”
“The deputy head at my work, her husband is a stay at home dad whilst she works at a highly paid job, I don’t feel that he is any less masculine for this, but other people might question it. I don’t feel that it is natural and I would not like for my husband to have to do this.”
“No. You can’t fight fire with fire, although the media seems to be doing so. More TV shows championing gay males, adverts making male grooming the masculine trend and having said no, this is probably the main factor behind the equal opportunities gap closing. I think that men should take a less animalistic attitude towards women. Which is easier said than done.”
“Yes, I think the majority of men would feel emasculated because it is a man’s responsibility to provide for his family and he would feel like a crap husband.”
“Probably yes, they would feel weak and unmanly.”
“No, because they are certain things that a man would do differently to a women, our mental agilities are different, men think left sided, women think right sided, we are also build differently, I haven’t seen very many female bouncers. Female nurses have a different way of caring for people than male nurses do, it’s not being sexist, it’s being normal.”
twenty-six | 26
HE FOR SHE
It has been mere weeks since UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson’s ‘He For She’ speech, declaring her view of feminism and gender equality, amassing 7 million views on YouTube and Facebook publicity and newspaper articles galore. It is questionable whether the views are hoarding in from people itching to see Hermione Granger without a Hogwarts cloak and wand to hand, or if it really is Feminisms time to shine, the answer; irrelevant. The point; Gender Equality has reached the ears of the public once again. Whether or not it took a famous movie star to make this happen is insignificant. ‘He For She’ is described as a solidary movement for gender equality, bringing together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity for the benefit of all. ‘He For She’ is trying to break down the barrier that describes the worst Feminism as nothing more than man hating. In their attempts to do this, they have aimed their campaign heavily at men, asking for males to step up and support the female cause. The word feminism is being replaced with gender equality. ‘He For She’ is asking for donations to help eliminate gender inequality globally. The donations received will go to refugee camps in
Africa, helping women to secure employment and providing loans to help them build a better future. This type of donation puts to shame those first world country gender equality problems that seem to be the talk of the town. Knowing that it is verging on impossible for women in other countries to find work, makes the fact that women in the UK and US earn a couple of pennies less than men seem trivial. ‘He For She’ is not a Suffragettes style attack that is fighting for women alone. During her speech, Emma Watson assured the public that gender equality did not mean just fighting for women’s rights, but noticing those issues where men are not granted the same respect as women, where a father’s role is valued less in the home than mothers, through no fault of their own. Watson also states that suicide is the biggest male killer for men between the ages of 20- 49 years old. Men overlook health issues fearing that a cry for help would appear ‘less manly’. ‘He For She’ is viewed as a controversial, feisty campaign. It is hard to understand why. It has brought back the idea of gender equality back to the public eye for the greater good of both men and women across the globe.
Lindsay Sawers
twenty-eight | 28
“
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong...
It is time that we all perseve gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.
�
“I want to create a collection free of the boundaries of gender and combine man and woman to create a visual scale and a neutral ground.�
W h O da M A N “The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats” said Alfred C Kinsey in the 1940s when
introducing his sexual orientation scale. The results of his research show that sexuality cannot be put neatly in a box. The Kinsey Spectrum relates to sexual orientation, but does not include the gender identity and biological sex of a person. However his work shows that for any individual there are shades of heterosexuality and or homosexuality at any given time. There are many gradations that actually exist, as in all aspects of life Kinsey has shown us there are a constantly changing continuum. So the Kinsey spectrum breaks up the rules of straight or gay and creates a range of sexualities. Like this scale
I hope to do the same with what makes a man or a women. What is feminine and what is masculine?
Should a man be trapped in a suit? Should a skirt hold down a woman? By combining the obvious associations between the two sexes I hope to influence ideas on what is ‘appropriate’ and ‘acceptable’ in fashion in today’s society. I want to create a collection free of the boundaries of gender and combine man and woman to create a visual scale and a neutral ground. Throughout my life, as a male, I have always felt a strong affinity to women on a largely platonic level. This idea of having girls as friends has always been questioned by both men and women. From the youngest age, I remember the girls in my class having Polly Pocket. The next day I came into school with mine, only one girl stayed to play with me (I didn’t smell) the rest ran off and didn’t want to play with me or understand why a boy would A) want to play with girls B) even have Polly Pocket. I wasn’t conforming to Society’s ideal of Gender separation. Surely the demand for equality should not just be a feminine or gay issue? Men too should be accepted on an equal basis. If women can wear trousers without comment why then can men not wear skirts? Equality
has to be non-restrictive and not proscribed by Society to be truly fair.
Gender separation starts when we are young, even with something as simple as appropriate colour. Pink is for girls, and blue is for boys. However in the past pink was the colour choice for little boys. There has, nevertheless been a backlash against this over-abundance of >>
thirty-six | 36
>> of the use of pink for little girls products as in the Pink Stinks Campaign. Why though is there not a similar reaction to say the continual use of only autumnal or naval colours used in boy’s clothes? Baby boys now have to look like little lumberjacks or miniature men, with button down collar denim shirts and miniature corduroy trousers. Luckily for adult men it is becoming more acceptable to wear floral shirts and generally have more flamboyant attitudes to fashion. Joop Homme states “real men wear pink” but what is a real man? What if a woman liked the smell of it on herself would she then be “a real man”? The critical issue as I see it is a necessity to re-map Gender identity through fashion thereby forming the basis of a true equality in society. Androgynous clothing, being for both men and women equally, has been introduced on and off into the fashion world over decades. In 1920 Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles) an artist and designer affiliated to the Italian Futurists designed a garment called the TUTA. The pattern for this unisex garment
was printed in a newspaper. The aim was to produce a garment that was accessible to all. Ironically it became the wardrobe item of choice with Florentine high society. Thayaht described the TUTA as “The most innovative futurist garment ever produced.” Rather than democratising clothing I want to offer a choice and liberate men. In the 1930s actresses like Katherine Hepburn with her trousers and Marlene Dietrich with her suits and bow ties followed on from the Flappers with appropriating male attire, but this borrowing was very much restricted to women taking items from menswear. Society has always been very reluctant to accept a female to male relationship in fashion, but why not accept
men wearing dresses?
In the 1960s Pierre Cardin produced futuristic space age collections aimed for both men and women. With androgynous jersey tunics, round-necked jackets and leggings Cardin admitted, “I was very lucky, I was part of the post-war period when everything had to be redone.” The time has come again for >>
>> fashion to be reinvented. Rudi Gernreich, an American based Designer completely deemphasised the importance of sexual attributes resulting in his most famous garment, the one-piece topless bathing suit. The 60s became a celebration of the culture of youth, of an acceptance of jeans, unisex and hippy fashion. My aim is to re-create the exciting liberation and yes, whimsy of this era. Yves St. Laurent, the designer famous in the 70s for putting female tuxedos firmly on the fashion map said of jeans “they have expression, modesty,
sex appeal, simplicity-all I hope for in my clothes”. My ambition is to incorporate these attributes into my designs as well.
In the 80s Jean Paul Gaultier dressed men in sarongs and yes skirts! Others including Yohji Yamamto whose loose, asymmetric clothes are genderless and Martin Margiela whose deconstructed designs concentrate on tailoring and shape have focused on slightly different ideas. Rad Hourani’s collections, even the shoes are also completely genderless. It follows that if our choice in what to wear disturbs society and that fashion can subvert sexual identity then to be equal we need to be allowed to exercise choice and to disturb Society if necessary. Feminism has generally been seen, as an issue singularly related to women. However Society is beginning to re-think about the true issues of equality. Yes there is an absolute necessity for women to be equal, however gender equality is surely what the aim should be? Somehow this whole issue of feminism seems to point out the divide between men and women. Recently Emma Watson became the UN Women’s Rights Ambassador has said “it is time we see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.” There are both sheep and goats and so much else! I am a Man. I also stand for equality, not just for women for men too. I am a feminist but I also believe equality for all, because in the words of Hedi Slimane are we not “all a little bit of both.” ?
forty-one | 41
Frederick Olafsson
Credits Photographer: Katherine Thomson Creative Director: Frederick Olafsson Assistant Creative Director: Lindsay Sawers Models: Frederick Olafsson @ Instagram Evie Penington @ Sapphire’s Model Management
If women were to gain the same opportunities as men, where do you think “the man’s place” is?
“If women had the same opportunities as men, there wouldn't be a divided 'man’s place' or 'woman’s place'. men and women's place would be dependent on situation... E.g. one family may see the man's place as the breadwinner while the woman stays at home. But another family could see the woman as the breadwinner for example. But this would depend on who was involved in the situation and how they were happy to divide roles. Likewise in the business - one company may see the man’s place as one role, but another company may see that role as a woman’s role. Or additionally another company may not care about gender just whose best in that role.”
forty-four | 44 “I do not believe there should be any difference between men and women. The ‘man’s place’ is where he wants it to be.”
“If I’m honest I don’t believe there is a “man’s place”. It’s not the women’s place to be at home with the kids and it’s not the man’s place to be at work. If there were gender equality neither “place” would exist.” “I don’t necessarily before men and women have a set place in society. All roles should be shared and based on ones abilities and attitude rather then their sex. If men want to be the breadwinner then they can if they want to stay at home they can. We need to eliminate the negative stigma attached to men staying at home and taking on the 'mother role'. The man’s place is where he wants it to be.” “More house husbands about! More women bosses and politicians.”
“On the golf course or down the pub.”
“In the same place as woman. Why should it be any different- equality in every aspect, work, home, etc should be the objective? Men need to be seen as equally competent with raising a family.” “There shouldn’t be a man’s place; we coexist.”
“Due to having a motherly instinct, I do not understand a women who would be happy sending their child to nursery full time whilst they work, and are not there as the child grows older. Therefore I feel men will always have the upper hand in the work place over women who chose to pursue having a family.”
“At home doing the dishes lol haha banter. The man’s place will be exactly the same, just with more competition.” “More stay at home dads.”
“Anywhere he wants! Men and women both deserve the right to the same opportunities. I think ‘The Man’s Place’ is an out dated concept in modern society.” “Regardless of how strongly women towards equal opportunists, a normal women does want the feeling of safety and protection within the home. So a husband’s role should not be altered, but other areas such as fatherhood and in the work place it would automatically change.”
FROZEN EGGS? Apple and Facebook have made a huge push in leveling the playing field for women within the workplace with the help of 21st century technology. But given the choice of where their company invested money, would the majority of workers would chose the very controversial option of an investment in freezing female workers eggs? At a cost of $20,000 per session, women are given the option of having children later on in life. The treatment cycle involves weeks of injections, extracting an average of 20 eggs which are then frozen for replanting up to 10
years later. Facebook’s employee package is incredible appealing to females, with 4 months paid maternity leave, compared to the normal 6 weeks, and up to $4,000 in newborn expenses. According to sources, Apple and Facebook feel that this new addition to their employee package will be the answer to any hard working woman’s prayers. Thus attracting and retaining more female employees. The egg freezing process has had extremely mixed responses. With many women claiming that it is unnatural and a huge risk; there are no guarantees that the procedure will work. Others feel that it is the way forward, with some parent’s even offering to gift the opportunity to freeze their eggs as birthday presents for their daughters. In
HAVE APPLE AND FACEBOOK CRACKED IT? theory the process will allow women to work for a greater period of time without having to worry about starting a family before menopause. Single women can keep their options of motherhood open until they met the man they wish to have children with. The uproar behind Apple and Facebook’s new employee benefit has come from women who are not happy about being seen as ‘baby makers’. Pirozzi, an advertising companies CEO declares “Having a baby doesn’t define me as a women, if I was granted $20,000 from my employers for this procedure I would go on a very large shopping spree instead.” Which raises the question, if these companies have $20,000 to spend on each female employee for this procedure, could the money
not be spent on their employees in a more useful and efficient way rather than play with nature? Then Apple and Facebook could enable women to have it all; a family and a highly driven career path, encouraging more women to work for them while having a family as opposed to putting off having a family. Spending the money on childcare facilities at the workplace or nurseries and crèche options, paid for by the company, or allowing workers time off to present at their child’s sports days, school assemblies and nativity plays would bring a more friendly, caring attitude to these large companies as opposed to encouraging women to put their career before their families. Lindsay Sawers
forty-six | 46
Q+
“Yes I believe so. Due to uneducated, ignorant arse holes. I think there will always be inequality. There will always be people with differing views, opinions and outlooks which will make them treat people differently. Whether on purpose or subconsciously. However I do believe with time and more awareness the majority will learn to simmer down.”
“No not at all.”
“Yes definitely. For all the reasons I listed above about work, but also from social aspects such as the fact women are still seen by many as the weaker sex etc and in some 1st world countries can still be seen as second class citizens.”
“Yes.”
In first world countries do you think that we have an equality problem?
“There is an inequality problem in the UK and other first world countries. Women aren't paid the same as men. People make a big deal out of women being in very high power jobs like they can't do it. “The first women president” “The first black president” it's a joke. That makes no difference to a job role.”
“I do but I don’t have a problem with it, it is how it should be.”
“No, not at all, we’re okay.”
“Not so much, I feel it is more contained in the work place.”
forty-eight | 48
“I think in lots of 1st world countries there are inequality problems. Luckily for the UK there have been a number of historical events, which have decreased the inequality or at least dented the traditional norms of gender roles. In comparison to other countries the UK doesn’t rely solidly on religion quite as literally I think as other countries such as Muslims, for example women do not have the same access to the mosque as men. And in heavily Muslim country that reflects back in the home, that men are seen as being better/ more important. In that respect UK are seen as being equal yet I believe we still have a long way to go before women are shown as much respect as men in society. As small example of this in modern terms is that if a girl sleeps with a lot of guys she is labelled a slut/slag/hoe etc. In reflection guys who have sexually intercourse with multiple girls are seen as players/lads. How does this work? How is this right to label each gender differently (negatively and positively) when they have done the same thing. There is still inequality in this country.”
“We have many good frameworks (and laws) but if women are still underpaid compared to men; why is it not illegal for the company to do that to us? There is a very different expectation from society on the roles for men and women. It was only 60 years that Cambridge University offered full degrees for women. Women have made great progress but when a women is criticised for displaying behaviours that are praised in men, we do not have an equal society.”
“Absolutely. Everything I have stated in the previous questions comes from my knowledge of feminism and sexism in the UK. I believe that while attitudes are slowly changing, the UK and the US are still patriarchal societies. Of course, gender inequality is present in second and third world countries too. For example, the infanticide seen in China and India, and the severe limitations on travel for women seen in Saudi Arabia. These should not be ignored.”
“Yes I do.”
“It's getting better but yes there is. I gave two examples earlier and that's two too many, and lord knows there thousands more out there. Feminism as a whole has a become a bit of a joke to the masses recent, and I think the social network side of things is to blame. I saw a girl tweet saying page 3 should be banned. I sat there like, "are you fucking mental?" I know a topless model, and she loves her job, so why is this idiot on twitter saying it should be banned? Get a grip. I also see a lot of double standards so-called feminists on social networking, where they make a point and then follow it up by making an anti-man comment. How do you expect people to get on board with you when you're chatting absolute bollocks. Bottom line is, it is getting much better but unfortunately these idiots on their keyboard could soon undo all the hard work the real fighters are doing.”
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