If you needed further evidence that 2016 has just been one giant cosmic troll, one of the worst musicians to have ever forcibly inserted himself into your iTunes list has just been named one of Glamour magazine's Women of the Year. Yes, you read that correctly. As the classic headline reads from satirical news source The Onion, "Man finally put in charge of struggling feminist movement". And so it is with Bono, lead singer of U2 and most recent recipient of the Fawning Gratitude award that gets handed out to men every time they make even vague reference to women perhaps being people.
Apparently the endless, tireless efforts of women all over the world working to liberate their fellow humans from oppression and degradation is not quite Choice Feminist enough for the gals over at Glamour. As Glamour's editor-in-chief, Cindi Leive, explained, "We've talked for years about whether to honour a man at Women of the Year and we've always kind of put the kibosh on it. You know, men get a lot of awards and aren't exactly hurting in the celebration and honours department."
More Life and Style Videos
- Video duration
- 01:48
Clementine Ford goes through her 'Dicktionary'
- Video duration
- 06:10
At home with Maria Venuti
- Video duration
- 02:21
How do Australia's abortion laws stack up?
- Video duration
- 01:47
Mrs White and the kindergarten letters
- Video duration
- 00:47
Kim Kardashian robbers caught on camera
- Video duration
- 04:13
Walk For Freedom
- Video duration
- 00:48
Why sons should get more chores
- Video duration
- 00:48
Why sons should get more chores
Clementine Ford goes through her 'Dicktionary'
Clementine Ford, author of Fight Like a Girl lays out her top 5 misogynistic terms.
Really? You've talked about this for years? For years? This has been a topic that's actually had time devoted to it and been sincerely discussed by you and your colleagues - the pressing issue of whether or not women's awards are doing enough to honour men?
Apparently so. Leive further justified the ludicrous move by saying, "[There] are so many men who really are doing wonderful things for women these days. Some men get it and Bono is one of those guys."
Yes, some men do "get" what gender equality is about. And part of getting it is recognising that their allegiance and support to the cause isn't contingent on them being appropriately rewarded or acknowledged. Feminists fought to liberate women from the shackles of enforced domestic labour - and yet here we seem to be, skipping enthusiastically back to the hearth to bake cookies for men whose mediocrity is so bizarrely lauded that it comes with a carat rating.
Why do women always feel so compelled to contort themselves into ridiculous positions trying to reassure the menfolk of our inherent niceness? That they don't need to worry because we're not really here to threaten their power in any way, only to politely request a small slice of it? Besides, #notallmen are bad and #99percentofmen are #amazing, #decent and #good despite these statistics being entirely settled upon by feeling rather than fact in a world that is overwhelmingly supportive of men needing to do pretty much eff-all to qualify as "good" in the eyes of a voting committee.
This paranoia that a nefarious matriarchy looms on the horizon just waiting to cut men off at the knees is misplaced, not least of which is because women as a class have not proven themselves to be punitive in the way men have. This is evident, ironically, in the way groups of women like those at Glamour rush en masse to find ways to stretch women's very limited accolades and markers of success to include men. And so it is that a man who has essentially done a reasonable (but by no means more impressive, sacrificial or even new) job of addressing the gendered discrimination of poverty in the developing world is considered sufficiently qualified enough to be honoured alongside genuinely stellar activists like Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, and Emily Doe, the unnamed survivor of a college rape whose articulate victim impact statement radically amplified the voices of survivors all over the world.
It is frankly embarrassing to see yet another women-led event be overcome by the urge to hand the reigns of feminist leadership back to men. We do not need to acknowledge and reward men for doing what should be considered the basic minimum of decency in regards to gender equality. We do not need to hold a simpering lovefest in which women perform snaps for dudes just so they know how grateful we are for their time and occasional interest in our matters of import. Women are not obliged to make room in the feminist movement for men to be given space, leadership and microphones - we have far too many women we need to make room for before we invite men to take the floor.
It is a false premise to insist that feminism must be conciliatory to men if we want it to succeed. If liberation for women could be achieved by politely asking men to give it to us, don't you think we would have it by now? Structures of power aren't dismantled by the kindness of those people they oppress - they are only strengthened.
Glamour might just be a silly magazine whose annual award season is no more or less important than the next ceremonial festival, but those actions still have impact. Women do not have enough space in the world. That's the point. Stop giving away the little that we do have in some kind of weird attempt to curry favour with the boys.