I’m sure that any person listening to
the mainstream media will have heard the terms “institutionalised” or
“internalised” misogyny at some point. In
essence, we’re just putting names to problems before we’re addressing the
actual problems. Let’s have a look at
what institutionalised and internalised misogyny actually are, so we can
recognise them more easily and fix the issues directly.
“Institutionalised” misogyny is where
there are legal and societal barriers barring women from the same access to
certain facilities and care that are accessible to men. I must make it clear that this type of
misogyny is not necessarily intentional and therefore, despite its adverse
affects on women, is not always created with the sole purpose to suppress
women.
An example of unintentional “institutionalised”
misogyny is the luxury tax applied to women’s menstrual products. This is not a problem specific to South
Africa but to most of the world.
Basically, sanitary pads and tampons are VAT applicable and therefore we
pay an elevated price on a bodily function that we have no control over. Conversely, male condoms are handed out like
pamphlets at a robot for free, while sex is actually optional and you can
actually not do it. I don’t
believe equity was a vague consideration because the distribution of condoms
was in response to the alarming increase in HIV diagnoses and was done so to
prevent the spread further, which was in the interests of all genders.
I am pleased to announce, however,
that Shoprite has pre-emptively deducted VAT from all its sanitary products, as
per the Business Insider article (see it here). Women’s
menstrual health has been at the forefront of many initiatives recently, like
during June/July 2018 at Dischem where it was possible to add packets of
sanitary pads at cost to be donated to underprivileged schools.
On the other hand, an example of
intentional “institutionalised” misogyny would be Islamic countries like Saudi
Arabia, where it is illegal for women to drive cars or dress freely. I am keenly aware that these countries
operate on the principals of Islam and that their laws correlate with the
Quran. I am also aware that the majority
of women in these countries are devout Muslims and are happy to submit to such
laws. It is only my personal view that
these women should be legally able to do as they wished. I accept that from a religious point of view,
these women may have no need for the laws to be changed.
“Internalised” misogyny is much more
difficult subject to broach because to recognise it in yourself often requires
a lot of introspect and self-discipline.
Internalised misogyny is enacted on an individual level, where a woman
may undermine or discriminate against other women. We’ve all done it: “OMG, Becky, look at her
butt” or “you hit like a girl”.
Basically, it’s girl hate.
While it may be difficult to recognise
internalised misogyny because of the deep level of introspection required, it
is easy to fix once we have come to terms with it. It’s quite simple: don’t be an asshole.
I hope this series has helped you in
your feminist journey, wherever you may find yourself. I am, however, very excited to get back to
writing about some beauty and fashion fluff.
This women’s month has been quite heavy with all the research I’ve been
doing into feminism for the series. As
important as it is, my soul needs a brief respite.
Wishing you love and light until next
time ♡♡♡