Are we living in a Post-Feminist society?

The term post-feminist is used to refer to young women, "who are thought to benefit from the women's movement through expanded access to employment and education and new family arrangements but at the same time do not push for further political change,"

I grew up as a child of Thatcher. Everyday throughout my teens I saw the leader of my country whip male leaders across the world into shape without batting an eyelid. That, alongside the struggles that the women who came before in the feminist movement, meant that I was of the first generation who truly believed that they could be as accomplished and successful as their male counterpart. Of course, the world of work came as a bit of shock, paternalistic attitudes were still prevalent in the early 1990’s and the glass ceiling remained. We have been chipping away at both ever since. One of the outcomes of the successes that have been won in the work place is a new feeling among young women that feminism is soooo last century. That they do not need to be feminist.

On the day of the last general election in the UK, I asked my female members of staff at what time did they plan to go and vote. All young women at the start of their careers they looked at me as if I was talking a foreign language. Shrugged their shoulders and to a one said they had no plans to vote that day. I was aghast and immediately launched into a, I have to confess, somewhat strident lecture about the suffragette movement. Had they never heard of Emily Pankhurst, I asked. Seemingly they had not, and moreover could not see the relevance of her heroism in their lives today. But even if these young women failed to understand the importance of their role in society, and using their voice, does that mean we are living in a post-feminist society? Or does it mean that we have regressed rather than progressed? Because on the surface we are more equal that we have been, right? We fought the good fight and won many battles. Young women today have more opportunities than any generation before them, they have more freedom of choice and nothing seems impossible. However, we still live in a patriarchal society. Fundamentally we still have a male ruling class, making the rules and limiting choices in some places, for young women.

Are we living in a post-feminist society? If so, we really need to figure out how to get back to a feminist society.