Letters | 29 October 2015

We should all be feminists

Sir: Articles proclaiming the death of feminism are appearing like clockwork in the press at the moment (‘Bad winners’, 24 October). Each time, it prompts feminists to respond passionately, demonstrating that far from being over, feminism is experiencing a resurgence. Witness the crowds that gathered at the Feminism in London conference at the weekend, or the stats which refuse to budge: the 19 per cent gender pay gap, the 54,000 pregnant women who are discriminated against at work each year, and the two women per week who die at the hands of a partner or former partner.

But there is a more serious underlying issue. We still hear all too often from those who state, as Meryl Streep did recently, ‘I’m not a feminist but…’, before going on to identify with the very cause from which they have just distanced themselves. So while feminism is resurgent, it is also exclusive. If you want a world where everyone can fulfil their potential and make choices that have nothing to do with their gender, then you are a feminist. Who doesn’t want that? It is time to reveal the hidden feminist in us all.
Sam Smethers

Chief executive of the Fawcett Society

London SE1

Glass ceiling, glass floor

Sir: I agree with Emily Hill that feminism, which started as a genuine crusade against prejudice, has become a form of pointless attention-seeking. The problem is that revolutionaries never know when to stop. Once the glass ceiling has been broken, they then invent the glass floor. The truth is, as Cosmo Landesman implies (‘Here come the humanists’, 24 October) that most of us have evolved beyond feminism, and now believe in equality for all.
Stan Labovitch

Windsor