Joanna Williams in
Spiked explains why
"Monarchy And Feminism [Are] A Perfect Marriage". "Bold declarations of feminist intent do not show that the monarchy has
changed: instead, they show how much feminism has changed."
Today, feminism ... doesn’t
call for an expansion of democracy, but for democracy to be tamed.
All-women shortlists and quotas for women on company boards deny people a
free choice in appointing anyone they choose. They move us away from
seeing gender as an irrelevance and treating people as equals. Instead,
we’re told that women need to be afforded special privileges. In the
past few weeks we’ve had calls for the banning of sexist adverts and the
criminalisation of street harassment. Rather than calling for women to
be recognised as adults, today’s feminism insists women are treated like
children.
The only question campaigners and commentators have so far raised
about Meghan’s feminism is whether she’ll get away with it. Is it
realistic to think she can be both a feminist and a royal? Of course it
is. Feminism today poses no threat to the establishment. Feminism is the
establishment. Feminism is now concerned with enforcing etiquette,
telling boorish men how to behave, and calling for censorship and
regulations. It is elitist and condescending – a perfect match for the
monarchy. Today’s younger royals reveal all about mental-health troubles
and want us to know that despite wealth and privilege, they suffer too.
Again, a perfect match for a feminism that allows rich celebrities to
swap stories of disadvantage.
(
Emboldening mine.) The advantages of being rich collide with feminist ideals:
Where Meghan differs from other women is that she has given up her own
career for marriage. Today, over 70 per cent of all women and 90 per
cent of female graduates are employed. Yet on the royal website, details
of Meghan’s acting career – presumably earned through her own merit and
tenacity – are given only a cursory nod.
The New Feminist Woman may have never materialized in the real world,
but the old one — class-conscious as ever — still sets the rules.
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