Now, before you write this off as crazy, angry feminists writing man-hating articles, I would suggest you take the time to read what the numerous online contributors (both male and female) have to say.
The hilarious deconstruction of magazines like Grazia (Vagenda’s enemy numero uno) and Cosmo points out the (often ludicrously) outright sexism printed in the form of ‘advice’ that readers passively take in, turning what should be relaxing read into a subconscious kick to women’s self esteem. Other forms of media are also called out for this underlying theme: from Confused.com adverts to films like ‘I Give It a Year’, sexism that should be obvious and rejected is instead accepted without question, supporting and building on an unspoken sexist discourse.
Sometimes, feminist issues are summed up in a simple picture, in the magazine’s series of illustrations -‘Reasons to be a Feminist’ (an example being the illustration above).
In my opinion, what The Vagenda is trying to do is to make us wake up and smell the coffee, and realise that the need for feminism is far from over. Yes, women’s stance in society is stronger than before, but there is still a long way to go before we can consider ourselves a truly equal society in terms of gender. The ongoing inequality is evident via daily reminders in the public eye, but still largely goes unnoticed, and sexist frameworks that are deemed ‘normal’ continue to be built on. This latent sexism is proving to be even harder to fight against, due to so many being under the impression that ‘women have never had it so good’, therefore sexism is no longer ‘a thing’, and feminism is no longer needed. Indeed, the hardest group to fight against could be said to be other women, who are perhaps the worst culprits of reproducing gender inequality by judging one another by unreasonable standards set by the media.
And some of my favourite articles so far.
'Why Don't You...'
'There's Never Been A Better Time To Be A Woman'
'10 Reasons Not To Buy Grazia '
'Valentine's Day Countdown Gifts'
'New Places Not To Have Sex, Despite What Cosmo Says'
Happy procrastinating!