Reflections on feminism and life in 2024
When I think about the cultural moments of feminism in 2024, there’s a lot of dark, tinged with a little bit of light. As always, it’s important to look at both.
Redundancies and job cuts
I have not written as many blog posts as I would’ve liked this year. I had to give up a lot of time and headspace to attend to a potential redundancy that morphed into a redeployment. This happened to a lot of people this year, and I’m feeling for those looking for work in the new year, and those who have been for a long time. With 62% of people in the public sector being women (as of June 2023; it may now have changed), there is an unfortunate skew of negative impacts on women. Others on Substack have written about why laying people off in a recession to combat inflation has little evidence behind it and can worsen the situation (see https://thekaka.substack.com/)
America’s influence on the world
In 2024 we’ve seen the rise of right-wing politics in America, with the rhetoric of hate against women, and legislation put in place to decrease women’s rights. Anti-abortion laws came into effect in 2022 when the Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. This has become more widespread in states across the U.S, with 41 states having abortion bans in effect and 13 states having banned all abortions regardless of the foetus’ development stage (State bans on abortion throughout pregnancy). With one of the world’s biggest economic powers policing women’s bodies, we need to watch what happens as other countries may follow suit (in both an ideological and legal sense).
Feminist icon of 2024
The Gisele Pelicot rape trial wrapped up just a few days ago. Hearing the harrowing evidence has made women question the narrative that men who rape women are mentally ill or psychopathic – we know this is absolute bullshit. They were all ordinary. Gisele Pelicot was willing to be the face of her high profile rape trial and perhaps for the first time, the media did not jump on Gisele’s sexual preferences, history, or ‘what she was wearing’. She took control of the courtroom and her story, denouncing the 51 men who raped her. Perhaps it was something to do with her age, perhaps there was no room for her to have ‘deserved it’ in any way as she simply didn’t have the knowledge it was happening – either way, it’s a start: Gisele and the journalists who wrote about her gave sexual abuse and rape survivors pride in themselves and the opportunity to feel unashamed. Gisele Pelicot is the feminist icon of the year. Her story gives everyone the opportunity to critique what they know about men who rape women, and what consent means.
My 2024
I feel lucky to have been redeployed in my job, which took up a shocking 9 months of headspace this year. I’m also lucky to have been on my first trip overseas since 2019, heading to South East Asia and getting an extra boost of Vitamin D before winter in New Zealand. I have been on a personal mission to learn more about New Zealand’s history, particularly the origins of Wellington/Te Whanganui a Tara and the events around 1840. It felt pertinent to learn a lot about that this year, when the hikoi moved through Wellington protesting the Treaty Principles bill, and at a time when I’ve learned far more about my family history than any other year. I also wrote about researching the lives of ordinary women like Ada Menzies in the 20th century.
Through every political or cultural moment, whether it be the rollback of reproductive rights, a mass-rape case that asks people to look towards a woman rather than away, or even job lay-offs, there is an intricate history spiralling behind it. There are prejudices woven through those histories, voices lost, and some voices (the ones deemed more powerful) often taking precedence. However, when we pay attention to the voices we might otherwise ignore, and seek to understand the historical and cultural influences at work, we can start to understand things from a different perspective. Otherwise, we will only see the same mistakes repeated over and over again. In 2025, I hope we don’t forget the important moments of 2024 and the feminist successes we’ve witnessed. I also want to say thank you for reading this blog, sporadic though it’s been. I hope you find pockets of success woven into your life in 2025.
If there’s anything you’d like to see more of in this blog next year, please let me know!
