This is an explosive topical bombshell that should be read by all women. There is no mention of women in Russia, China or North Korea but otherwise, while it is written from a lesbian UK viewpoint, it covers international issues and attitudes from Africa, America, Australia and the US and is extremely relevant to today and Australia, what with the horrendous  treatment of Julia Gillard while she was Prime Minister (her globally famous Misogny speech in parliament is analysed)  and the Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins scandals, for instance. Another example is the ‘Ms Represented’ TV series on the ABC which also highlights the sexism in Australian parliament. And there is the current political turmoil and oppression of women by the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

The book is terrifically researched and powerfully written, making you pause and reflect. It asks how does one define ‘woman’ and how have things changed since the Suffragettes, – or have they? How does the male patriarchy affect women? What is the difference between ‘gender’ and ‘sex’? Are people born gay or is it a chosen lifestyle? 

“Feminism is a quest for the liberation of women from patriarchy. Feminism strives for a world in which women are not oppressed. Feminism prioritises exposing and ending male violence towards women and girls.”

That is how Bindel defines feminism,  and she questions why the movement seems to be doing a backflip at the moment, conceding the feelings and rights of men and still not really listening to women? Why is feminism still regarded as a minority movement that can be ignored? Bindel considers, not without reason, that misogyny is on the rise and that girls are in danger of losing hard-won rights .

Drawing on her own experiences, a culmination of 40 years as a major voice in the feminist movement, (she is a co-founder of Justice For Women), and utilising numerous interviews with girls and women of all ages and backgrounds, in her book Bindel details plenty of domestic violence against women , and how rape survivors and domestic violence victims  are often traumatised by reporting it to police and not believed. 

Bindel also examines sex trafficking. She also looks at how women are exploited, for example in the fashion industry, but also how women are denied control of their own bodies and finances, especially when considering prostitution and pornography and/or in a volatile dangerous domestic situation and the desperate shortage of safe spaces/refuges .As well she examines how girls and women are often denied an education and the lack of proper health care.  Bindel also raises the issue of body shaming, expectations as to who in a couple’s relationship does the housework/childminding for example, and whether women have control over their own bodies. And also the coercive control of social media and stalking by men.

She also looks at how hard it is for LGBTI+ people and asks where are the role models? But she also points out that nowadays trans activists have passed from requesting we use she/her pronouns for transwomen to insisting we acknowledge that they are women. Now they must call themselves “cis” women and accept that womanliness is flexible and lesbians can/should have relationships with transwomen. Bindel recounts the “gender madness” that is forcing women to share single-sex spaces — as in toilets, changing rooms, clubs, refuges and prisons — with transwomen; and which mocks their biological reality by using the terms “front hole” for vagina and “chest feeding” for breast feeding (really,people?!). Bindel also discusses some of the confusing terms, some quite abusive, that can be used at the moment 

If women disagree with this, Bindel states, from her own experience and that of others, they are then bullied, classified as transphobic and ‘cancelled‘, making most women way too scared to protest. Bindel herself has been disinvited, de-platformed,. trolled ,physically attacked, spat at and abused.

Bindel documents the Women’s Liberation Movement of the Nineteen Nineties and nowadays how liberation feminism has been eclipsed by equality feminism: a new type of activism, where everyone is scared of saying the wrong thing and tries to be ‘nice‘ and extra inclusive, but biased towards men! 

She also looks at how hard it is for LGBTI people. Bindel asks can men be feminists? Or allies? Do women really need /want what men have? What about disabled people – attitudes towards them, ease of access to buildings – and women’s reproductive rights (look at the current abortion fracas in Texas for example, and how some women are forcibly sterilised, yet others who want to be are not allowed to.

Bindel examines the situation critically and demonstrates that yes, second wave feminism is extremely relevant and necessary. In conclusion Bindel asks where to from here?

 “Women need to be brave and speak out because misogyny affects all women and we are half the population of the world.”

Bindel’s challenging, ground shaking book seeks to rehabilitate feminism for all of us women in these turbulent times . 

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Constable; 1st edition (31 August 2021)

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1408715449

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1408715444

https://www.hachette.com.au/julie-bindel/feminism-for-women-the-real-route-to-liberation