The Equality Illusion: The Truth about Women and Men Today

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I felt I had to think about these things, because I was increasingly aware that people's attitudes - on the TV and movies I watched - concerning women's roles were making me very uncomfortable. I became conscious of how boys at school treated me as well - linked to me being a girl, nothing more. I had platonic male friends, and I felt I was never being taken seriously amongst them.

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Also I felt in the minority because other girls always hung out with each other. And they had a boyfriend and spent huge amounts of money on their looks - the only things that apparently mattered in life. I was aware of being pressured to suit the "status quo", and I didn't like it. But even before my teens, I had seriously thought about women's rights and roles in my society after watching terrible sitcom episodes ones I could write whole dissertations about their flaws , and not seeing enough positive female role models in the media and in real life.

Everything was all pink, cooking, boys, shopping, looking pretty, and having babies for those with no Y chromosome. Now, I like pink, boys, shopping and babies I'm a bad cook , but even back then I didn't want them to be my only life choices. I love the media and geeky things, and reading and writing about stuff. It wasn't until much later that I began to see a potentially harmful social stigma attached to girls who are "different" and not "girly" Thanks to the internet, I had begun to think more critically about gender issues from feminist's articles. Movies, TV, cartoons, posters, advertisements and politics make it clear: Is the message sent unconsciously?

Is it just the way things are? Thinking about those sitcom and other TV episodes, I refused to accept the "norm" and that it's "natural". Women are better than this - I knew this then because I'm female and I like thinking. I like pink and I still have a brain. And pink is a cool colour; people shouldn't associate it with girliness like it's a bad thing. It wasn't until I read 'The Equality Illusion' that my eyes were fully opened. It horrified me, and I'm glad of it. It made me seriously think of how my life had been shaped subconsciously.

Sexism isn't the exception, it's the rule - misogyny exists and it has always existed in one way or another.

It is mainstream in a patriarchal world; it is all around us, not just on TV or movies or books. Women are discriminated against everyday in any situation, and usually it is for sexual reasons can be based on looks alone. No one is immune to double standards. I refuse to say this is "natural". Rape, victim blaming, low pay, and the saying "boys will be boys" are damaging, and they affect serious human issues.

They should not be viewed as normal. Kat Banyard has a point: Tomorrow A New Day Feminism is progression. It is a necessity to human rights. We unconsciously absorb these messages in the medium every day; I did in my childhood. For example, that women should be passive, and if they're not they're either a whore or a bitch or both, or more , and that's bad.

They are no longer considered human. And yet when they don't fit the socially-accepted standard of "pretty", that's bad.

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They have to be objects and used by men. We still treat men and women differently and see nothing wrong with it. So I believe there is an equality illusion.

One of UK Feminista's founders Kat Banyard exposes it all in this well-researched and perspective-changing book. She doesn't just state facts; by the end she offers options on how to combat sexism in the cultural mainstream. It is not all hopeless, we don't have to accept sexist BS when it is apparent. Change is possible, and it can last. Because I believe that progression in society is important. I only consider myself a decent and observant human being who cares about equality in the 21st century. We should not be divided or ranked "dominant" over others because of gender.

Don't belittle the rights that the people of my gender and men who care have fought for for so long. Two halves are equal. In this world, half the human race is female, each with her own individual mind, personality, friends and family - never forget that. Give it to your mum, your daughter, your son, your brother, your sister, your dad. I really feel everyone should read it Thanks to Banyard I now know exactly how to respond to people who go "isn't feminism a bit dated?

The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard

The Equality Illusion The book was an eye opener for me. This The Equality Illusion The book was an eye opener for me. This book makes you take note: I like that the book ended on a positive note by sharing all the ways women and feminist groups are making headway in tackling sexism, debunking myths, and exposing the sex industry lobby. Apr 15, Katya rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Everyone hesitating to call themselves feminist. A few weeks ago, I read and reviewed Halo and decided to go easy on the author for the blatant jabs on feminism she made throughout the novel.

Now, that was partly due to my long-held beleif that you're not supposed to yell at children for making a mistake, because the children themselves are going to beat themselves over that when they're older and wiser, but it was also because I didn't quite know what being a feminst meant today.

In my restricted worldview and aided by my epic laziness to re A few weeks ago, I read and reviewed Halo and decided to go easy on the author for the blatant jabs on feminism she made throughout the novel. In my restricted worldview and aided by my epic laziness to read The Second Sex , I thought that feminism was a big, complicated word that encompassed too many definitions to just pick one.

I still partly beleive in that - a lot of stuff is read as feminist, but it depends on how you see it. However, The Equality Illusion: The Truth about Women and Men Today reminded me that at its basis, feminism is about treating women as equals to men. The Equality Illusion makes it clear that people have a long way to go before men and women are equals, yet it does end on a note of hope.

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For one thing, people are becoming more and more aware of how sexism is not just a problem for women, but a malady for our society. After all, if there's one thing I managed to learn from de Beauvoir, it is that unlike enthic minorities or homosexuals, women cannot seperate themselves from men - it's a biological impossibility and would be fatal for the continuation of the species. That's why it's so important for both sexes to be aware of the problem and work towards solving it, which is what Kat Banyard stresses on throughout the book.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go rip Halo a new one. I have read books similar to this before, but Banyard has made an honest and most interesting read. This book studies the issue's that we, as women, still face today. It discusses how important feminism is, and how it appears to many, that Men and Women are equal, when this most definitely is not the case. Unfortunately equality still exists and is still a major issue in many places and situations.

These argume "The Equality Illusion" is an excellent, well structured slice of feminist literature. These arguments are full of passion, and are well researched.

I very much enjoyed this book. View all 4 comments.

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I have many issues with this book, the biggest ones being about the chapters on body image and sex work, "Mirror, Mirror On The Wall" and "The Booty Myth". The author's view is very narrow, and the way she presents the issues is very black and white. Basically, all women are victims, and doing plastic surgery is never a free choice. She completely rejects the notion of empowerment when it comes to expressing your sexuality. Furthermore, she cites Sweden as the paradise for prostituted women, howe I have many issues with this book, the biggest ones being about the chapters on body image and sex work, "Mirror, Mirror On The Wall" and "The Booty Myth".

Furthermore, she cites Sweden as the paradise for prostituted women, however, as has been shown by many people since the passing of the law criminalizing the demand for sex acts the " johns" , this only reinforced the stigma around sex workers. The impression I often got while reading this is that the author only found the info she wanted to find, and didn't care much for nuance. The testimonies she presented in the book were all absolutely terrifying, and although I do not deny that these situations are real, I think Banyard made a point of choosing the saddest, most desperate stories to better serve her purposes.

The way the chapters were presented though, in a "Day in the life" manner, was original and worked well, in my opinion. Jul 02, Vitalia rated it it was amazing Shelves: This book has some great insights into the challenges that the women of today face everyday.

She deals with everyday situations that women find themselves in and exposes a range of issues that we have to deal with simply by virtue of being female. Starting from school where we get entrenched into an expectation of conforming to particular gender stereotypes, and work where women face everyday discrimination viewed as the inevitable norm. She deals with issues like eating disorders - a byproduct of This book has some great insights into the challenges that the women of today face everyday.

She deals with issues like eating disorders - a byproduct of a culture that expects women to look a certain way and domestic violence and rape - a byproduct of a culture that teaches men to view women as sexual objects in need of conquering. It's a book everyone should read, especially in a day and age where the anti-feminist movement is for some bizarre reason flourishing. Feminism is a movement who's purpose it to ensure equality between men and women and everyone should wake up to the illusion of equality we have today and strive to achieve real equality alongside the feminist movement.

The only bit I disliked was the pro-choice chapter the reason for the was the biased portrayal of facts - I have a bit of a problem with that. If you are looking for a well-written and interesting overview of why the job of feminism is very much not yet done, you could do a whole lot worse than this. Banyard mixes statistics the most common cause of death for pregnant women in the US is murder - I've heard that before but it never fails to shock , argument and interviews with women affected by the issues she discusses, many of whom she met through her work with the Fawcett Society.

Hard to imagine anyone reading it five years from now, let alone Banyard is so polite. She says that she is angry, but you never feel any heat on the page. Nor does she have much of a vision, devoting a scant 40 pages to what comes next. The Warwick Anti-Sexism Society is, apparently, a fine example of a local action group. But while it's one thing to get a lapdancing club closed down, it's quite another to send more women into parliament, or to police effectively companies that persist in breaking equality legislation. How are we to do this? What about the rest of us? For Banyard, the rush to publication seems to have strangled the idea of deep thinking.

Many of her arguments are flimsy and simplistic: Banyard believes that we are living in a "culture of hypermasculinity". Unfortunately, her evidence for this is based partly on the fact that Lynx deodorant for men, the ad campaign for which is based on the swoon-inducing effect it is supposed to have on females, sells "by the bucket load". She takes too much at face value. When an Australian academic called Dr Michael Flood tells her, casually, that "rape can be a way for men to bond", as though it were just another macho pastime, like football, Banyard doesn't ask what on earth he means.

Instead, she joins in, suggesting that rape is on a spectrum of "male bonding through coercive sexual practices", a spectrum that includes wolf-whistling. Most egregious of all, she persists in infantilising women. Women have made huge strides in equality over the last century. And feminism is now generally considered irrelevant, or old-fashioned, or even embarrassing. But what about the fact that today women working full-time in the UK are paid on average 17 per cent less an hour than men? That one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused because of her gender?

Or that there is a huge disparity in both government and corporate power of parliamentary seats across the globe only 15 per cent are held by women, fewer than 20 per cent of UK MPs are women, and 96 per cent of executive directors of the UK's top hundred companies are men?

In "The Equality Illusion", campaigner Kat Banyard argues passionately and articulately that feminism continues to be one of the most urgent and relevant social justice campaigns today. Structuring the book around a normal day, Banyard sets out the major issues for twenty-first century feminism, from work and education to sex, relationships and having children. She draws on her own campaigning experience as well as academic research and dozens of her own interviews and case studies.

The book also includes information on how to get involved in grassroots action and a list of resources.

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