A recent post-Thatcher phenomenon has sprung on the right of British politics: so-called Tory Feminism. This breed of the Conservative party claim that recent icons of the Tory party such as Louise Mensch and Nadine Dorries are starting a new wave of feminism, based on the ideas of liberal feminism. Tory Feminism combines the family-centred social politics of old conservatism, but with a new twist: that women can be empowered to achieve their potential. Despite this promising start, Tory Feminists hold on to the regressive values such as anti-abortion rights and anti-contraceptive rights, and yet still claim to be feminists.
If anyone deserves the title ‘fauxminist’ is it the Tory Feminist.
The protests which Royal Holloway FemSoc took part in outside parliament during the vote on Nadine Dorries’ abstinence bill show true feminism at its best. Groups form around London, such as Feminist Fightback, preach the true value of feminism: full reproductive rights, absolute protection against rape and sexual assault, equal marriage rights for all genders and equal economic rights for all genders.
These things are under attack from the fauxminist Tory Feminist movement, who are hijacking those who have the potential to hold truly feminist values, but instead chose this fauxminist path. This is why we need to fight Tory Feminism with our brand(s) of feminism, with proper feminist values.
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