Are Feminists Scared of Womanhood?

A Carrie Johnstone Drama

I am Elyse Hocking
4 min readJun 15, 2021
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Progressive equality and feminism are hot topics in society, more so than ever before. The need to shout out loud for change has become prevalent — especially across social media. Likewise the rates of suicide and mental health has also risen.

Feminism used to be about fighting for equality. Where men held more rights and power than women, we fought back and created positive change especially in political reform, legislation and overall living standards for women.

These days we still have inequalities on both sides, it will be something that is always there as the see-saw swings backwards and forwards, likewise there may always be a greater divide in countries where women are fighting for rights against men who use their religion as a power grab.

Looking in from the outside it seems to be more of a geographical inequality than gender specific — some countries are progressive, some are not. That is a harder fight to resolve.

When I saw this article [below] written by Rhiannon Evans of Grazia, I read it and shook my head. I see these articles more commonly, where women are pitting themselves against other women because of the way that they believe or act.

Shouldn’t feminism be about supporting other women/womxn? Shouldn’t we be solidifying ourselves with our sisters and praising them for having their own beliefs, their own likes and dislikes even if they are not the same as ours?

No?

That’s oppressive. To tell someone that they are wrong for ‘being themselves’ is horrible. Especially if it harms no-one.

Carrie Johnson is the wife of the current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnstone, they have a son called Wilfred who was born in 2020, the article discusses images taken of Carrie with her son Wilfred and U.S. First Lady Jill Biden in Cornwall.

So why does it have women/womxn up-in-arms?

They dislike the photo of Carrie Johnstone, Jill Biden and Wilfred together — because there are no men and they believe it shows that they were forced to take a woman’s side role. Clearly Carrie Johnstone is the anti-epitome of being a feminist if she happily takes on that role?

But hold-up!

The Biden's’ were visiting the UK for the G7 Summit. This was a work trip, not one where Carrie or Jill could take over and make it about them because the reality is, it’s not their jobs. Spending time together they could have been discussing fantastic projects that helped women, they could have also been discussing knitting, cake and childcare — the reality is, it is none of our business what they do in their time together.

Do feminists despise anyone who enjoys femininity or womanhood?

I actually respect Carrie for not automatically handing Wilfred over to a nanny or carer, instead she spent time playing with her son rather than handing him over to someone else ‘because she can’. Why would we hate someone for wanting to spend time with their child? Chances are both Carrie and Jill were bored playing second fiddle however, as a family unit in any capacity, you should actively support each other, even if events can be dull.

You wouldn’t expect someone to get a puppy that they love and then just let others care for it because it makes you look less powerful, likewise you wouldn’t buy a designer dress that you’ve coveted for so long, only to get someone else to wear it.

Most parents love their child/ren. photographs showing that are not wrong.

Women who choose to become parents are not wrong.

Women who choose to spend time with other women are not wrong.

Women who choose to support their partners are not wrong.

Women who have a less prestigious or powerful position than their partners are not wrong.

We should be applauding other women/womxn who are doing what they love instead of berating them for doing something others dislike — stay in your own lane. Likewise, we should be applauding other women/womxn who choose to not have families or take a different route than the old traditional view.

Women doing what they love and what they choose is ultimately the goal. If you can do it without unnecessary barriers, then fantastic. If you are met with barriers look at what you can do to help remove those — tearing other people down because they don’t fit your idealistic model resolves nothing except adds to the increasing mental health pandemic we currently face.

Love and light y’all.

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I am Elyse Hocking

Blogger | Scottish life and personal opinion *All views my own* You can also find me at: https://www.sweetelyseblog.com