There is a very good answer to your question, and it lies at the very centre of not just the gender issue but modern leftist activism as a whole. Political demands need a driving rationale, appeals to fundamental values like equality and justice provide it. In the olden days when inequality for women was flagrant the activists couldn't say we want these changes "just because we get more money" or "because it benefits me personally" - these would not be enough (although the self interest of half of the population should actually be perfectly valid justification), they had to appeal to greater values - it was this that morally forced the majority to consent to the demands.
"I'm protesting because I just want more money" is easy to say no to. "It is unjust to pay me less because it is against fundamental moral principle to treat people equally" is much more powerful - and of course was successful. Hence appeals to human rights are used rather than just exclaiming self interest.
However as time went on and egalitarianism became more entrenched the systematic injustices got smaller - and there was less to appeal to. So the activists needed to exaggerate whatever remains to drive their demands. We are at the point where arguably the claims are being invented simply to justify making demands that are actually purely political in nature. And that is why groups of people who were disadvantaged in the past are making even more aggressive claims than they did back them despite their lives being better than ever and are denouncing Western society as evil and oppressive despite the fact that that was the very culture that gave them all those advancements.
Noticing this phenomenon was one of the main experiences that turned me away from being a "leftist" or progressive - although those are my basic values.
And much of it rings true to me too every time in Denmark I hear people who can’t really articulate which rights and especially HOW we still need to get equality between men and women [funnily enough, very often those who are banging the drums about women needs better pay etc etc, are against non-gender based forced conscription (in Denmark it’s males only), and when the rules for maternity leave were changed to give the fathers rights to more time a lot also were opposed , which seemed a bit hypocritical to me.
Sorry for the sidestep but it was just very interesting with the angle from Iceland. So glad I stumbled over this Substack:-)
There is a very good answer to your question, and it lies at the very centre of not just the gender issue but modern leftist activism as a whole. Political demands need a driving rationale, appeals to fundamental values like equality and justice provide it. In the olden days when inequality for women was flagrant the activists couldn't say we want these changes "just because we get more money" or "because it benefits me personally" - these would not be enough (although the self interest of half of the population should actually be perfectly valid justification), they had to appeal to greater values - it was this that morally forced the majority to consent to the demands.
"I'm protesting because I just want more money" is easy to say no to. "It is unjust to pay me less because it is against fundamental moral principle to treat people equally" is much more powerful - and of course was successful. Hence appeals to human rights are used rather than just exclaiming self interest.
However as time went on and egalitarianism became more entrenched the systematic injustices got smaller - and there was less to appeal to. So the activists needed to exaggerate whatever remains to drive their demands. We are at the point where arguably the claims are being invented simply to justify making demands that are actually purely political in nature. And that is why groups of people who were disadvantaged in the past are making even more aggressive claims than they did back them despite their lives being better than ever and are denouncing Western society as evil and oppressive despite the fact that that was the very culture that gave them all those advancements.
Noticing this phenomenon was one of the main experiences that turned me away from being a "leftist" or progressive - although those are my basic values.
Elegantly written. It rings true to me.
So eloquent and brilliantly written.
And much of it rings true to me too every time in Denmark I hear people who can’t really articulate which rights and especially HOW we still need to get equality between men and women [funnily enough, very often those who are banging the drums about women needs better pay etc etc, are against non-gender based forced conscription (in Denmark it’s males only), and when the rules for maternity leave were changed to give the fathers rights to more time a lot also were opposed , which seemed a bit hypocritical to me.
Sorry for the sidestep but it was just very interesting with the angle from Iceland. So glad I stumbled over this Substack:-)