Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee today to speak to anti-feminist ideology.
I'm Jackie Neapole, the executive director of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, CRIAW.
We are a national women's rights organization that for almost 50 years has been conducting research and analysis on women's economic and social position in Canada, with a goal of identifying solutions and actions for substantive equality.
I'd like to start by looking at how we at CRIAW view anti-feminist ideology, and then I will speak to some of our current research.
These days, the terms “feminism” and “anti-feminism” can be loaded, but it is very simple. A basic definition of feminism is that it is the advocacy and belief in full social, economic and political equality for all women. On the flip side, anti-feminism is the advocacy and belief that women should not have full social, economic and political equality.
Anti-feminist ideology is not new. What is new is that anti-feminist ideology seems to be gaining more traction and once again is becoming more mainstream.
CRIAW positions anti-feminist ideology within a broader regressive movement. Anti-feminism often relies on a picture of a romanticized, traditional past when life was supposedly simpler, but the reality is that regressive anti-feminist ideologies include ideas, messages and beliefs aimed at undoing gains made on women's rights and blocking further change needed for the full realization of equality. It's regressive in the sense of going backward.
Anti-feminism and regressive ideologies can vary in extremity. They can manifest themselves in complex ways, from sexist jokes to threats and violence. They can be focused on one area or issue and intersect along gender, race, sexual orientation and religion, for example.
In 2017, while we were conducting a pan-Canadian research project with women's groups, we heard that there was a noticeable uptick in anti-feminist backlash brewing, and the women's groups were increasingly experiencing harassment and hostility in their communities and online.
Since then, we have been looking deeper at this issue, and it has become clearer over the years that misogyny and normalization of anti-feminism is growing both globally and here as well.
Last year, CRIAW again conducted research across the country, expressly to find out how regressive anti-feminist movements were manifesting in different regions and how different feminist organizations were experiencing them.
Across the country, regressive anti-feminist ideologies are spreading insidiously and overtly. These ideologies can be supported by governments and institutions, by civil society organizations and by individuals. These regressive ideologies blame the current societal and economic problems we face today on women's rights and social justice, rather than on persistent structural inequality and injustice.
The regressive anti-feminists are finding new ways to connect with people on the ground in their communities and speak in a way that makes people feel that their needs or complaints are being heard or addressed. Regressive anti-feminist entities mobilize and grow their membership by appealing to those who feel disenfranchised, whether in reality or not. They also use social media, as we heard, and online platforms to organize and grow their membership, especially among the youth.
We have heard from many women's rights organizations that they've had to implement new security measures to protect their staff and that they were losing staff to burnout and exhaustion from dealing with constant anti-feminist threats over social media, by email and in person. They have had to conceal their office locations and remove contact information from their websites.
Feminist work has always been challenging, since it involves pushing up against strong power structures that are resistant to change. However, women's groups report that this work has been particularly difficult after years of chronic underfunding and demoralization as a result of what appears to be a growing acceptance of sexism and the idea that women's rights are expendable.
In a few days, we'll be remembering the victims of the Montreal massacre. The misogynistic gunman, motivated by anti-feminist ideology, specifically targeted 14 female engineering students, claiming that these women were taking away opportunities from men by studying in a gender-non-traditional field. I bring this up because this is what anti-feminist ideology is and what it can lead to.
There is increasingly a normalization of this ideology. If we continue to let this growth happen unfettered, there will be potentially devastating consequences to the fabric of our society and the values we hold as Canadians over many generations.
I have a few recommendations. I'll try to get to them in the 20 seconds or 10 seconds remaining.
We all have a role in reducing the vitriol and in stopping the proliferation of sexism and hateful, misogynistic ideas and groups. Upholding women's human rights should not be viewed as a partisan issue.
We need stronger social safety nets and investments in health care and education. Regressive anti-feminist movements grow their membership by targeting and blaming women and other marginalized communities for systemic issues. We know that the disparities in wealth continue to widen and are worsening, and this is acutely an issue with young Canadians. Investments to strengthen social protection and safety nets are needed now.
