Can we prevent feminism from becoming the F word?

Even in 2020, ‘feminism’ remains a dirty word in many circles, with studies even showing that over half of millennial women don’t identify as feminist. Could it be that feminism – what it is, and what it tries to achieve – is being misconceived?

Today, on International Women’s Day, I want to stress the importance of redoubling our efforts to achieve gender equality by ensuring that feminism is embraced in the right way – and not as ‘us-versus-them’ or a battle of the sexes. Instead, feminism should be an inclusive movement that both women and men can get behind – because it will ultimately benefit everyone.

Whether it’s the gender pay gap, or the abuse and harassment highlighted by #MeToo, any form of gender inequality is a deep societal problem. These aren’t just ‘women’s issues’, and neither are they problems that only men can fix. They are ingrained in our wider culture and – unless we make the necessary changes – in our future too.

The responsibility of business

American writer Annie Dillard once said that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. So, if we spend most of our days at work, then it is crucial our workplaces offer a safe and inclusive environment for all employees. Indeed, as an important pillar of society, business has both the responsibility and the ability to be an effective lever of change.

I’m so proud to work for DSM, a company that is serious about promoting women’s rights and advancing gender equality – not because we think this is good PR, but because we know it makes good business sense. More than ever, through gender diversity initiatives and our campaigns to prevent unconscious bias, we are committing to the growth, nurture, and development of our female talent – which will help us secure a brighter future.

I’m thankful, though, that the communal sense of purpose behind these initiatives is felt by my colleagues of all genders. Only by working together, by recognizing our collective responsibility and our shared ambitions, can we move forward and deliver on our commitment to serve all of our stakeholders by offering science-based solutions for some of the world’s most important challenges.

Men are not the enemy

In fact, to drive wider change – change that will last beyond the here and now, change that goes beyond you and me – we desperately need to drive gender equality in an inclusive and constructive way. Men are not our enemy, feminism does not belong to women, and exclusion should not be our language.

So, today, I ask you this: what do we do to make gender equality a common cause? What kind of future do you want for your daughter, son or grandchild? And how can we build this future, together: men, women, and people of all genders? Can we offer future generations a more equal future?

If to ‘respond’ is to ‘answer’, then to be ‘responsible’ is to be ‘answerable’ – or, in other words, held accountable. In making feminism more inclusive, we can all do better, and we should all be held accountable. Mistakes have been made. Now, we must answer.