Why do I need to be a feminist?

From my guy friends, I often hear the same question about why do I feel this need to talk about feminist issues, about violence against women, sexual harassment, unequal treatment in the work force and many more. They put the question in perspective by saying that women have achieved so much in the past century and the trend of women catching up is ever rising. There are more women in colleges, medical schools and they are doing better than men.

Inside me, I want to say "Are you really asking me this question? Are you serious? How is not obvious to you that we have so much more work to do when women daily face so much violence in the household, workforce, war zones, peaceful areas, developed economies, not so developed economies, to name a few?
How can you not know that women are the face of poverty all over the world and thus their children are forced into poverty, destined to live in a cycle of never ending poverty? How can you not see that women are so unrepresented in politics and business ,i.e. in the decision making on policies and the economy when they are more than 50% of the world population?
I do not understand how it cannot be clear. I guess this is one reason why feminists like me and the women in this blog need to keep the conversations going...

My usual answer to this repetitive question is that women would not have made so much progress the last century had they not actively been involved in a movement that wanted to fundamentally change the world women were living in and in which they were raising the new generations. Not doing something, now, during my time, would mean to let all that progress slide back and not react to the problems we have now.

Speaking of problems, here is a story from the NY Times:

As Greek scandals go, it started as a trivial but titillating tale -- a ministry official jumps from his balcony after being blackmailed by an angry lover.

Many Greeks yawned. Few suspected that what would soon be known as the "sex, lies and DVDs scandal" would effectively freeze planned reforms, push the conservative government closer to snap elections, and shake the foundations of Greek society.

The DVD scandal has overshadowed the government's economic achievements, bringing its popularity to the lowest point since 2004, under 30 percent, a recent poll showed.

According to the Greek press, it started when a young woman slept with her boss, who promised her a permanent ministry job. When he did not deliver, she taped their private meetings in an attempt to blackmail him.

Then she went to Greek media with her DVD. Most sent her away, but one journalist has been accused in the media of making a copy and delivering it to the prime minister's office.


So far, the only person to get into trouble over the scandal is the woman, 35-year-old Evi Tsekou. She has been charged with blackmail and is held pending trial. Zachopoulos has not been charged over his sexual relationship with an employee.

"The woman was the object of abuse of power and sexual harassment by a superior, even if she consented, according to Greek law," said Sissy Vovou, a member of the Athens Feminist Center. "It is unacceptable she is held in jail. The only reason she is in is to keep her mouth shut."

For the many Greek women struggling to make it in a largely male-dominated society, she is an example of someone who took the easy way up and paid the price.

"You study, you work hard and still you have to let someone grab your butt to rise," said Maria Saratsi, 38, a former manager at a construction company.