Does feminism need rebranding? What is the future of feminism? Is it anti-men? Is it anti-feminine? Is Lily Allens new music video hugely problematic or a clever satire that ridicules the portrayal of women in the media?
These were just some of the questions raised when ELLE editor-in-chief Lorraine Candy kicked off todays debate day activity on BBC Radio 4s Womans Hour.
Lorraine was joined by Caroline Criado Perez, the co-founder of The Womens Room and the feminist campaigner who fought to keep women on banknotes, to discuss ELLEs groundbreaking project to rebrand feminism and issues of sexism that run parallel.
We have to keep talking about feminism. It affects women in different ways. I am constantly defined by my hair colour. Men refer to me as The Blonde, explained Lorraine, as she described why ELLE had decided to start a conversation around the idea of feminism and whether the concept is appealing and relevant to women today. The response has been extraordinary. Women are incredibly interested and engaged. We want to keep the debate going.
I really like the idea that women are wanting to talk about feminism, agreed Caroline. For it to get as wide an audience as possible is great. We need more feminism everywhere; if its just relegated to one aspect of life women feel like it doesnt apply to them. Im not even sure the majority of women are feminist, which is why we need to push it out to a wider audience.
And if the large majority of men were feminists we wouldnt be having this debate, concluded Lorraine.
Get a free download of this mornings broadcast here to listen to the full conversation.
Follow @ELLEUK #ELLEfeminism on Twitter to keep up to date with all of the activity surrounding tonight's feminism debate hosted by Lorraine and a special panel of speakers.
