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this is a simple question with a complex answer.
feminism used to be quite the social and political movement but it is neither of those anymore. i mean, overarching issues of national security and equal rights for homosexuals have taken the spotlight, at least in the last few years. feminism no longer permeates social thinking because of many reasons. one being that since its emergence, it fell to the backburners because of the lack of political action taken for or against it. that is, there has been little done in politics and law regarding equal rights for men and women. well, that's not to say that nothing has happened; maybe policies were written and laws were debated and certain ones passed but nothing significant to maintain news for headlines. over time, it no longer seemed a pressing social concern, at least not in the eyes of the media. and when media focuses away from an issue, the mass public thinks the issue itself is no longer important. it is a consensual relationship in that both feed off each other but in a botched way. if there is little done on local and federal levels, the media starts to invest its attention elsewhere. but just because the media does not spew news relating to feminism does not mean it is not an important issue. an issue is an issue. feminism is always important until equality develops between men and women in all realms of society. another reason is that grassroots politics are poorly funded, disorganized, labor intensive, and time consuming. in the situation the country as been for the last decade or so, there have been bigger issues at hand, such as the immigration, the threat of terrorism and well, rising gas prices. that's right. the public is far more sensitive to what effects them directly than issues that may or may not concern them. in the case of feminism, the average american will care less for it than he does for rising gas prices because he thinks he is not personally accountable for inequality between men and women. meanwhile, rising gas prices will no doubt hurt his budget and bank account.
there are other issues but i'd like to see what others think before throwing it all out there.
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