Although this is a very disappointing and disheartening statistic, I was not surprised to read it. These past few years, a clear shift backwards in equality for all minorities, not just in regards to gender equality, has been felt everywhere from worldwide politics to representation on our TV screens. What strikes me about this is when people often say there is nothing left for feminists to fight for as women already have everything they could want (for example, the right to work, vote, etc.). However, even before this cultural shift from the last decade or so, this statement was never true, as it completely disregarded women of colour from all around the world and the struggles they continue to face that white women do not have to worry about. This is why intersectionality is important, as some people's perceptions of feminism often only includes white women. The current regression in feminism also proves why this statement of gender inequality being solved is not and should not ever be true; once people start thinking the problem is solved, nothing will be done to continue to fix it. Nobody will care anymore, and slowly, the progress will be undone, as we have seen and will continue to see. Many people believe women are only discriminated against in countries that are called "third-world" countries, which again brings up the conversation of intersectionality and racism as the patriarchy clearly still exists in the so-called "first-world, progressive" countries. The rights to abortion are slowly being taken away from many countries, including America, and domestic abuse and rape cases are often brushed under the rug, even allowing male celebrities who are known abusers and rapists to continue to walk around in the public spotlight and live their careers as if nothing has happened. I really wanted to highlight this line as it emphasises just how serious the setbacks on gender equality have been (and continue to be), and also the importance of intersectionality, as feminism means making sure no woman is free until every woman is free.

The article mentions the importance of intersectionality and I think this point does a great job at representing how different axes of power often come together to put down people of intersecting identities. The (most often) white UK citizens have recently been rallying against immigration because they believe the (notably non-white) migrants have been solely responsible for the rise of crime rates, including rape. They frame it as wanting to protect the women and children of their country, just like the article states. However, these are often the same people (the right wing population) who vote against women's rights to abortion. It raises the following question: if they truly cared about the women and children of their country, why would they willingly put these same women through unwanted experiences, resulting in children that would grow up in households where they are unwanted, especially if the child is a product of rape? It can foster in an unhealthy and deeply mentally damaging environment for all involved. This proves that their issue is not with the lack of protection over the women and children of the country, but actually with the rise of Black and people of colour immigrating there (including women and children), resulting in both the upholding of patriarchal ideals and racist rhetoric as they pin all the blame on people of colour while simultaneously contributing to the control held over women's bodies.

This sentence represents what I believe is a major part as to why it feels as though our society has moved backwards in the last few years in regards to the patriarchy and womens roles. Social media makes up a lot of todays culture all around the world, and with the rise of children gaining full access to social media at such young ages, it has acquired a huge hand in how peoples mindsets are developed both in relation to themselves and everyone around them. This sentence of the article delves into that idea and how both men and women online are influencing impressionable audiences into falling for patriarchal roles. In my opinion, this is also partially due to many people online being incapable of thinking deeper for themselves and instead taking everything at face value, telling themselves and everyone around them that adult men convincing younger men and boys into adopting misogynistic behaviours and women promoting tradwife lifestyles is not that serious and "just a joke". This connects to another sentence earlier in the introduction of the article stating how anti-gender actions can quickly go from "meme to ministry". Things that are said to be "just a joke" are never truly just jokes; they have real impacts on our society and affect peoples mindsets, which in turn results in more patriarchal rules taking over on higher political levels. This aversion to thinking deeper about misogyny and the patriarchy and how we see it in our every day lives comes from people not wanting to leave their comfort zone and admitting that it is, in fact, affecting their every day lives; for example, going online and seeing men make comments about how showing emotions is lame, and women being unable to admit many of the things they do to "maintain" their body (shaving, feeling the need to wear makeup every day, etc.) stems from patriarchal ideals. This has led us to where we are at a cultural level today.