She ranges from unequal pay (and it’s not just that women are slow to negotiate a pay increase, they’re viewed as troublesome if they do, while men are seen as assertive), through the increase in eating disorders and body dysmorphia, the low rape conviction rate, the dominant male representation in governments and amongst the heads of corporations, to present a world of gender bias that demolishes the argument that women have “won”. Whereas Walter focused specifically on negative and pornographic images of women in mainstream culture, Barnyard uses this to argue for a far more widespread attempt to keep women in their place, and attacks those who say that “gender inequality is a distraction” from bigger issues like the environment or globalisation. This is a powerful and articulate manifesto. We need more of them.
