The F Word

Feminism is currently defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Merriam-Webster puts it into even simpler terms as "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." This sounds like a good thing, right? If we put it this way, who could say that they don't believe in feminism? It's just advocating for equality after all, right?

Well, not a lot of people see it this way. In fact, there are many people out there, both men and women, who have come to associate a lot of negative--and untrue!--things with feminism. The whole movement has gotten a bad rep, with people thinking that many feminists are scary, angry man-haters who want to see the world dominated by women. SURPRISE! That's not what we want at all! In fact, feminists want the opposite of that; we just want everyone to be equal! I can understand why some people think these things though, because some women can be a little bit intimidating in their quest for equality. But I can't really blame them, because women have come a long way in the last hundred years or so. Because of these "scary" ladies, women now have the right to vote, have control over their own bodies, enter the workforce, and even run for president.

But just because things are better today than they were 100 years ago, doesn't mean that the fight for equality is over and it certainly doesn't mean that feminism is any less relevant or necessary. I've heard a lot of people say that they just don't see the need for feminism anymore because women are "pretty much" equal anyway. Or that fourth wave feminism isn't necessary in the Western world because women aren't as oppressed here as they are in other countries. I hope that if you've read my previous four posts on this blog, you'll get a sense that there is still a need for feminism, because things are still far from equal.

I'd like to take a second here and debunk several common myths about feminism that many self-proclaimed "anti-feminists" hold. By pointing out that gender inequality is still an issue, feminism is not encouraging women to see themselves as victims of society. It's actually empowering women to take a stand against these views and to actually do something about the inequalities they're facing!

Another misconception people often have is that all feminists hate men and demonize them to further their cause. I think it's kind of unbelievable that I have to say this, but that's also not true! Feminism is against certain actions or ideals, such as the patriarchy, not certain people. Feminism also isn't about taking any rights or opportunities away from men, it's about giving those same rights and opportunities to women and allowing them to rise up to the same level.

I think that a lot of the reason that people don't want to call themselves feminists is because they're afraid of the negative connotations that the word has. And that's completely understandable. I spent a lot of my life actively avoiding being labeled a feminist. I had a lot of the same misconceptions I'd imagine most other people do when they say they don't believe in feminism. I thought that feminism was kind of unnecessary in our current society and I didn't want to be associated with such an outspoken and seemingly disliked group (I know, I know, I could literally kick myself for thinking like this). Things changed for me when I actually took the time to learn about what feminism is and the values that it promotes. I started challenging my own opinions of society and realized that they line up pretty nicely with feminist ideals. This video in particular was really eye-opening for me.

So, while I would love it if everyone who comes across this post could suddenly become enlightened by reading it and begin to consider themselves a feminist, I know that this can't be the case. Because the truth is, I'm not here to try and brainwash anyone into supporting feminism. I do, however, hope that this post was thought provoking, and that if you didn't consider yourself a feminist before reading this that you've at least thought a little bit harder about the reasons why.