Feminism is a loaded word. Despite being such a common term, everybody has their own interpretation and definition of feminism. Until I came to college, I didn’t realize what an extensive debate surrounds the issue. My hometown was somewhat isolated and had little social diversity. I viewed feminism as a good thing. In a progressive world, equality of men and women seemed obvious to me. I viewed feminism as something standardized and something that was accepted without question. Coming to college turned out to be a wake-up call that was long overdue.
It wasn’t until I took a class on gender norms and cultural discourse that I started to realize how diverse people’s options actually are on the subject. One day, I walked into class wearing heels and a dress. It was a nice fall day, and I decided to put in some effort and take a break from the T-shirts. That day, we were discussing the idea of power: where it comes from and how it affects society.
Out of the blue, my teacher addressed me in class. She asked me why I was so dressed up. I explained that felt like looking nice, I just wanted to change things up a bit. What she said next took me by surprise at the time. She proceeded to tell me that when women dress up, they do it for men. Women do it to display predetermined “gender roles” and to attract potential mates. By looking nice, women “hand over their power to men.” When I strongly disagreed with her in front of everyone, she was annoyed and told me after class that I was “out of line by challenging an authority figure.”
I argued that sexuality is a form of empowerment if looked at it with a healthy perspective. If confidence comes by feeling and looking good, why not embrace it? Clothes and physical aesthetics have the potential to send any number of messages. I am comfortable with feminism as a source of mutual empowerment -- not as a way to make people feel ashamed of their behavior. It is experiences like this that give the term feminism a bad reputation.
That day, I felt attacked and frustrated. Despite being unprofessional in a classroom setting by directly calling out a student, it seemed condescending that my self-proclaimed “feminist” professor would deem it OK to stop a young woman from exercising her power of free speech in an academic setting.
From this experience, I learned that people take diverse approaches to their practice of feminist beliefs. I acknowledge that this was only one experience out of many. Still, experiences like this are why people challenge feminism and, sometimes, look at it like a fad or a joke. Personally, I consider myself a feminist. I also think that people who consider themselves feminist should be careful of what they are implying with their messages. After all, true feminism is about the empowerment of women to gain gender equality at both a social and legal level.
