The basic idea of Feminism revolves around the principle that just because human bodies are designed to perform certain procreative functions, biological elements need not dictate intellectual and social functions, capabilities, and rights. Some women in the world have most recently taken this word out of context. Feminism has been twisted into the term “misandry," which is the hatred of males as a sex. When some people hear the word feminism, they are now envisioning man hating and man bashing radical women.
A few years ago, I was blasted with the question, “are you a feminist?” New and naïve to the term, I stated, “what is feminism?” “Women power of course, the idea that women are better than men in every way," was the answer I received. Slightly flabbergasted with the response given to me “no I am not a feminist” was my immediate response. Later on in the day I was still curious, so I decided to look up the actual definition of the term. I arrived to read “Feminism: The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic EQUALITY to men.” Where did the distortion of this truly important word begin?
Misandrists who CLAIM to be feminists are speaking their radical opinion. The fact is, misandrist’s radical opinion speaks considerably more boisterously than the subtle opinions of true feminists; therefore, the radical opinions are taken more seriously. Populations (especially our adolescent populations) will hear something that sounds somewhat true and declare it accurate. One of the main problems we face nowadays is some people base information on flat out opinion rather than actual fact.
Most feminists, such as myself, actively disagree with the belief that women are better than men and think that feminists who are anti-men are going against the fundamental principles of feminism, which says we’re all deserving and worthy human beings. Man hating is NOT a part of the goal and it’s extremely unfortunate such an important term had to be taken and distorted into a hideous proclamation.
“Feminism needs more advancing and less disparaging,” said Bridget Murray Law of apa.org. According to Cynthia de las Fuentes of Society for the Psychology of Women, “such negative perceptions derive from media distortion-not the movement’s mission of equality for the sexes at work and home. What’s more, many young women-and men-don’t realize that equality has yet to be achieved.” So like most things in current-day society, the distortion of the term was most likely taken from the media, which is our primary source of data.
“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians,” Pat Robertson famously proclaimed in the '90s. I cannot even begin to describe how much this quote amuses me because I know it is the farthest from the truth, but the sad circumstance is, in the ears of many people today this outright blithering sentiment remains true.
“Bashing feminism by moving the goal post is the standard, lazy cop-out of the Right. Feminism is not about a woman being the same as a man; it’s about the egalitarian values that acknowledge the equal value and rights of all, including men. How this value gets translated into movement is another story and an ever-changing one at that. Feminism does not require a rejection of femininity; quite the contrary. It offers a choice for the individual and values the feminine, per its name. Without such easy distortions, the Right has no argument against real feminism,” said Sarah Jones of PoliticusUSA
Cognitive studies suggest that all humans share both feminine and masculine traits. Once we as human beings understand this, it will vindicate us from the gender based expectations that are becoming more difficult to justify. What matters is that feminism is about gender equality. The goal of feminism is to create a society in which individuals’ genders do not restrict them from an equitable and unbiased shot at success and happiness.
I strongly believe that when an individual is teaching about the term “feminism” it is absolutely imperative to differentiate with misandry. Teachers and parents in current society are failing to do this, which is why we are currently partaking in such a huge problem of the misinterpretation of the word. We should all be taking essential steps to help restore the true, and beautiful meaning of the term feminism.
