I know some people are on edge already by the title. But don’t worry! I am not here to change your mind about feminism. However I am here to educate you on what feminism actually is and how it started. By the end of this article I hope that whoever is reading this can have a better understanding of the movement and what the goal is.
Merriam-Webster defines feminism as, “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” Now that we have the technical definition, it is safe to come to the conclusion that the point of feminism is not to destroy men. It is, however, that goal to give women the same rights as men. For example, same job opportunities, the ability to vote, get the same level of education, own land and the list could go on. Feminism has evolved into more than that. It now deals with removing infringements on human rights. The movement now looks at more social aspects. Such as diminishing gender roles.
Since we know what feminism is we can look at how it got started. The first gathering of women for their rights was held in Seneca Falls, New York. This meeting happened in July of 1848, according to House of Representatives. This meeting was held for all of the reasons in the first paragraph. Normally, we think of the women’s movement starting around the civil war era with the women’s suffrage movement. Modern day feminism started long ago.
The argument everyone has is “yeah, well what about the women who do hate men." Just like every other group or movement, there are extremists. There are always going to be people to take things too far. The biggest group of feminist are the ones who actually want equal rights. Some women will want to overthrow men. And I do not agree with that ideal or view nor do most feminist. However, the important thing is not to label the whole movement in this way, but take extremists in stride.
With all of this being said feminism is a social movement to gain rights. One of the most important things is not to remember girls need to protect girls and the men who are in need of help as well. Feminism is still relevant and important because when a girl is raped, she is asked if she tried to close her legs, and when a man is, he is told that he was not. Feminism comes with looking out for the man-hating lesbians and the men and the women who do not believe in the movement. The goal is to get rights for everyone regardless.
