Saying the word "feminism" has the effect of making people roll their eyes a full 360 degrees. In fact, according to an article by FROST on Thumotic “a community for men with the fighting spirit,” feminists are the worst kind of women, and they will accuse all men of rape, heartlessly get an abortion on a whim, and have sex with any man so long as she is constantly reassured of her power over him. The stereotypes and assumptions of feminists and the feminist movement are often inaccurate to the point of ridiculousness. These kinds of misinterpretations of feminism led to the widespread belief that led society to believe that feminism is a sexist movement.
What Is Feminism?
What is feminism really? The term feminism was first coined by a French philosopher named Charles Fourier in the mid-1800s. Fourier wanted to see women more empowered in society, although his goal was not for women to have equal rights as men. The modern definition of feminism is a movement for women to have equal social, economic, and political opportunities and rights as men. Although feminist movements were present in the U.S. in the late 1800s—particularly strong in the early and late 1900s—the word "feminism" has only been introduced to the U.S. in the mid-1900s. Back in the early days, feminism had a positive view. It was thought to be complementary to patriotism in that it was a movement that played a role in America’s pride of being “the land of the free.” Nowadays, people refute being a feminist despite having parallel views of women rights and equality. The attitude towards feminism has taken a turn, and Americans no longer view it as a movement of justice; it is rather viewed as a movement of injustice towards men. Another way of saying this is, feminism is now known as a sexist movement, but it's not.
As a sociology professor at the University of Maine Steven Barkan defines, feminism “supports a belief in traditional gender role stereotypes and in the inherent inequality between men and women… [which] parallels the concept of racial and ethnic prejudice." The purpose of feminism is not so that women can be more empowered in society than men. The purpose of feminism is, in fact, to rid the social injustice women face in a traditionally patriarchal society. Before Americans came to the realization that maybe women are just as human as men, it was thought to be that men were capable in all aspects so as to be meant for “‘higher’ and more demanding realms of intellect and art,” whereas women were not; women were “physically and mentally weaker” and made “for the home: for marriage, motherhood, domestic joys, and charities" with “naturally self-sacrificing natures.” Just as Jean Matthews mentioned in her book "Women’s Struggle for Equality," women were at the time, born to be dependent on males.
Feminism Today
It was not until the mid-19th century that women gathered to form the first feminist movement, which marked a time when women slowly but surely started to be more independent. It is so often assumed that a woman has to be submissive to men, she has to choose marriage over her career, she has to do all the housework—basically, she should be a silent moving object in the background that denies all her desires but her undying wish to follow a male figure’s commands. Women are stuck with gender roles and Americans, who so proudly boast about their so-called “extremely modern and liberal” social development, live in a society where their views and treatment of women are archaic. In terms of people’s mentality of women, separate from national laws, there has been little to no progress. Yes, women today are granted more rights than, say, women in the pre-19th century, but even with the new women’s rights, can we really say women are viewed much differently?
According to the official United States' White House website, “a typical 25-year-old woman working full time all year earned $5,000 less than a typical 25-year-old man” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated that “one in every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime." The United Nations reported that “women do two-thirds of the world’s work, receive 10 percent of the world’s income, and own 1 percent of the means of production.” The World Economic Forum stated that although women make up half of the global population, “women hold only 15.6 percent of elected parliamentary seats in the world.”
In this kind of society, it is only natural for women to want change. For the longest time, gender inequality was seen as the norm, so much so that gender inequality is tied deeply into the roots of some traditions. Some might say strict gender roles are part of their culture or family tradition. Although women started gaining rights in the U.S. since the mid-1800s, only recently has it been somewhat normal for women to work alongside men professionally. Even so, women are often unknowingly treated differently than men. In the modern days, most gender inequalities are expressed in discreet ways either with intention or through cultural norm.
Can Men Be Feminists?
Some question whether men can be feminists or if only women can be feminists. People of all colors and genders can be feminists; although a lot of men claim that they are feminists when they are not. Some of these same men go home to eat the food their wives made and sleep on fresh sheets their wives have laundered. It is humorous that they claim that they are feminists and go home to make their female counterparts do “a woman’s job.” These are not true feminists. True feminists don’t follow the gender roles. They embrace people of all differences, as that is what feminism is all about. The feminist movement is all about how people are all equal despite their difference in gender, political views, sexual orientation, etc. Over the years, through feminism, people have grown conscious of being sexist particularly to women. To be conscious of offending a gender that men have oppressed for many centuries requires extra effort on their part; therefore, this can be a bit of a scare to men.
Author Michael Kaufman states that, “men are afraid of feminism because it challenges forms of men’s power and privilege that one-half of our species foisted on the other about 8,000 years ago.” Considering that men’s lives had to change completely in that for example, they had to do all the housework for themselves, and they had less power over their sex life, gender equality was overwhelming for some of them.
Gender equality is not an idea men are used to, so it is understandable for them to be “scared.” Some even assume that women are trying to take over the society through feminism. This hypothesis is not irrational because after dominating for many, many centuries, not being seen as beings closer to God than women can shake men up. The solution to quickly getting men over their fear of female domination is by clearing the misunderstandings that they have of feminism.
Empowering Women, Not Hating Men
One of the biggest misunderstandings of feminism is that it is about empowering women so that they can be superior to men. That is exactly the opposite of what feminism is all about. Feminism is about equality of gender, not one empowering the other. Obviously, feminism is focused on women and women’s rights, but it does so to balance the unbalanced. One must put pressure on the side with less weight to balance a scale. Similarly, women must be given the rights and opportunities that they deserve to have, as men do, to balance this unbalanced scale.
Also, often times, people forget that the feminist movement is not only about equality for women, but also equality for all. Some self-proclaimed feminists seem to forget that feminism isn’t about gender supremacy. These kind of feminists are the reason why feminists are often labeled as sexist. On the other hand, the extreme girl power is understandable. Women have been oppressed for the longest time and through feminism, women have just recently been treated almost like equals to men. One really cannot blame some women who are considered “extreme feminists.” In the past, American women have been granted more and more rights, but made no progress in the social development in terms of gender equality. Now, as the idea of gender equality is becoming more recognized and accepted, it can be seen as the actual breakthrough of feminism in society.
It's important to note that feminism is not only about women gaining equal rights, but is a movement that symbolizes the challenging of institutional and structural barriers. Feminists are freedom fighters, suffragists, civil rights activists, men, women, black, white, yellow, red, gay, straight, bisexual, and transgender. Feminism is for men and women.
I’m a feminist! Are you?
