Easy does it, critics. This is far from a typical "I believe in feminism, men get at me!" article. Rather, here's a little insight for the girls (and guys) who are probably sitting here reading this, wondering why in the world you would ever want to consider yourself a feminist, as I once was. Listen friends, I'm not trying to do any major conversions over here, and honestly, I myself still don't understand what this three syllable curse-like word even really means. So take a breath, I promise you I won't have you sit here and read an educational article on what it is: it's undefinable. But listen to this; there's a whole lot of underlying importance in this word that we resist to make our selves vulnerable to.
In recent courses I'm taking surrounding women's gender, I have yet to leave a class unmoved by viewing and reading things that were once so normal for me that I was almost blinded by the hidden insult. Media: the greatest and worst thing that has become some of our favorite pastimes. This, unfortunately, is where we are constantly reminded of what is expected in today's society. Girls, watch a Victoria's Secret advertisement, then, a Calvin Klein advertisement. The differences are astonishing. We are constantly reassured through media that as women we have to be passive, silent, weak, and an object for someone else's pleasure. Compare to how media portrays men; muscular, athletic, determined, serious, and dominant. So, with that being said, a very important reason one can see eye to eye with feminism is understanding that for centuries now, women have beeLovn succumbed to this stereotype, that we thought was non-existent, but is still alive.
Admittedly, I never cared about the "you're a girl" insults that were thrown at not just myself, but many other adolescent girls while growing up. Yeah, occasionally it pissed you off, but at the end of the day you were never gonna do anything about it. But when thinking about it, why did we ever view it as an insult? Why didn't we simply reply with the easiest five word phrase of "Because I am a girl". By disregarding this statement we are simply detaching ourselves from our gender, because who would really wanna run like a girl anyways, right?
We're still young and vulnerable beings that will nearly change anything at the snap of one's fingers. We want to please. Whether you're a child, a teen, or a grown woman, feeling "less than" hits home. Years from now, or for those whom it concerns now, you wouldn't want to raise a little girl in a world where she's subconsciously taught to be of lower importance than someone else, would you? It starts with you, my friends, and that doesn't nearly mean anything as outrageous as going outside and starting a commotion.
Never feel ashamed to root for feminism because it's not as stereotypical as society deems it to be. No, you most likely will never see me holding a banner promoting it, but I will certainly abide by it in my every day life. I won't be ashamed to be a girl, and neither should you.
