In recent years, there has been a lot of pressure in society to move towards equality. Every few years we move forward a tiny bit and then we're told that we're at the highest point of equality we can get to.
The reason that point is as good as it gets is because people are so scared of change. No one wants to change a system that provides them with their own comfort and allows them to live in ignorance. That is exactly why so many people fight against the F word.
Feminism.
Feminism is defined as a movement that fights for equality and yet people argue that it's a movement led by raging lesbians in order to tip the scales in the advantage of women. This is especially the mindset of men who are against the movement. Men have always benefited from the current patriarchal society that we live in. I'm not saying they created it, nor am I saying that all men wish to keep it in place, but the fact of the matter is that they do benefit.
The biggest problem people have with feminism comes from their own misunderstanding of the movement. Although I must say, feminism is not just one movement. There have been many waves of feminism over the years and they all move towards different goals and include different groups. So that just goes to say yes, feminism is not always perfect. Not every "feminist" is doing what is in the interest of the movement, nor are they required to.
Everyone has their own idea of what is right and what isn't. The problem comes around when they their ideas of what is acceptable are based on misinformation, like the girl in my class who inspired me to write this article.
To quote Rosa, "I'm not a feminist because I believe in equality and I think it's wrong to hate men." She defined being a feminist as the reason she was not a feminist.
There are so many other people who think in this same way. They assume that the entire movement's sole purpose is to create a man-hating society when all we really want is to be treated in an equal manner.
We want the same pay, the same job opportunities, we want to be EQUAL. For people to make any other statement without actually researching feminism is the reason that we have had so much trouble actually achieving equality.
Asking for change shouldn't be considered as us being selfish in the way it is.
There are too many people who are afraid of change. There are too many people who don't even believe it's fair to ask for equality.There are too many people who hurt the movement that they actually stand for, simply because they refuse to educate themselves, and in some cases simply because they're afraid of what their peers will say about it.
We don't hate men, we hate the system that unreasonably favors them. That's what we're fighting.
