Feminism has been a concept in our culture for years, and one would think that, with the women’s rights campaign of the early 20th-century, women would be considered equal. But, sadly, women seem to not be considered equal to our society, which is why feminism is still in contemporary times. The struggles of being a woman in today’s society can be felt by women everywhere but not understood by men. In a sociology class of mine, the male students were asked what a feminist was, and the responses were that a feminist is along the lines of “crazy.” But a feminist is a person who supports feminism, which means a man can be a feminist.
The definition of feminism is the equality of women’s rights that are equal to men. But I have seen people twist the perception of feminism to be about women wanting to destroy men and enslave them. Is it possible that there is at least one woman who thinks that? Absolutely. But one radical does not define a group. But these radical ideas have leaked into the main point where now many people think feminism is a radical sect of women, which is unfair for women. This causes society to want women to stay quiet if they don’t want to be considered crazy, but women have every right to speak out. Going back to the article I wrote on #BlackLivesMatter, perception is everything when looking at groups who want to change the norm, and one little part of a group does not make the whole.
Now to the topic at hand: why men should believe in feminism. Since feminism is a trigger word for a person that leads to an image of a crazy woman labeled “fem-Nazi,” some men see that image and want to back away from it because it is different. But, by the definition of feminism, shouldn’t all people be feminists? The idea of gender equality should be in everyone’s mind, and if someone says they believe in equal rights for all genders, then they are feminist. That’s it. That is the whole argument; because how can someone be supportive of gender equality and not a feminist? Men need to believe in feminism because the injustices against women will continue as long as both genders are not fighting for the same cause. Once the genders strive towards equality, that separation diminishes, and so does the oppression. Men should understand how women are marginalized by society because once men understand how women are treated, it could be a time to change the ideals of society. If there is to be no more injustice towards women, men need to believe in feminism and fight for the equality alongside women.
Sincerely,
A feminist
