Every single time I hear someone talking about feminism, I hear at least one flaw within the conversation. And it’s not a little mistake that can go unrecognizable; it’s a big mistake usually about what feminism is. I’m probably so passionate about this because of my previous education at an all-girls high school where feminism was beyond promoted.
With that, I feel like I have a pretty solid leg to stand on when I talk about this topic. The first point I need to make clear is that FEMINISM DOES NOT ONLY APPLY TO FEMALES! I am so tired of people automatically assuming that feminists are trying to take away males' rights and prove that females are better because that could not be further from the truth.
Feminism is about equality. It is about women and men having the same opportunities, the same rights, with neither feeling disadvantaged because of their gender. It may seem that females are benefitting more from this concept of feminism, but that is only because females are more at a disadvantage than men right now.
For example, some women in the workforce find themselves receiving a smaller paycheck than their male coworker who has the same job and does the same amount of work. If men were to receive less pay than their female coworkers, then they, too, would work towards equality using the same idea – feminism.
I also would like to say that regardless of what you might think, you are probably a feminist. The word itself seems to have a lot of weight to it. Many people would not identify themselves as feminists because they automatically associate that word with crazy, outspoken women who hate on the male gender, but that is not feminism.
So anyone who claims to hate the male gender because they are a “feminist” has misunderstood the concept. Addressing someone as a feminist should not be a negative attribute, and it makes me sad to see both women and men refusing to identify themselves as feminists.
We should all have the same opportunities, both men and women. I can’t think of a legitimate reason for why that statement should not be true. Women are not better than men, and men are not better than women. As a country that promotes equality, I am appalled at the misconception about feminism since it really is the same thing. And the fact that so little people properly understand feminism proves how little this topic has been passed around the table.
A year ago, I was shown a video of Emma Watson giving a U.N. speech for a gender equality campaign called He for She. This video made me realize that I am a feminist and always have been without even realizing it. I used to get annoyed with the people who addressed themselves as feminists before watching this clip. I was simply uninformed and addressed feminists with the typical stereotype of controlling and obnoxious women complaining about everything, which is indeed false.
One large problem that makes it easy to be uninformed about this is the lack of participation from men. Men do not think that they are not affected by gender inequality. They don’t feel feminism applies to them. Emma Watson lists examples to prove that gender inequality affects both men and women, and I encourage you to watch this clip.
