Feminism. It's a scary word to most of you isn't it? When you hear this word you might think of a few different things. Perhaps this triggers the image of some crazy man-hater? Maybe someone who doesn't shave their legs and burns all of their bras? Well, it's that negative stigma that is making me identify myself loud and proud as feminist. If you had those images come to mind then I am almost positive you don't actually know what feminism is. And if you want to know, "What does a feminist look like?" there is no image, and there need not be this stigma to generalize all feminists. So just what the heck is it? I can define feminism in just one word: equality. And that one word unites everyone who defines themselves as a feminist.
1. I am a feminist because when I tell people that I have brothers they say things like, "They must have made you tough," as if a woman cannot be tough or strong without the influence of a man. Many many times where my toughness was attributed to my brothers rather than my own character.
2. My interests as a child classified me as a tom boy, not as a girl who liked things other than barbies and the color pink: These stigmas for what a girl was supposed to like circled around my head at a young age. I played football with the boys in my neighborhood, caught frogs and went fishing, and I always wore gym clothes preparing for sports at recess. I didn't do gymnastics, cheer or play on the playground. And my interests made me more like a "boy" than a "girl." We need to stop defining what people should like based on their gender. My interests made me who I was, they didn't change my gender.
3. When women take charge and be leaders, they are called bossy: You've probably seen the media push to #BanBossy and I couldn't support this cause enough. I can't recall any time where a man was called bossy while in charge. Yet from an outsider view and even when I was in leadership positions, women had to tread lightly with the fear that they would be seen as "bossy" or a "bitch" when a man would be seen as "powerful" or "confident."
4. Because the media has made me feel like the only important things about women are their looks, and I'm sick of it. This stigma goes both ways but the examples where women are objectified are much more plentiful. Many advertisements won't even show the whole body of a woman, just parts of it. This degrades the woman to an object or a body part or feature rather than a human. The portrayal of women in the media has led to anorexia and bulimia. Girls are starting to question the way they look at a young age instead of feeling confident and beautiful.
5. Because my childhood friend shared this photo on Facebook:
I was outraged, and this isn't the only sexist thing I have seen shared by thousands of people on Facebook. These gender roles hurt men and women alike. Any world where men are criticized for being sympathetic, artistic or anything but "manly," is not one that I want to be a part of.
6. Because of the amount of times I have heard people say, "Well what were you wearing?" or "She's asking for it," no one and I mean no girl or man for that matter dresses with the hopes of being raped. This is the most disgusting argument and it's so believed by so many people. Rape is rape, and there are no means for justifying it. This puts the blame on the victim.
7. Because of the amount of times I have seen and heard catcalling. In sweatpants or in a dress, it makes no difference there is no justifiable reason to do it. Catcalling by nature dehumanizes women and the goal is for women to be submissive by men. Until women can go for a run without being yelled or honked at, our country needs feminism.
8. Because my reproductive rights are being debated by a bunch of old white me. The plans to defund Planned Parenthood because of the religious beliefs of stuffy male politicians are sickening. So little of the work done by Planned Parenthood are actual abortions but irregardless I stand for "my body, my choice." The men constructing this legislation cannot understand what it is like to carry a child for nine months, and to be forced to give birth to a child that was a product of rape, or having to raise a child with little to no income. These circumstances are just some of the reasons why women need to get abortions, and men have no place in making that decision.
I could list many more reasons for why we need feminism and if you find my reasons unjustifiable just look up the tag "I need feminism because" and you will find a whole slew of reasons from men and women... but the thing is there does not even need to be a reason. The premise of feminism is equality, and I believe, and I think it's time our country and our citizens, that all men and women are created equally. These stereotypes of how men should behave and how women should behave only further these adaptive cycles created to make males more dominant. This is a movement and it's time for it to spread. So next time someone starts going off on an "antifeminist rant," I encourage you to remind them that feminism stands for equality and don't fear this word anymore.
