I am not an expert on feminism. I have not extensively studied it and, I don’t know the nitty-gritty details. But, I am a female—aka living, breathing proof of why we still need feminism.
It’s the 21st century and yes women are significantly better off than they were in the 1900s. Shocker. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t still need feminism. So, I’m sorry, but the article “I Am A Female And I Am So Over Feminists" is just plain wrong.
Feminism is about equality amongst the sexes. Equality as in young girls should grow up with the same opportunities and dreams as their classmates. Equality as in if they want to be the president, or a mechanic, or design software, or do computer coding, they should be encouraged. They should be able to work, talk, and write about sports without their opinions being dismissed because they are girls.
There are people who take things to the extreme everywhere. Seriously, look around. There are extremists in religion, politics, and sports. People go over the top all the time, but that doesn’t mean we categorize an entire group by these outliers. These so-called “feminists” who think women should play in the NFL are extremists. The ones who seriously think women are the superior sex and all men are evil—extremists.
Feminists aren’t knocking at chivalry. There’s something called kindness, or making a good impression. Please, open the door and pay for dinner. If you’re complaining about chivalry in the name of feminism, you’re focusing on all the wrong things.
Instead, focus on why we need to empower women and girls. Focus on why sexual assault, rape cases like Brock Turner, excuses like “locker room talk,” victim-blaming, and slut shaming are still a thing. Focus on why we attack other girls, put them down, and blame their mistakes on their gender. Why both men AND women do this. Why are women attacking other women? I dunno. Guess we still do need feminism.
We aren’t fighting for huge and obvious rights like voting or the ability to work full time. Now we need to focus on raising strong and confident girls. We need to teach them, at 14, not to be ashamed of their bodies. That it is theirs. That no boy has the right to grab them at a party if they don’t want them to.
Feminism is evolving and changing with the times. So, if you have a problem with “feminism,” then maybe we need to re-frame what feminism means. Be a role model. Not a man-hater, complainer, or someone who blames-all-my-problems-on the patriarchy. We can, and hopefully will, continue to make strides in equality. But, as long as we have both women and men, we are still going to need feminism.
