In today's society, feminism has become synonymous with bra burners and men haters. This mislabeled aggressive feminist ideology isn't feminism. But because of our culture's tendency to categorize thoughts and beliefs, feminists, in general, have drawn a lot of hate from people. I see articles every day about women discrediting their beliefs and men feeling personally attacked by their statements.
But if you knew the truth, you wouldn't feel like that.
Because at its roots, all feminism seeks to accomplish is equality for women. Plain and simple. It's not about condemning or blaming men for their inherent privilege because they can't help having been born with one X and one Y chromosome any more than we can help being born with two X chromosomes.
I'm going to say it again: It is NOT ABOUT BLAME. That's not what we want. We want change. That's it.
So as a woman, we are all feminists, whether or not we choose to label ourselves as such or whether or not we profess so out loud. No human being wants to be treated as an inferior being to anyone else. No one wants to work just as hard as their counterpart and then for totally mundane and superficial reasons get looked over for promotions, make less money in every paycheck, be called bossy when they volunteer to take the lead on projects, be called emotional or hysterical when they feel passionate about something, or even worse, be asked whether you're on your period. But once again, it is not to blame men. Because it is more about the system than anything else; the individuals who are swept up in society's preconceived notions about being a woman are not to blame for being brainwashed into thinking women are inferior.
And to the men out there who make fun of feminism, don't. Because when you do, you're telling your daughter, wife, girlfriend, aunt, sister, mother, grandmother, etc. that they are less valuable than you are. And truth be told, you probably don't want them to feel like that. You want to discredit the feminazis who claim that you are evil just because you're a man. And there's nothing wrong with disliking people who blame you, but there is something wrong with making fun of human rights.
To the men in my life: I know you can't help how you were born, but neither can I. I hope you don't want me to make less money than you do, and I'm sure that you don't want me to have fewer rights than you do, but we have to work together to make that happen. It's all about changing our language and the way we think. It's difficult but doable.
So I'm not blaming you, I'm asking you to help me.
Help me by proudly proclaiming your own feminism, because if you are a dad, uncle, grandfather, brother or even son, there's no way that you want the women in your life to be mistreated. Truth be told, whether we know it or not, I think we are all feminists, but we need to stop seeing that as a dirty word and start understanding what it really is. Man-hating is not feminism, blaming men for their opportunities isn't feminism, but loving equality is. And regardless of your gender, that's what we have to start doing.
