Many of the people who were against the Women's March on Washington will say things like "We don't need feminism anymore" or "There are a lot of women in the world who have it worse" or "They're just cry babies who can't accept reality". I'd like to address some of these statements because quite honestly, I don't understand how someone who has all of the facts could make them, so I'm assuming that those of you who say things along these lines don't.
First things first, yes we absolutely do still need feminism. While women's rights have a come a long way since the initial feminist movement, there is still a long way to go. Not only in America but across the whole world and personally I won't stop fighting for women's rights until ALL women have the rights they deserve. It doesn't matter to me whether you're a citizen of The United States, what your beliefs are, any of that. I just simply believe that every women deserves to not be treated because she is a women. I believe that every women should be paid equally to men in the same positions as her. I believe that every women should have the rights and resources to choose what happens to her body. Until these beliefs become a reality we'll need feminism. Until men and women are viewed and treated equally all over the world we still need feminism.
As far as women across the world having it worse, well just because someone has it worse doesn't mean that what we have is acceptable. Just because we choose to fight for our own rights too and not just accept what's given to us because "others have it worse" doesn't mean that we are wrong. Feminism is not an American movement, it's a movement all across the world, which was shown on January 21st when sister marches were held across the world. I was not only marching for my American sisters but for all women who are not treated equally.
As for the cry baby rhetoric that has been circling since the march, well, why would I accept a reality that I don't like if I can work to change it instead? If the American colonists that are so often viewed as heroes by the very same people making this argument had just laid down and "accepted reality" we would still be a part of England. If African Americans had just laid down and "accepted reality" in the sixties we would still be living in the Jim Crow Era. This is a rhetoric that appears in every period of history when a majority rises against those in power and it's a rhetoric that time and time again has changed with persistence and time. So, no I will not "accept reality" because the reality of the situation is that women deserve to be treated equally. The reality is that women deserve the right to have a say in what happens to their bodies. Just because our current government and the laws imposed by them does not reflect this does not mean that it is not reality. In fact it is the very people making this argument that need to accept the reality that women are not treated equally, which means that there is still work to be done.
