To The Girl Who Isn't A Feminist, This One's For You
Feminism is not what you think it is.
There's recently been an article becoming popular titled "I am a female and I am so over feminists."
When I first started reading it, I realized that the writer had made some good points. However, as I read more into the article, I realized it lacks one important thing — research.
It stated that women "have never been more respected. Women have more rights in the United States than ever before."
Yes, women have never been more respected but women still have less right in comparison to men.
Even though sexism in the workforce and everyday life is so much better than 50 years ago — it will always exist and be a problem.
The hashtag #MeToo has made great advancements in making it easier to report sexual harassment cases in the workplace, but this hashtag started just two years ago. Without the brave women who came forward and reported their encounters, we wouldn't have this monumental hashtag.
The motive for this hashtag? To be treated with respect and yes, even as equals.
Inequality still doesn't stop in social situations and while it's most well known in the workforce, it also occurs in the world of sports.
Even though female sports are less popular than men and therefore not paid as much, they're still playing the same sport (and some are even better than the men).
The Women's Soccer team has recently gained headlines with their incredible accomplishment: a 13-0 victory over Thailand. They even won the last World Cup in 2015, while the men's soccer team did not even qualify. Even with the Women's Soccer Team explosive success—they're still paid 38 cents to the dollar compared to their male counterparts.
Women in the workforce (corporate and Hollywood actresses) still get paid 20% less than men. Even Ellen Pompeo, one of the main stars of Grey's Anatomy was paid significantly less than her male counterparts at the start of the show.
Make sense why people think men and women still aren't equal right?
If you look up the actual definition of feminism, it says: the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. It never says the advocacy of women overpowering men. I think the author of this article and anybody else against feminism think that all feminists hate men, which is not true. Sure, some feminists hate men but those few women don't represent the entire movement.
I've seen many articles like this one and have tried not to fire back because truth be told, I didn't know everything about feminism and what it meant to be one.
In highschool, I considered myself a feminist, but I really had no idea what that word even meant and what I was standing for. It wasn't until I did research for papers and articles that I learned the true meaning.
I learned about Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique," a book that helped ordinary women to examine their lives and social roles. Since this book was published, women have been inspired to pursue degrees in the medical and law field.
I learned about the inspiring Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A woman who, without her work, we wouldn't have non-discriminatory laws against both genders and is also known for being an equal rights activist (also known as a feminist).
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Betty Friedan overcame obstacles because they wanted two things: equality and respect.
Our foremothers of feminism never wanted to be above men, but to be equal — because they were born into a world where men were always superior.
While feminism is about equality, it is also about respect — men respecting women and vice versa and in a way, chivalry is also included. If a man respects a woman (cooks and cleans for her, opens the door for her, does things a woman expects), then he's a feminist.
Equal rights and feminism also means embracing the opposite gender for each other's faults because we are human, not because of our gender.
Even if I considered myself a feminist, I still understand that men can do more tasks than women. Yes, they are physically superior, but they shouldn't act like they are socially superior. This is when I (and feminists too) have a problem with men — if a man can't respect women in the workforce or in the household.
This author had good points and intentions with this article.
However, with more attention to the nuances of modern society, then she may find that feminism is not a dead social cause — but one that requires us to fight for true equality.
