The F Word

I know what you’re thinking, but no this article isn’t about the four letter word your mother would wash your mouth out with soap if you said Nor is it the word that teenage boys like to use in place for sex. This is about the real F word. Feminism. Gasp. Attending a small southern university, the phrase “I’m a feminist” will send mouths to drop and eyes to roll in a blink of an eye. Before I get into why feminism is critical to existence, let me first explain what feminism is.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines feminism as the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. The feminist movement was started around 1968 in the U.S. when women started to branch out and read more. This movement rallied for women to more active in the workforce as well as hold stronger roles in society. Women didn’t even have the right to vote until 1920, 50 years after African American men were granted the right to vote. Throughout history, women have been constantly seen as less than a man. Even to this day, the pay gap for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 79 cents. Though women’s rights have come a long way, even in the 21st century there is still a view that men deserve more than women.

The image that someone gets when they think about a feminist is this loud man-hating obnoxious person. It would be unfair of me to say that this image is completely off basis. I’ve created a personal explanation as to why others image this type of person. When the feminist movement first started, women had to be loud and in your face because no one would listen if they weren’t. You had to speak out against the patriarchy in order to get things done. However, in the 21st-century women don’t have to be so in your face because we have gained respect overall. So today’s generation of feminism may not be your stereotypical Yaya sisterhood activist who’s burning their bras and out to destroy men. I promise you we aren’t crazy.

Now let’s talk about something that we like to close our eyes about and push aside. Rape. Rape is far too common in the US. In fact, 1 in 4 college women report having been sexually assaulted or raped. Do we know why? In some cases, yes, the man is a complete psycho narcissist who thinks women often enjoy having someone force them into nonconsensual sex. We also have cases where men believe that women are seeking this attention. This stems from households where men are often the head of the home and more than likely have a woman figure who doesn’t make most decisions for the family and is seen as the #2 in the home. If we raise our children that women’s opinions and voices don’t mean as much as a man’s, we get rape. Not only do we traumatize these victims but in most cases we pretend like it’s their fault. We don’t tend to ask them if they are okay, instead, we interrogate them with questions like: “what were you wearing?”, “were you intoxicated?”, “did you lead him on?”, “where were you?”. Blaming the victim silences, the voices of girls across America. This is not okay. This is never okay. Rapist causes rape, not anything else. Feminism sheds light on these issues and without such a powerful group of people, rape is overlooked and not exposed as much as it needs to be.

Feminism is NOT about bashing men and making women seem superior or better than men in any way. A feminist is not an image or a “type” of girl. It’s nothing to be ashamed of and isn’t something that is solely for the benefit of the female gender, it benefits MEN AND WOMEN. This is the movement started by greats such as Elenor Roosevelt, Audrey Hepburn, and Maya Angelou who build this platform for us to uphold it and keep it in today's society. It should not be torn down and looked at as a demeaning title. It roots from hard work and is vital to maintaining the rights of all. It’s equal rights on both parts. A woman shouldn’t be criticized for not being a stay at home mom and a man shouldn’t be criticized for wanting to be a stay at home dad. Frankly, it’s nobody’s business of the roles in the household as long as everyone is happy. Society often interjects too much into the personal lives of families and forgets that some things are just private and aren’t meant to be judged.

I have been a feminist since I can remember. I don’t hate men, only the dumb ones who try to make me feel inferior. That’s not exactly unreasonable, is it? Most ideas that feminist have aren’t, like equal pay for equal work, fair advantages in the workplace, to not be seen as a minority just because of our gender, or not to be raped for wearing a short skirt. Some insane notion that women are actual people and not objects. Mind-blowing, I know. Being a strong person who wants and supports equal rights is critical to growing as a society. The quicker we realize that all people truly are created equal, the less hate crimes we’ll have and the stronger our society will become. Not one race, gender, or population is great than another. We are all men, we were all created the same, we are all worth of equal opportunity. That is feminism.