Recently, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I stumbled across an article about hating feminism. I clicked on it, even though I knew it would infuriate me. Why I did this is beyond me. I couldn't tell you what the article is called, who wrote it or who shared it. But what I can tell you is that I was amazed. I was amazed that someone of my generation was anti-feminism.
There were two lines that have stuck with me that I read in the article. One of them was something like, "Why are feminists so adamant on taking away jobs from men?" My face turned into a question mark. Since when is feminism about taking jobs? It is about equality. I personally want to take people's jobs by working my way up in a company because I am incredibly ambitious and competitive, but that's just me. Feminism as a whole, though, does not want to take jobs. Feminism is about equality! It is about men and women being treated equally! Feminists are not here to tear men down. We as women have been torn down enough. We want to build people up. We want equal rights! It is our right, as human beings, to be treated equally. Feminism has never been about taking men's jobs. Although, for a woman to be capable of doing so based off her intelligence and talent shouldn't be looked down on either.
The other line that stuck with me said something about "Women in the workforce didn't start until the 80's and 90's, so it's pretty new. So why are people expecting this to take effect so quickly?" Neither one of these quotes are verbatim, but pretty close. Anyways, once again my face became a giant question mark. I wanted to scream. "You're kidding!" was all I could think. Was this a joke? First of all, women got the right to vote in 1920. This started a chain reaction of women getting jobs. Second of all, during the World Wars, women were the work force. So let's say women in the workforce started in 1950, I'll give it a little leeway. That is 66 years! For 66 years, women have been working the same jobs as men, getting less respect than men and getting less pay than men. I will say it again, feminism is not about taking jobs. It is about being treated equally. And even if the article was correct, and women didn't start working until the 80s, that is still 36 years of inequality.
This outrages me. I am not a feminist because I want to tear people down. I'm actually very much against bullying. It sickens me that there are people out there tearing others down for fun. That is beside the point. I am a feminist because one day, I want my daughter to have the same opportunities as my son. I want to be able to get paid as much as my male coworkers, to have the same opportunity for growth as them, to have the same opportunities period. Feminism is not about bullying people or fighting for women to be superior. It is about being equal.
If I want to be CEO, and my husband wants to stay home with the kids, that shouldn't be frowned upon. And it shouldn't be frowned upon if I want to stay home with the kids and my husband wants to be the CEO. This is what feminism is fighting for. For both genders to be able to be the breadwinners of the family. For both genders to be able to work whatever job they want, with same opportunities as everyone else they work with.
My grandma said something to me once, and I will never forget it. She said, "I don't care if you're black, white, purple, green, straight, gay, transgender, girl or boy, if you treat me with respect, I'll treat you the same." I feel like that is kind of what feminism is about. It is about respect, and treating people equally and kindly.
I am going to end my article with this:
Feminism is about equality and equal opportunity. It isn't a dirty word. It isn't an action that people use to tear men down. Feminism is about an equal playing field, and that is all I want.
