Before I committed to writing for Odyssey Online, I discussed all of the consequences and outcomes that the commitment would entail. One thing said to me was, “You have to understand the risks. Putting your words and opinions out into the world means that not everyone will agree with you... Some people may have very negative things to say, and they may express these things in harsh ways.” I laughed at this, not because I want to be disrespectful, but because this is already a norm for me.
I am a queer Christian activist with Bipolar II who fights for equality in a predominantly sheltered school situated neatly in the bible-belt in a bubble of suburbia- I am no stranger to disapproval, especially from those who are ignorant of the concepts that activist groups stand for/against. From my experience, most people will be against a group or movement because they are misled on what the organization is about. That being said, I've decided to start writing pieces to educate the general public on certain topics concerning activist movements, starting with feminism.
Something that is always fun, is when I hear one of my peers describe a feminism activist as a “feminazi”; it makes my skin crawl and my blood boil. I have to struggle to bite my tongue and choke down the fiery words that are begging to come out. However, I’ve had to bite my tongue for far too long, and my throat is aching from holding back my words. It's time I say something.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term feminism as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities” and “organized activity in support of women's rights and interests." This means that feminists merely want equality amongst men and women (many modern feminists fight for equality of all genders; however, the term feminism generally specifies some of their actions as specifically for women’s equality- this is something I will explain further in a future article). How is it that it’s so acceptable to compare someone who fights for equality to a group of monsters responsible for slaughtering a civilization of innocents? Being passionate should not be a negative thing, especially with a cause that I believe should be common sense.
I find that many people dislike feminists because they believe that feminists solely fight for oppression in America over ‘trivial struggles’ that are perceived as minor and insignificant when compared to the oppression observed in other countries.
But why must it be a choice, one over the other? Why do we have to choose which females we stand for and which we ignore? Why is it, when a feminist fights for equal pay for women in America, they are unable to fight for oppressed women in foreign countries as well? In several African countries, women will have their clitoris forcedly removed from their bodies via rudimentary surgical techniques. There are no health benefits to this, and many die from infections. In other countries, there is an accepted culture of neck stretching using metal rings.
These rings show prestige and power- but if the woman is to do something seen as iniquitous and wrong in the eyes of the community, the rings are cut off from her neck which has become dependent on the strength of these rings. The neck has no muscle on its own and so the woman’s neck break and she dies. In several countries, women must bleed the first time she has sex with her husband. If she does not, they believe she is not a virgin, and many are murdered in “honor killings." These are seriously unjust and worthy of being fought, but why does this mean we cannot fight for women in our own country at the same time?
Why can’t feminists fight for oppression in all its forms, at home and local, as well as across an ocean? Why does it mean that we cannot fight for ourselves as well as others? Why must we continue to struggle with our oppression because other women “have it worse?" Yes, hardly any women in America are vulnerable to a threat to clitoris removal or neck stretching or honor killings; however, they do struggle with unequal pay and inequality in the workforce. There is constant threat of rape and sexual harassment, as well as the imposed gender roles that create an ingrained mindset of female inferiority.
I am a young woman in America. I struggle with many things purely because I do not possess the predestined correct genitalia. However, I have been told time and time again that I am not allowed to fight for my equality because there are others who suffer from more life-threatening oppression. This is a ridiculous mindset that must end now.
The other reason many people dislike the idea of feminism is because they believe that feminist hate men. That is called misandry, not feminism. Please stop confusing the two and calling misandrists radical feminists or 'feminazis'. It's incorrect and ignorant. Also ignorant: there are some women who identify as feminists, but they themselves are oblivious to the true issues and attributes of feminism, saying things that don’t line up with feminism’s beliefs or what feminists stand for. People need to understand that, just like every other political or religious group, there are misinformed radicals who act on their misconstrued beliefs, causing many to misinterpret what the true organization believes. So stop generalizing a movement from a few funny looking ladies on the street, and stop telling us who we can and cannot fight for.
Men have controlled the world for a millennium. It's 2016, a man and a woman have walked on the moon- aren’t we more evolved than to believe that a reproductive organ makes some more evolved than those with the other organ? I mean seriously, men, you’ve had enough time to rule. Please stop trying to dictate who we fight for. It’s time that “men were created equal” becomes “all humans were created equal."
