Now, before you stop reading, hear me out. Originally, feminists would fight for all different kinds of rights so that men and women could be equal. Whether it was the right to vote or the right to have maternity leave, feminists were advocating for some pretty awesome stuff. Unfortunately, just like everything else in life, things changed.
Feminists are now a joke.
The most popular satirical parody of the feminist movement is called "meninism." The literal definition on Google says, "intended to make fun of feminists." There are even Facebook memes and Twitter accounts satirizing the feminist movement. There is one meme in particular in which a woman is hunched over a computer, looking distressed. The caption is, "There must be some way this victimizes me!" Obviously this post is a.) assuming that all feminists have to be women and b.) implying that the goal of all feminists is to try to find a way to be a victim after a man does or says anything. We cannot assume that all feminists are like that because in reality, the actual goal of feminism is to fight for the equality between men and women. However, the feminist movement as a whole is still perceived as a giant group of man-hating women.
And it needs to change.
People constantly ask me, "How can you be a woman and not be a feminist?" Well, it's because feminism means something completely different now. It's not about equality. From what I have read and seen, feminism is turning into pure hypocrisy and I do not want to be apart of something that is constantly being misconstrued. Feminists believe that women have been inferior since the beginning of time, yet I have seen some posts saying, "All men are pigs" or, "Men don't work as hard as women, so why should they get paid more?" First of all, does everyone know every single person on the planet? No. So, we cannot assume that all men are pigs. We cannot assume that all men do not work as hard as all women. It seems as if some of these so-called "feminists" are making it an effort to oppress men and to make men feel inferior. That is the message they are spreading. They are not focused on elevating a woman's position in society by speaking up and fighting for what's right. And isn't that the exact opposite of what feminists have been fighting for?
Those kinds of "feminists" are not real feminists.
A real feminist would truly support the equality between all genders. A real feminist would influence others to do the same. A real feminist would rise above the oppression, not oppress another gender to get ahead.A real feminist would be powerful.
Stop generalizing feminists. Stop generalizing men. Stop generalizing each other.