Equality is an amazing concept--the fair treatment of every gender, race, and belief. However, the concept of equality is now stretched into many subdivisions of kinds of equality. These subdivisions often dictate how we perceive information and opinion. One of these subdivisions include feminism. Feminism is a vastly growing concept within the laws of equality which supposedly stands for the equal treatment of males and females. As society is progressing as a whole women are also progressing--we now have a woman on the ten dollar bill and even the possibility of a female president. Women are rising up on the ladder of social hierarchy and are being celebrated for it. This all seems like fantastic news, correct? Although feminism began benevolent and had pure intentions, modern feminism simply has strayed and is now a counterproductive concept when regarding true gender equality.
The term "feminism" has acquired an entirely new connotation. What once was a simplistic term defined as the desire for equality between men and women has escalated to new, unreasonable heights. "Feminism" is now a corrupted school of thought often associated with the "oppression" of women and man-hating. Feminists are seen as sensitive trolls on the internet who are prone to minor topics and demand special treatment of women.
With all of the depictions and trends of amusement regarding modern feminism, one question remains--why do individuals entertain such a notion? Modern feminism is highly counterproductive--by implying that a woman needs special attention and applause for tasks that a simple human being, regardless of gender, could accomplish it is stated that women are in fact inferior. Think of it in this scenario: a baby and a grown person. When a baby learns to walk, it's an amazing feat and everyone applauds. However, when a grown man walks, it's normal. A baby is a special being and actually needs applause and special treatment because they are inferior human beings at the moment who need care. By saying that like a baby women also need that special attention, inferiority is being indirectly stated. If gender equality is the ultimate goal then why isn't feminism stated as a form of gender inequality? Applauding women for doing tasks any gender can accomplish while showing indifference to men for doing the same tasks is a form of gender inequality and therefore defeats the entire purpose of gender equality.
(Not that anyone should hit anyone at all)
We applaud women for everything now--from voting rights to obtaining a CEO position at a company. Yes, it is necessary for women to obtain these rights, but it is not entirely necessary for women to be given special attention for doing so. Why is a women being established on a ten dollar bill so immensely celebrated when the bunches of men on currency is a normal occurrence? It would be gender equality if all the bills featured both a man and a woman and it was both widely celebrated. Women are utilizing the term "feminism" to seek special treatment, for example the "don't hit me, I'm a girl" rule. When a man hits a woman it's abusive and downright wrong, but when a woman hits a man it's in self-defense or harmless. Why this double standard? This too is a form of inequality--women hitting men is also abusive and downright wrong. Another aspect where gender inequality roams is sexual assault and rape. Sexual assault and rape are both very unfortunate events. However, women are often victimized without the realization that men can also succumb to these same misfortunes. A lot of people believe that men cannot be raped or sexually assaulted by women or are more forgiving towards women when men are victimized. Individuals need to realize that these occourances are a two way street and the punishment should be severe for both genders.To be completely honest, gender stereotypes exist both ways, men are also being discriminated against and signaled out with the aid of feminism which poses an extremely counterproductive pathway to equality.
If modern feminism is counterproductive then how can we as individuals reach true gender equality? It's simple really: by actually just treating everyone equally regardless of gender labels. Think about it, gender is mostly societal and psychological, the only physical aspects of it are the different body parts. Why should only women be celebrated for doing tasks? Either we can celebrate both genders as equal or just not celebrate them at all and treat women accomplishing "great feats" as a normal everyday occurrence. There may be some sexist jokes out there floating about but that does not matter because sexist jokes exist for both genders, not just for females. The best thing we can do about discrimination is ignore it and continue on with our progressive lives and keep rising on the ladder of social Darwinism as if it were a daily deal.
However, true equality only exists in a perfect world where gender labels aren't immensely important. Truth is that gender does exist and so does inequality. Gender labels and inequality go hand in hand. When there are gender labels there will be stereotypes to gender labels due to ancestral reasoning and individuals who are conservative in thought. The only way to reach true equality is to treat everyone the same--in the workplace, at home, in society and world as a whole. While equality isn't 100 percent achievable, humans can get close by turning a blind eye when it comes to gender and perception/decisions.
Truth of the matter is that this concept and counter productivity exists with any kind of equality whether it be racial, gender-wise, belief-wise, etc. We are where we initially started still with inequality regarding the elimination of it--it still exists, and forever will. We will never truly get rid of discrimination for it is part of the human nature which exhibits different schools of thoughts. However, we can all be part of the solution rather than the problem by embracing true equality and not bathing in the ignorance of feminism. We may never reach true equality, but we as a community can certainly come close to it.
