Lately, I've seen a lot of posts online with the argument that feminism is pro-women and anti-men. If this is the case, then I refuse to be a feminist, as I believe every gender is equivalent to each other no matter whether a person is male, female, gender fluid, or anything else. I do not believe one gender is superior to others or that cisgender people are superior to transgendered people. Although, many bloggers and people on social media sites seem to have the idea of gender equality mixed up.
Many people seem to believe that gender equality means that you believe males and females are equal, but other genders, including transgender people, are not equivalent. I’ve been seeing thing type of mindset a lot, but it is not what gender equality is. You are not for gender equality if you look down on genders that are different from the cliché male and female ones. You are also not for gender equality if you label yourself a feminist and still put down any gender that is not female. For example, many “feminists” I see online bash men horribly because of acts done by other men. This is the exact opposite of supporting gender equality.
I have also seen men and women posting about how they think that gender fluidity, transgendered people, and agender people are faking their genders and/or sexualities for attention. This is an extremely ignorant thing to believe and it does not make you a supporter of gender equality if you agree with these statements. If you do agree with these, you are actually against gender equality as well as LGBT+ persons who may identify as different genders than you would assume.
The real meaning of gender equality-- and being a supporter of every gender being equal-- is to believe 100% that every single gender in the world is equal. Anyone that believes otherwise is not truly a supporter of civil rights through gender expression. You’re also not a true feminist if you continually bash other genders in order to make females seem more superior. Feminism is supposed to be in support of equality for all, it is not meant to allude to the idea that females are the superior gender. No matter how much the female gender has been put down in the past, reacting as if you are superior in the end is not the way to show you support gender equality.
Supporting gender equality means respecting all people of all genders and/or sexualities. No gender is more superior than another and no person is superior than another either. In order for you to support gender equality (or be a true feminist) you must believe that everyone is equal because no one is better than anyone else. This is an important thing to support, especially these days.
