Feminism. The word itself strikes up a lot of controversies. With hashtags on Twitter entitled "women against feminism" and various YouTube videos and Tumblr posts dedicated to rejecting the feminist movement, it's easy to see that many people have an issue with the topic.
For those of you who don't know, feminism is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." As a believer in feminism, I personally cannot understand how people could ever reject a movement that fights for equality. In the year 2015, it seems to me that at this point in time equality should be well on its way to being widely accepted.
I decided to look into these anti-feminist campaigns that have spread like wildfire through social media and to try to understand what exactly it is about feminism that these people are so against. Here are some of the pictures I found.
Wait... but feminists DO believe in equality
Hey, I like getting compliments, too!
But wait—since when does believing in equality mean that you can't enjoy compliments?
Woah, okay, this is going too far. Since when does my belief in equality mean that I'm "delusional," "disgusting," and that I'm a "man-hater?" Do these people even know what feminism means?
Then it dawned on me. No, these people clearly don't understand what feminism is. That right there is the issue. So many individuals have come to believe in stereotypes that are gross misrepresentations of what the feminist movement actually is. (They’re the same kind of stereotypes that claims all Germans hate Jewish people and that all guys that are passionate for sports are jocks with low IQ’s. Do you see the issue here?)
The truth is that most of the stereotypes and misconceptions that people have regarding feminism are false. Being a feminist does not mean that you hate men, it does not mean that you shame other women for having traditional values, and it does not mean that you burn your bras or refuse to shave your legs.
Being a feminist doesn’t even imply that women and men are the same. Yes, women and men are built differently and have different physical and emotional capabilities. However, both genders should still have the same basic rights and opportunities to pursue whatever they choose.
The truth is that feminists are made up of both men and women and they believe that all genders, sexualities, and races should be given equal opportunities in today's world, not that one gender or race should be considered better than another.
The truth is that feminists believe that the rights regarding a woman's body should be solely up to the individual woman herself—not to the government (which happens to be predominantly male by about 59 percent).
The truth is that most feminists do not have a problem with compliments from men. Their problem is with the people that think it is okay to catcall and sexually harass women that do not want their attention.
The truth is that feminists believe that society should stop blaming the victims of sexual assault and rape. Society shouldn't be teaching girls how to prevent rape, it should be teaching boys and men that rape isn't okay at all.
The truth is that feminists fight for men's rights, too. Feminists believe that men shouldn't have to be expected to pay for every date, they shouldn't be shamed for having emotions or for not being 'masculine' enough, they shouldn't be disbelieved when telling their own stories of being sexually assaulted or raped, and they shouldn't have a disadvantage in child custody cases because of their gender.
The truth is that feminists fight for equal pay because women make 75 cents to every dollar a man makes.
They fight for the right to not be shamed for choosing to work instead of being a stay-at-home mother, as well as the right for men to not be shamed for choosing to be stay-at-home fathers.
They fight for women to not constantly be portrayed as sex objects in the media because when something is seen enough, people start to believe it's true.
They fight for boys and girls to be able to do and like whatever they want even if it does not fit into their "gender roles." Because gender roles should not limit a little boy from playing with a Barbie or a girl in middle school that wants to play football.
The list goes on and on because there is still so much left to fight for. While, yes, we have come such a long way, the truth is that we still have so much farther to go.
