Webster Dictionary defines feminism as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.” Beyoncé features Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s words on her new song “Flawless,” defining a feminist as someone who “believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” This all seems reasonable, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, not everybody thinks so. While many people are embracing the new era of women equality and feminist pride, I’ve still seen too much from the non-supporters, and not enough from the other side. Men and women alike are hesitant to embrace the “f” word, because they completely misinterpret the meaning and aims of a feminist. Chances are you’ve probably seen some tweets or snippets of quotes that claim being a feminist means that you hate men or, my personal favorite, refuse to have doors opened for you. This is something I desperately want to change because as a feminist myself I know that there are many things I would like done differently within our society, but taking out the whole male population is not one of them. I also like when a door is opened for me – I just don’t like when I’m expected to give someone my number afterwards!
To make things a little easier to understand for those who are still struggling to define their own idea of feminism, here are a few points I’ve gathered:
1. We need feminism because White House statistics shows that full time working women earn about 77% of what their male counterparts earn. Um, excuse me! This is 2014, where has that extra 23% gone?
2. We need feminism because we are sick of catcalling. It’s one thing to compliment someone, which when done in the correct way can be completely harmless. However, it can feel overwhelming and even threatening to have a guy shouting at you from across the street. Chances are they aren’t shouting about how intelligent you appear, he is instead commenting on your body as if it is an object. This is not cool with me, and it shouldn’t be cool with you either. Girls, trust me. I know attention can be nice, but we need to recognize when it’s more than a sweet smile from across the new “Blue Wall.”
3. We need feminism because of a comic giving insight to the feminist movement that brings up a super interesting point. To all my single lady friends who tell a guy they are in a relationship so the guy will back off, think about why you have to say that! It should be enough for you to say no, but in some cases the guy respects your make believe boyfriend more than he respects you. Click here for the full comic.
4. We need feminism because recent sexual assault statistics show that “one in four college women report surviving rape or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime.” I know it can seem irrelevant to your life if you’ve never been the target of unwanted sexual advances, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening to other women you care about and it doesn’t mean you are immune to it in the future. For example, how many times have you been told to send a text when you got home to show you’re safe? How many of your guy friends have to do this? This unbalanced culture is all around us, whether we choose to recognize it or not.
5. We need feminism because Jennifer Lawrence used to be idolized and supported by so many for refusing to change her body to please society. She also plays an incredibly bad-ass heroine in the Hunger Games…and she is also now being “slut shamed” for taking photos of her own body in her own home. The person who stole the photos from her phone is not getting any attention, even though that is a clear invasion of privacy and a case for sexual harrasment. Are we all just becoming aware of the fact that celeberties may actually have personal lives? Cheers to you, J-Law. As long as you’re a proud woman you’ve got my support.
6. We need feminism because at the end of the day, the only people who are truly going to understand the difficulties of growing up as a woman in this generation are women who are actually growing up in this generation. By following “anti-feminist” movements, we are accepting the mistreatment of one another, and accepting sociecity to remain as is. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got all of your backs, and I hope you have mine as well.