Cultural norms in society used to merely suggest that women only had a place in the house. Women were supposed to be pleasing to men, take care of the kids, clean the house, and prepare food for meals. This in itself is a daunting task if anyone has any type of experience with children and taking care of the house. Nonetheless, the choice to stay home should not be devalued. Women deserve to have a choice. Men also deserve the choice to be a stay at home dad and deserve the choice to do so.
However, women desired more. Some did not see this as truth. This is were feelings get hurt and opinions get messy:
- There were some who felt this was un-lady like.
- There were some who felt that those who did not want to have children were “sluts”, “whores”, or just simply outcasts.
- There were some who feared women would take their jobs.
- Some feared women would take over the world.
Women, men, and children held these opinions. There were social stigmas that women did not have the mental capacity to accomplish the same work men did. With that feminism was born as the challenge to prove women are equals to men was accepted.
Yet, many people associate the word, “Feminist” with men haters. This is not the case. Thus, there needs to be a new word instead of feminism. There are too many bad connotations with the word “feminism”.
Feminism is about equality.
Feminism is about looking at another person and not sexualizing them but instead accepting for their work ethic.
Feminism is not about power.
Feminism is about human rights.
There are many perspectives on feminism but the one idea that needs to be the main idea is human equality. This is equality for all people. NOT just women. Hannah McAtamney a writer for the Huffington Post wrote an article on feminism and the importance of equality. She simply stated,
“We don’t need to be scared. Feminism is a movement towards equal society for male, female and transgender people, without discrimination. People should not feel discriminated against for being who they are. They should be able to live in peace, without fear of not conforming to the “social norm.” We need to change the social norm. We need to move towards a society where men are not afraid to be vulnerable and women are allowed to be independent; a society where being male or female has no impact on how a person lives their life; a society where the pressure is off and everyone can be themselves.”
This is why campaigns such as Emma Watson’s “He for She” is so crucial in today’s world. Societies around the globe may have issues but together both men and women can fix them.