The term “feminism” has recently become clouded with negative connotations now associated with the feminist identity.
No longer do all women feel empowered by calling themselves feminists, and it appears as if it is no longer socially acceptable for women to embrace “traditional” womanhood. Modern-day feminism is partly to blame for the lack of support behind the movement and has cast a shadow of controversy on a topic that really should not be controversial. Rather than supporting all women, those who are not attempting to climb the corporate ladder, attain high-status jobs in male-dominated fields or defy female gender norms are looked down upon and viewed as weak women without ambition, besmirching the modern feminist movement. A stay-at-home mom and a young girl dreaming of her wedding day become the scapegoats for why women are struggling to break the glass ceiling.
Today, feminism tells women that they must choose between folly love and a career, when in reality women should be supporting each other no matter how they envision their future.
This idea that a woman cannot have both ambition and true love is a concept that dominates feminism in pop culture, so much so that it has become anti-feminist. A few months back, West Side Story actress Rachel Zegler received criticism for her comments apparently mocking the “damsel in distress” storyline of the original Snow White movie.
Although adding diversity to female roles should not be discouraged, it becomes problematic when women and female characters are mocked for dreaming of true love or for following in other traditionally-feminine pursuits. Not every woman fits the mold of a strong, independent leader, and many may not want to. The antonym to a strong leader should not be equated with a woman in love. Rather than teaching children and young adults that love is a weakness, they should be shown that women can be resilient and courageous without sacrificing their softer emotions.
Women really can have it all, and that is the real beauty of womanhood. We can cry during The Notebook and find great joy in buying flowers and a new makeup bag from Target. But, we can also be engineers, doctors and CEOS. We can write about the little things we love and then go to outer space. We can say “I’m just a girl” and then finish our biology lab reports or write a great essay on world literature. Feminism is about raising women up for all our pursuits, because we can do anything and everything.