If you want to know anything about my childhood, you should know I grew up in small-town Texas, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know. And while I am extremely grateful for the childhood I had, it gave me a misled view of how the world actually works, especially about women’s role in society.
The first time I realized that my views on life weren’t exactly the same, my friends and I had met a group of guys at a local Mexican restaurant, where they making fun of a girl wearing a “Feminists are the Future” shirt. I had heard the word before, but it was not exactly part of my vocabulary. When I asked them what was so funny, they told me it was “ridiculous for a woman to think she is superior.” And I agreed out loud, because I didn’t want to be that girl, but in my head, all I could think was ‘Huh, that is not what that means?’
That wasn’t the first time I experienced something like this, and it wouldn’t be my last. I lived in the same town for twelve years, and I never once had a woman role model in my life stand up to the misogynistic misconceptions we were being fed. Feminism was given a bad rep because people are scared of what it will mean for men and women alike to be considered equal.
In recent years, women have started to stand up for themselves in a way we’ve never seen before. In October 2017, right after I started college, the #MeToo Movement went viral. This was in protest of the sexual assault and harassment women have to face on a regular basis, especially in the workplace. In my town, especially my tiny Christian high school, talking about anything remotely similar to that was immediately considered “inappropriate,” and women had to suffer in silence after anything traumatic happened to them.
Another crucial moment for the modern woman where America really started to see the social impact that women were having was the 2018 election. In this historical election, more women have been elected into congress than ever before, providing more representation where it was seriously lacking, and give a voice to an entire group of people that were originally deemed “voiceless.”
I had never even given thought to female politicians until high school. Men ruled local government, and that is the way that everybody expected it. My earliest memory of this was when I was 6, and I was told by a female teacher that “Men are in charge of the church, so they should be in charge of everything,” and then proceeded to drill that in our mind. I do not know about you, but I was an impressionable kid, and that stuck with me for years.
Another way feminism taking the lead shines is how women are portrayed in entertainment. Movies with a female lead are few and far between, especially without a major love interest playing a huge roll in their storyline, but have began to rise in recent years. The most recent example of this is Captain Marvel, where Marvel Comics had their first women-led superhero movie. The key point was that she didn’t have a romantic love interest throughout the course the movie. She came, she fought, she got stuff done. And this isn’t just shown in action movies— Disney and Pixar have both put out ‘princess’ movies (Moana and Brave) where the girls do not have a guy to help pave the way of the story. Both movies were highly praised due to the expectations of what a female character should look/should act like was disregarded, and a new standard was set.
After years of being told what a woman was supposed to do, what to say, how to act, I finally understand why the feminist movement is so important. It is not so much about men (as so many people believe) and more about uplifting other women in order for them to be the best and strongest they can be. You can love women without hating men, the two do not always go hand-in-hand.
When I got to college, I met women from all over the world, students and staff a like, who do not put up with anything I experienced back home, and from them I have started to learn the same. They have shown me to be brave, and to stand up against everyone I have ever known and tell them, “Hey, this is wrong, we are not doing this anymore.” Honestly, it has made all the difference. And now I get to help lead those same women, and other ladies so that no one ever has to feel lesser than or voiceless here at UNT through women empowerment events.
The word “Feminism” is still used in such a negative way that it is seen as a bad thing, instead of equal opportunity for men and women alike. Women empowerment is on the rise, and it will not be slowing down anytime soon. Now, in the newest wave of feminism that we are experiencing, we just want women to continue to rise in impact in media, as well as in everyday life, so no other little girl has to feel lesser than or voiceless. Feminism is not a dirty word, it is our future.