Womens’ rights have seen great progress since the start of women’s suffrage in the late 19th century. The feminist movement is responsible for almost all the rights we now enjoy as 21st century females, and sometimes take for granted. Despite this, the word ‘feminism’ bears a negative connotation among large groups of both men and women. It is often described as being man-hating, radical, and oppressive towards the opposite gender. It can often be scary to publicly proclaim yourself as a feminist – no matter how strongly you feel on the matter. It’s hard to be a feminist in 2015!
The dictionary definition of feminism is ‘the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.’ By definition, everyone who supports equal rights for men and women, regardless of their gender, is a feminist. Misandry is the hatred of men, and is a completely different word. We often forget why we still need need feminism. The equality difference between men and women is not as obvious as it used to be. Females work, go to university, are able to vote, etc. Despite these things, femininity is downcast by society; females often don’t enjoy the same sexual freedom as men (under fear of the label ‘slut’), are not paid the same amount of money for equal ranking jobs as men, and face a higher risk to their sexual safety than men do. A parliament of mostly males votes on what rights we have to our own bodies. In our society femininity is often categorized as being weak or fragile. Phrases such as ‘crying like a girl’ and ‘throwing like a girl’ are used to challenge masculinity. In movies, shows, and books ‘strong female characters’ often embody traditionally masculine traits such as physical strength and prowess in battle. At parties, girls often pretend to be lesbian or claim to have boyfriends to ward of unwanted attention from males. All of these issues are reasons why feminism is and should still be relevant.
Feminism has become a large topic in the media over the past decade. Female celebrities such as Beyonce and Emma Watson have rallied to the cause, and males such as Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ryan Gosling, and Patrick Stewart have announced themselves as allies (Thank you boys!). Feminism needs to include all definitions of womanhood – this includes women of colour, transgender women, LBGQT+ women, women of all religions, etc. It should include women that want careers, children, marriage, singledom, and any combination of these things. It should support women who want to have casual sexual encounters or who want to save themself for marriage. It should support women in dresses and women in tuxedos. Feminism ultimately needs to support women having a choice – the same variety of choices as men.
Feminism is beneficial for both males and females. It has seen a growth in our economy as females joined the workplace, raised awareness about rape culture which includes male victims as well, gave men the opportunity to stay home for paternity leave, etc. Inherently, feminism is a movement of inclusivity, not exclusivity. Thus, it is not something that needs to be swept under the rug or associated with misandry, it is something that many people need to look at in a whole new light.