What is Feminism?

Feminism- the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. The word is the basis of need for equality in all aspects of life. It is about fair representation in government, media, and global culture.

The word contains the prefix fem-, leading people to look only at the female side, but in actuality, it can be used for both sexes. The only problem is that women are most often at the short end of the stick. They are the ones that need the scales to be balanced. Feminism is driven by sexism: the discrimination based on gender. Sexism takes down one gender by building up the other, while feminism brings the hurt back to its rightful status. It can be either gender, but in our society females are the ones in the most need.

Examples of inequality are everywhere and not all of them will ever be equalized. The movement pushes to make as many wrongs right as it can by starting with the big ones. For example, the United States population is 50.8% female and 49.2% male, yet the government is a whopping 81.5% male. Out of the 535 congress members, only 99 are female. This means that the governing body that is creating and declaring laws about the lives and bodies of women is dominated by a sex that will never know the true impact of their decisions. The men are in control. It could be argued that this is a fault of world history and tradition, but that extremely long argument can be saved for another day.    

The word feminism is often met with uneasiness and a predisposition to hatred. It is presumed that the person describing themselves as a "feminist" must hate men or believe that women are the supreme gender. That may be true with the radicals, which is the same for almost anything, but normally this isn't the case. It is only seen as radical because of the way the media has portrayed it in the last few decades.

  
   *The reality of feminism                        *This picture came up on the first page of Google images when
                                                                feminism was searched

Feminism isn't what the media can portray it to be, and our culture and this movement are starting to reflect this. I hope to disprove the anti-feminist mindset throughout my project, while also showing, in an unbiased way, the disparities between the sexes, because feminism isn't a bad thing. it just has a bad reputation.

P.S. Here is a video that pretty much sums up why the world needs feminism.

A Modern Day Civil War (11/6/14)

A civil war is defined as a war between citizens of the same country. It is people against people, brother against brother, and, in this case, woman against woman. Today's modern day feminist movement is being sidetracked in the midst of a civil war, the two sides: pro-feminists vs. anti-feminists.

Women are being forced to choose a side once they come across the movement. Do you agree or disagree with the ideals of modern feminism? The question is simple, to agree or not to agree, but the answer becomes more complicated. The feminist movement in today's terms does not have a clear cut goal. In the early 1900s they fought for the right to vote, and even earlier than that, women fought for the right to own property, hold jobs, and have a sense of freedom. Women now have the same main legal rights men have, so the feminist fight becomes more blurry. From the outside looking in it appears that modern day feminism is fighting social stereotypes, rape and abuse, and cat calling. All of these are controversial and debate-rich topics, leading women to choose one side or the other.

Each side has brought in it's own social media campaign, named either "Who Needs Feminism?" (pro-feminists) or "Women Against Feminism" (anti-feminists). Both are centralized on Tumblr and consist of women (and some men) submitting pictures of them selves holding a sign that explains why they do or do not need feminism.

Below are some examples...

"Who Needs Feminism?"
 

"Women Against Feminism"

The "Women Against Feminism" movement has taken off recently. It has gained some of the attention that pro-feminism has. The women that post pictures under the blog mostly say they are egalitarian (equality of all people), endorse men issues, or just criticize the feminist ideals.

These disagreements have caused an uprising among the two sides. Feminists have been known to attack non-feminists and usually use the argument that the opposing side do not know the true definition of feminism. In the most radical cases, there have even been death threats. Not everyone will always agree with them, yet feminists seem to be more focused on getting every woman on their side instead of just fighting for what they want.

This fighting and uncommon views may be leading the movement down a path that is not going to be beneficial. Instead of looking like a cohesive group that is battling for the same rights, the public sees it as a mess of fighting, bickering women, and the movement is not usually taken seriously. In order to make a difference and the progress that is wanted, the two sides need to stop the battle and make common ground or at least call a peace treaty.   

Is This Just Another Fad Movement?

Is feminism just another fad on a course to the inevitable silence and disinterest?

The movement of women’s rights has been going on for centuries, but came into the spotlight at particular, selective times. Women rallied behind it’s ideals and fought for a change, and most of the time, change came. They fought for education, the right to own land, vote and be independent. Women have come along way in society and, in most parts of the world, have the same legal rights as men. But now the goals of the feminist movement are unclear and widespread. With no clear cut objective, it has become a hard fight to get behind. Because of this, the feminist movement may just be a fad that people will become disinterested in.

Throughout history women have always received their rights directly after another minority group fought for theirs. In America, the women’s suffrage movement always gained energy and support after the world wars and the end of civil rights movement. It has piggybacked other pushes for equality because it has never had the means or unification to be by itself. Now, in the twenty-first century, feminism has grabbed a hold of the back of the gay right’s movement.

They LGBT community needed support and women gave it to them. Now the women’s fight has tried to take a shape of its own, but nothing is really coming out of it. The public see it as a plea for attention or a reason to bash others. There is no goal, making it hard to defend and keep alive. So this makes me beg the question, is this just another fad?

Will this movement die slowly and quietly, tapering off to eventually be forgotten about? No, I don’t think it will ever completely become silent. There is still gender inequality in some parts of the world, so that will warrant some type fight, but as for America and the western societies, feminism is probably just another internet sensation. The movement picked up steam over the summer and into early fall with Beyonce’s performance at the VMA’s and Emma Watson’s UN gender equality speech. These two celebrities made it almost cool to be a feminist. People jumped behind it because the two were and the animosity and power increased. Videos like the Potty Mouth Princesses and issues like domestic abuse and rape became more prevalent.

Now, as we are rolling head on in to winter, the movement is dying down. Not as many issues are in the media and the support is going down. There is nothing to be ‘angry’ or upset over. Interest is going down. All of this points towards the idea that this movement is just another fad. People will inevitably lose interest unless something happens to keep their attention.


Emma Watson's Take on the Issue

In a time when I am seriously debating continuing with this topic, Emma Watson has become a shining light. On September 20, 2014, Emma gave a speech in the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to promote the new HeForShe campaign. During her ten minute speech she noted the important stereotypes around the word ‘feminism’ and future goals of the movement.

The first thing she did was define feminism and call out feminists that take on a role of “man-hating”. In doing this, she was able to bring people's attention away from the bad side of the movement and prepare them to look at the good. Feminism is not about putting men down to get ahead and Emma got this notion out of the way as soon as possible. Next she explained the events in her life that made her a feminist. These included being sexualized in the media as a teen and seeing her guy friends be unable to express themselves. The four or five reasons she gave setup the rest of her speech and one of the most important points, in my opinion.

This point is that feminism is not just a movement for women. It includes men too. The stereotypes that affect women have an equal and counter reaction on men. Women are emotional, while men can show no emotion and  women are submissive to their dominant male counterparts. Even though the idea is not voiced often, feminism is about ending these inequalities. Empowering men repressed from these gender roles is a goal Emma was able to successfully bring into the spotlight.

In the end of her speech, she brought in some urgency. This movement is not one that will see results quickly or soon. Right now it is a mostly social battle and in order to make progress, the public has to be on it’s side. Emma invites the public to be on her side, to take on a feminist role, because without that, nothing will ever get done.

Finally, she ends the speech with something that hit home with me. She says, “If not me, who? If not now, when?” This line calls on anyone to make an action and do something. It almost gives me motivation to pursue this topic because if no one talks about this, it will never be heard.