I’m a feminist, and you should be one too
During the scientific revolution, it was discovered that females have smaller skulls and bigger hips than males. This information was used by men as positive proof of their superiority. To them, smaller heads indicated that women were less intelligent, and the wider hips confirmed their main purpose was for childbearing.
For hundreds of years, women have fought to be recognized as more than just a small skull with big hips. Women have argued, protested, and some have even risked their lives battling for women’s rights, and out of this struggle, the feminist movement was born.
Feminist is a title that I wear with pride. I am a feminist, and I firmly believe that you should be one too. Unfortunately, in today’s world, the word has taken on a negative connotation that needs to be addressed. If you think of man-haters who refuse to shave their armpits when you think of feminism you need to recalibrate your perception of the word. People shy away from feminism because they’ve gotten the wrong idea about the movement or they just don’t understand what it means, and why it’s so important.
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. EQUALITY. Feminism is the fight for women to be on the SAME level as men, not higher, simply equal.
Women have come a long way the past couple hundred years. We’ve gained the right to vote, to own property, and can even wear pants if we want to. There has been tremendous progress. However, the fight continues, because we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to financial equality. According to the National Women’s Law Center, American women who work full time, year round are only paid eighty cents to every man’s dollar.
When women say they aren’t feminists, it truly hurts my heart. I think many women feel this way because they can’t even imagine anyone telling them they can’t work outside the home or go to college. These are issues that our generation has never had to deal with. Those are battles that feminists have already won for us so it makes us think the movement is no longer necessary.
However, without working together and fighting for women’s rights, women cannot continue the fight for equality that still needs to be addressed. Unity is key when we’re challenging the limits of society and pushing for more.
Absolutely no woman should say she isn’t a feminist because that means she’s satisfied with being classified as inferior; it means that it’s fine we get paid less for the same work.
Plain and simple, women are not inferior and we deserve equal pay for equal work. We’re much more than small skulls and big hips, we’re equally as intelligent, equally as motivated, and equally competent human beings.
In conversations I’ve had with my guy friends they seem to be puzzled when I tell them that they too should be feminists. Now, why should men be feminists? My answer to this is, “Why not?”
Every man has a mother, sister or other significant female person in their lives that they want the best for. Men need to fight for the women in their lives. In the 1900’s, if men hadn’t joined the fight to help women get to vote it would not have happened. Today, as women fight for equal pay, they need the help of their male counterparts to make it happen.
Equality is a win-win situation for everyone because it makes the world a better place. That’s why every women and every man should take on the title of feminist with pride. I’m a feminist, and you should be too.
