Feminism: "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economical, and social equality of the sexes." My entire life, standing by that term has seemed like a no-brainer. I didn't bother to do much research on feminism because I didn't think there was a way to distort this pure quest for equality. I assumed most people in the 1st-world Western nations held the view of feminism as a good thing as well, but I was wrong.
Actress Emma Watson was recently appointed the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Through this position, she is launching the campaign "He for She." The day this went live, my twitter feed exploded with opinions. I am a writer for The Smart Girls Group, and through this company I have connected with many brilliant and driven (and opinionated) young women who are well versed in political, social, and economic issues. At first, I only saw positivity and applause for Ms. Watson's speech, but then negatively started swelling. I realized that this group of educated and thoughtful women was split down the middle on the issue of gender equality that Watson spoke about. I wondered why and then discovered that's it's not equality that people have an issue with, it's the word "feminism."
After watching Emma Watson's brilliant speech, I decided that there are two types of "feminism." One, that doesn't like the F-word, as it's been coined, and one type that finds identity in it. It seems as if almost everyone is on board with the ideals of gender equality, but the word feminism gets many on edge and upset. Here's why: there have been some extreme groups that I believe reject what it means to be a woman. They fill a negative stereotype of man-bashing, dressing in clothes that reject a woman's beauty, and angrily forcing opinions. I believe that this not only misrepresents feminism, but goes against what it stands for. This drives women who believe in gender equality to preface their opinions with "I'm not a feminist, but..." In a gender equal world, "both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong," as Emma Watson said. We should not be confined to either acting like a strong man or a weak woman. I think that these extreme "feminist" groups do exactly that.
Hannah, I'm afraid I say this every time but you are a good writer, your writing structure and flow are easy to read and logical. You often chose hard subject that are challenging and prove to handle them maturely. good job. The only question I would like to have answered is where do you stand on the spectrum of feminist? I know there are extremes on both sides but i was just curious to how far you go to the left or right when it comes to feminist stances. But these questions did not affect your grade, I was simply curious.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. My stance on feminism is probably pretty unique. I without a doubt believe men and women are of equal importance, yet play different roles in society. I think many are trying to force men and women to be the SAME, when the fact is that we are biologically, chemically, fundamentally different. These differences aren't bad- in fact I think they're good for society- but it's when these differences label, exclude, an discriminate I have a major problem. I seriously can't even understand why woman still get paid less for doing the same job as a man. I don't know why women only make up 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. I don't know why men are ridiculed for being "stay at home dads" when it's completely acceptable (and almost expected) for moms to. I wouldn't label myself a feminist, because of its distorted meaning, but I would definitely say I believe in gender equality. You should watch Emma Watson's speech, a well spent 13 minutes. I would say I agree with 95% of what she says.
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