Recently, I have started to see women, especially those who are famous in some capacity, saying that they are not feminists for various reasons.
I know this will probably come across as very naive, but I did not know that feminism had a negative connotation (unless you are a male who feels threatened by women fighting for equality).
Like, there are women out there (who have BENEFITED from feminism at some point in their lives--how do you think women got into the entertainment industry as serious entertainers to begin with?) who are against feminism?
For example, I found these photos on Tumblr
here:
And I see these and think: you don't want to be paid as much as a man in the same field with the same background? You don't want the same rights that men have? You don't want to end abuse and rape of women? And to extend that, you don't think all women should have equal rights and representation? Do we have to go back in time to the days when women were basically property and not allowed an education or work outside of the home?
And then I realized that these women probably do not know that feminism is about equality. They think it is about revenge. Or about hating men. And, granted, there are some "feminists" out there who feel that way and give feminism a bad name, but most feminists really are about fighting for equal rights.
For the record, the definition of feminism, according the the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities."
To be brief, if you do not think that women deserve the same rights and opportunities as men, I don't want to know you. Harsh? Maybe. But as a woman who has worked hard to get where I am, I demand to be treated with the same respect as one would treat me had I been born a man.
Added note: I also want to point out that some women feel that we, in developed nations, don't need feminism (I disagree, but lets move on). Feminism is not a local phenomenon. It means equality for people all over the world. And if you think it is not needed, I recommend doing some further research.
My friend, Jessica, shared this video with me after seeing this post. It was so wonderfully done that I absolutely had to add it to this post. Please take some time to watch this video. She does an amazing job breaking down gender and socialization:
We should all be feminists | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | TEDxEuston
