“But, of course, you might be asking yourself, 'Am I a feminist? I might not be. I don 't know! I still don 't know what it is! I 'm too knackered and confused to work it out. That curtain pole really still isn 't up! I don 't have time to work out if I am a women 's libber! There seems to be a lot to it. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? ' I understand. So here is the quick way of working out if you 're a feminist. Put your hand in your pants. a) Do you have a vagina? And b) Do you want to be in charge of it? If you said 'yes ' to both, then congratulations! You 're a feminist.” This is a quote by Caitlin Moran in her book How to Be a Woman describing what she believes to be feminism. Feminism has come to be known by and large to be a women’s rights movement, to the point where the word feminism is synonymous with women’s rights. Merriam Webster dictionary even defines feminism as “organized activity in support of women 's rights and interests”.
Yet, where it gets interesting is Urban Dictionary defines feminism as “The belief that women are and should be treated as potential intellectual equals and social equals to men. These people can be either male or female human beings, although the ideology is commonly (and perhaps falsely) associated mainly with women. The basic idea of Feminism revolves around the principle that just because human bodies are designed to perform certain procreative functions, biological elements need not dictate intellectual and social functions, capabilities,
What is feminism? The definition is often argued over by feminists and anti-feminists. Feminists believe that the expectations for women are far too high to be attainable for most—they are expected to be the perfect weight, the perfect height, the perfect everything in the eyes of society in order to be seen as worth anything. Feminists believe that women are seen by society as less powerful, less smart, simply less than men. Feminists also believe that feminism promotes gender equality, not misandry. They aim to fix this. Anti-feminists, on the other hand believe that feminism is women being obnoxious and putting themselves above men. They think feminism in 2015 in unnecessary. Women already have the right to vote, what more could they possibly want? This oppression is just one reason why feminism exists and—in my opinion—is extremely important in today’s world.
Feminism, according to Merriam-Webster (2016) is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Though this is the definition of the term,
What is feminism? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary the standard definition defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” I believe the word feminism means a woman who is capable of doing the exact things a man can do. Both men and women are equal regardless the gender. There are many misconceptions when it comes to the word feminism such as, women having hatred towards men, women thinking they're above men, or only women can be feminist, and the gender stereotype. On the other hand, feminism is gender equality, acknowledging that any kind of violence is unacceptable regardless the gender, and realizing that women and men are not the same and recognizing that gender and sex are
What does it mean to be a Feminist? Does it automatically mean you hate men or does it mean you're an activist for women's rights? Contrary to popular belief, feminism is not about establishing a superior gender. It is about fighting for equality and destroying the social, cultural and historical norms set upon women throughout the world. The Twenty-first century has brought change and growth to female empowerment. Although, in many parts of the world women are given the same rights as men, they are still treated and viewed inferior to men. G.I. Jane perfectly illustrates the struggle women have gone through, even when given “identical” opportunities as men.
Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings. It’s a quote that has been attributed to dozens of women throughout history, but no matter who whispered those wise words, they still hold a significant impact in the modern social body. Much like with the civil rights movement for African Americans, women have won their suffrage and have been granted equal rights; however, also much like the African American people, oppression is still very real for women in the modern social body. The growing disparity between the wages of males and females is frightening, the presence of a rape culture is devastating, and the failures to recognize the right of a woman to choose are cataclysmic. So, if the feminist
The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).
For the record, feminism by definition is: ‘the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.’ It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. (Watson 1)
There are many different definitions of feminism. Some people regard feminism as the idea that women deserve the same amount of respect that men deserve. There are the other schools of feminist thought that hold women superior to men. Yet another believes that the gender roles controlling women are artificially created and not innate knowledge, and thus men and women are equals with only history the determining factor and how gender equality is established. There are clear feminist overtones in Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Esquivel pointes to a more radical definition of feminism in Like Water for Chocolate. The story focuses on mostly female characters that assume
Many people are often misinformed or given bad first impressions of feminism. However, feminism is equal rights for all people of different race, sex, gender, and sexuality. Many of the people that give feminism a bad name, include a self-proclaimed feminist that is running for presidency, and meninists who are satirical equal rights activists. In reality, feminism is pro-gender equality and opportunities for all types of people.
Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based on and motivated by the experiences of women. While generally providing a critique of social relations, many proponents of feminism also focus on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues.
The textbook definition of feminism is “a doctrine that advocates equal rights for women” (WordNet, 2010). While this is correct, there is much more to it than that.
Feminism is the belief that women should have economic political and social equality with men. This term also refers to a political movement that works to gain equality within a male and female relationship. In a male and female relationship both the roles of the male and female should be equal. Equal in many ways ten one: they should trust each other, share responsibilities, listen to one another, respect each other, and of course love one another equally.
"Do you have a vagina? And do you want to be in charge of it? If you said 'yes ' to both, then congratulations -- you 're a feminist!" (Kingston). People who advertise feminism in this manner are exactly how feminists have reached the point they are today. Feminists are demonizing men to sexual predators and using popular culture as ground zero for their activism campaigns, to show females as either a victim or the hero who empowered herself as a woman. These absurd characteristics come to mind when someone speaks of feminism today. When a modern feminist does not adhere to some ridiculous trait people ask, is she really a feminist? As a society we do not recognize what feminism was created for. The true role of a feminist is to advocate women’s rights in hopes to achieve a political, social, and economic equality to men. Politically, a feminist should follow the lead of women candidates in the running for United States president. Socially, a feminist should stand against the men who exert social control over women. Economically, a feminist should stand against unequal pay for men and women. A feminists’ job is to uphold a civic responsibility through creating an equal environment for men and women. This is what feminism should be about, but that is no longer the case. The Western feminist is not interested in civic obligations that should be occurring, but instead with the overreaction to sexist elements in popular culture and the fixation of identity privileges.
Feminism has been defined as the advocacy of social equality for men and women, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism.
Although Western feminism started in the 1900s, yet, it didn’t reach the Islamic world until most recently, a couple of hundred years later than the West. Despite the fact that both of the feminism movements come from totally different back grounds, and they are affected by different history and culture, still, both of them aimed for women’s best interests. Muslim women were profoundly feeling aggrieved by the discrimination they have against them. They stereotypical reputation about them in the West, and their presentation in the Western media didn’t help either. They started and supported a new fight to regain themselves the equal status they were granted by Islam centuries ago. Muslim women didn’t like to be looked at as being backward and oppressed by men in a male-dominant world. According to the feminist historian Margot Badran, “Islamic feminism is a feminist discourse and practice articulated within an Islamic paradigm. Islamic feminism, which derives its understanding and mandate from the Qur 'an, seeks rights and justice for women, and for men, in the totality of their existence.” (Badran, 2001)