Feminism : The Word That Strikes Fear Into Everyone 's Heart

Roxane Gay, author of the article entitled “Bad Feminist”, is a very accomplished American feminist writer. Her publication of “Bad Feminist” in 2012 gained national public attention (1). Feminism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes” (2), but Gay explains throughout her article that being a feminist is not just as simple as agreeing with this need for gender equality. The feminist label is too narrow and because of this the feminist movement is breaking apart. In this piece, Gay addresses how our society currently defines feminism and explains why this definition does not encompass everybody that it should.

Feminism is the belief that men and women are equal and it advocates women’s rights for social, political, and economical equality to men. Feminism significantly changed the way society views women because it challenged and demanded the inclusion women in social and political circles in a very patriarchal society. There were

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 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.

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)

The idea of feminism is not for women to be constrained by men or to rise above them but instead, to be equivalent to them; Feminism is the acknowledgement of the inequality between women and men then advocating for support from both genders. Various cases of evidence support the claim of feminist being recognized as “man haters”. To be a feminist one must accept the possibilities of being discriminated against for their views. The political term is often broadened into the morals of society due to the reconstruction caused by positive and negative supporters.

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 an umbrella term for a range of views about injustices against women”(Fisanick). Many people are not educated about what feminism really is. People automatically think just by hearing the word that it is something women created against men, not true. A feminist is anybody who wants equality between men and women. “Being a feminist has nothing to do with how you look, what you wear, who you date. Being a feminist doesn’t mean you think women deserve special rights; it means you know we deserve equal ones” (Cavanagh). Everyone should educate themselves and advocate feminism to help spread equality, get people equal pay and stop stereotypes against men and

I can see that man over there already shaking his head, so allow me to define “feminism” for you. Feminism, by definition, is the social belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. That’s not too bad, right? If you’re still shaking your head after getting that definition, then let’s have a little chat after this, okay?

A feminist is described as someone who is, “Advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.” Despite equal rights generally being regarded as a basic human right, it is not granted to all women today. Due to this unequal treatment of modern day women, feminists have come together to form feminist groups, in order to fight for these rights.

The idea of feminism, as Emma Watson makes clear in her speech at the UN in 2014, genders and their treatment should not be seen as a battle of the sexes and more as a “spectrum” of humanity. People have shown time and again that everyone is so different, and that there should not be a black and white view in a world with so much diversity. For a long time men have had an upper hand, but that is not to say that gender expectations have not been imposed on them as well. They have, just as they have on women, and both are such irrational and unrealistic portrayals of expectations to live up to. Feminism is such a bigger idea than women being equal to or better than men; it’s the concept that human beings ought to be kinder to one another, and that there’s no reason to treat anyone better than anyone else for any reason.

Feminism is such an important movement that needs to be taken more seriously than it currently is, but the issue isn’t just the people outside of the movement - it 's the people inside it as well. In fact, many of feminism’s issues form and spread from the inside, like parasites. I have witnessed plenty of instances where there are men being blatantly ignorant or grossly misogynistic, but I’d have to say I’ve witnessed and heard about more instances of “feminism gone wrong” than anything else. This might be because society is still at that place where it just wants to make a good movement seem evil; this problem is something most likely due to certain - not all - males somehow feeling emasculated by women getting the same benefits as them or just that they don 't deserve it because males are inherently better, but the issues they bring up are what make it possible to bad mouth feminism in the first place. This generally ranges from verbal abuse to even lying about rape, and almost always stems from a blindly rooted misandristic mind set; fake feminists are the ones that label all men as bad and inferior, going against feminism’s goal of equality for both genders. Every single member needs to be a positive representative of the movement for it to work, despite how ridiculous it may seem. Modern women are embracing new rights that they never had before and are pushing the limits like crazy, but there is a way to do it that shows power and seriousness that won’t turn into man

Feminism has been defined as the advocacy of social equality for men and women, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism.

In recent discussions on Feminism, a controversial issue has been that the term itself attracts negative attention, despite its endless efforts towards equality for both genders. On one hand, some argue the word should be changed to a more appropriate term that doesn’t attract hostile viewpoints. On the other hand, others argue the word should remain the same, however, people should be educated on the actual intentions of feminism—and not base their understandings off of the recent misguided interpretations of the term. Although the awareness of feminism may seem of concern only to a small group of women, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about gender equality. Because of their recent fallacious ignorance towards the term, this generation should make modifications of their knowledge of Feminism and learn that it calls for equal rights for both men and women.