I am a Feminist so I believe in Feminism. Feminism: the belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Nothing more and nothing less. So why are people so against it and, of course, for it? So I am not here to rant about how amazing feminism is and how everyone should be a feminist, I just simply want people to respect feminism even if you don’t believe in it.

 

I heard about feminism around the age of 13 or 14. I wasn’t fazed by it instead I was fascinated. I remember thinking finally girls can be somebody and not dominated by men as well as thinking boys won’t be judged for having a heart or seen doing something that was, stereotypically, a woman’s job. I was shocked and confused in why there were many people so against it and what was even worse was how the majority were women.  At that age I didn’t understand why other women were so against it but then, as I got older, I discovered why.

 

Feminists are seen as only female, man – hating, power crazy, stupid, ugly, and angry, constantly moaning, and hating sex. No wonder why so many didn’t want to be associated with it, it is not exactly the nicest things to say about someone. It’s funny how when I type into twitter “feminism” it comes up with the hashtag, “FeminismIsAwful” and “FeministsAreUgly”. Surely it should be positive things like Emma Watson’s campaign “HeForShe”. Women are not all bad people neither are men so why are feminists seen as this? Male and female feminists are just human beings who believe in equality for the sexes. Due to these negative stereotypes people back out of feminism because we, society, have scared people away from something that has the potential to create a welcoming world.

 

People aren’t just scared of being labelled something they are not. Is it because people think it is a hate campaign against men? It is something for both genders and if you hate men then you are a misandrist and not a feminist. Another reason why people believe that feminists hate men is because of the different definitions that fly around on the Internet. For instance, the Oxford dictionary states that feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”. Feminism isn’t all about women’s rights its about men’s too. So there is no doubt that you can find a definition of feminism on the Internet but it’s not necessarily a true representation. Therefore these definitions shape peoples minds including very influential women and men such as Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams. However, they are many celebrities who are feminists for example; Beyoncé, Dustin Hoffman, Ashton Kutcher, Emma Watson, John Legend, Joseph Gordon–Levitt and Ellen Page are to mention a few!

 

This leads on nicely on to why people believe in feminism, why celebrities like Beyoncé and Ashton Kutcher are feminists. They want change; they want to be the change they want to see in the world. They want equality for men and women and that’s all they want, they do not want to it to be men vs. women. Feminists want a better place for the next generation as well as equal opportunities. They want that 23% pay gap to disappear, for women to hold more than 20% of the seats in Congress, to stop making women feel ashamed when attacked as well as remove the negative gender assumption that all men are aggressive, for men to feel okay to be emotional, to stop child marriages. There are some of reasons why feminists are feminists.

In summary feminism will always a topic for debate but hopefully, a movement that can change the world with as many people on board as possible. I’ll leave with a quote from Emma Watson that was in her UN speech on gender and equality, “If you still hate the word [feminism], it is not the word that is important. It’s the idea and the ambition behind it.” 

 

Natalya Micic, Cheam High School