What Feminism Means To Me

There is a lot of controversy surrounding feminism and its ethics, so thought that I would share what the concept means to an average 14 year old and why I choose to call myself a feminist. I believe that feminism is equality, its a movement where women and men fight for equal rights. In my opinion, every women of every ethnicity, every sexuality, should be give the exact same opportunities as those that are given to men. To me, it is not about saying that women are better than men, that would be abusing the concept, its really about c

hanging the way society views women so that the opportunities that men have historically been given are available for us to. 

So that's what feminism means to me, but I call myself a feminist not only to contribute to changing the way society thinks but to recognise the hundreds of years where women have suffered with the tyrannies of being under men's rule. Historically, women have been stifled of any creativity and forced to fit into mens perfect standards. We have been beaten and raped for the simple fact that we are born with female genitals. So I call myself a feminist out of respect to those before me, and also those who still suffer, girls like Malala Youseff who got shot in the head for wanting an education. Calling myself a feminist is a recent thing, I used to make jokes about feminists coming on to strong and believing that they were better than men for being able to endure childbirth. Whih is ridiculous but it was infuenced by many around me. However, since doing my research I can confirm that feminism is about equality, and if you believe in equal rights then you are a feminist. 

I also think that it is important to raise the issue of expectations, we can't expect all girls to start not wanting to wear makeup and to play football, or for all men to start gowing their hair out. It should be based on personalities and opportunities, if you are girl and you do love makeup and pretty dresses then that's okay (and vica versa for boys) at least the opportunity is there for those he need it in order to express there own personalities. Because none of us fit the exact stereotype based on our gender and this is the first movement in not expecting people to. 

But if the name suggests that its for woman, then surely men can't be feminists and therefore all feminists think that they are better than men, right? Wrong. The name for it doesn't matter, what matters is the movement. I am so lucky and privileged to live in a world where people recognise feminism but it cant stop there, we need mens support to make a difference. You can't change society with only 50% on board, so men and women, I encourage you to join the change, because as Emma Watson said 'if not me, who? If not now, when?".

Links to check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KYm5AHdbs&t=3s
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/feminism

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Makeup Be Allowed In Schools?

Image
Makeup. Such a controversial topic, especially in UK schools. We've all heard excuses as to why we are not allowed makeup but are the reasons really valid? I do firstly want to mention that I don't think boundaries with the type and how much makeup you can wear is a problem but to ban it all seems so unfair to me. Also I would like to say that I'm sorry that the quote at the beginning refers to on woman it was the quote I loved and I think that we can apply it to everyone. I think one of the main 'cons' to the allowance of makeup in schools is it being labelled as a distraction, we spend to much time applying it in the morning and then we're late. Or maybe we've touched it up in the bathroom and have missed registration, or even that the makeup will cause boys to act inappropriately, as ridiculous and stereotypical as it sounds this is what's being said. I personally think that what's more of a distraction is not putting your hand up for fear of p...
Read more

Packing Essentials

Image
As I write this I'm actually on a plane to the UAE to see my mum and my friends. I actually grew up there and moved back just last summer to live with my dad, as someone who spent a lot of her child hood shuttling between not just parents but also from the UAE to the UK I am pretty efficient at packing. So it seemed very fitting to write a little post about packing. Also, because of where we lived we spent most of our holidays either somewhere tropical or in the UK and from the age of about 8 I was flying UM and then from 12 I've been flying on my own or with my sister so as you can imagine I'm also pretty accustomed to airports so I though another time I could an airport tips post too! In this post I'm going to be writing a detailed list for  a 'generic' holiday, what I mean by this is not a holiday where you have a specific focus like sight seeing, surfing, hiking, skiing etc. Actually where I'm going is a very good example I'll be doing things like sw...
Read more

Problems With Feminism

Image
Before I did my research and actually classed myself as a feminist I had a very narrow minded view on what feminism was. In my mind, I thought that it was a group (mostly lesbians with short blue hair -more on that later) that claimed that women are better than men. In some ways I still don't think that it was unjustified because I still see quotes like "I'm a feminist, I've been a female for a long time now   It would be stupid not to be on my own side". I just don't think that feminism is about that, surely it shouldn't be just about females then we're just as bad as men have historically been. Isn't it about men and women being equal, being valued and respected the same. But if feminism is just for females, am I actually I feminist or do I just believe in equality? I mentioned something along the lines of a lesbian with blue hair earlier and I realise that of course that is a false representation of the feminism group. But unfortunately I ...
Read more