WHAT IF FEMINISM

The oxford dictionary defines feminism as “The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of equality of the sexes. A series of political campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women’s suffrage, sexual harassment, and sexual violence.”

Feminism is considered to be one of the most worthwhile social movements of the 20th century. Today’s feminist movement is much more diverse than it was before. Feminism has become more observant to the wider extent of sufferings of those subjugated to gender norms, including men, genderqueer (identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine) and transsexual.

Feminism inherently focuses on the principle of choice. The freedom to wear what you want, be what you want and speak what you want. It’s about coming together and giving people their basic fundamental rights. Being a feminist has nothing to do with sexual orientation or discernment of manliness.

COMMON MYTHS OF “THE F - WORD”

Feminism is about detesting men, despising men, and excluding men.

Feminists are all pro-choice.

Feminists are against the idea of family, marriage and motherhood.

Only women are supposed to be feminists.

If a woman is sexually liberal then she automatically becomes a feminist.

Feminism only sets a woman free at the expense of a man.

Feminists are repulsive and not feminine.

BUT DON’T ALL FEMINISTS HATE MEN?

There are all sorts of people in this world. Few against the idea of men and women sharing equal opportunities to those who believe that equality has already been achieved. Few who believe that equality is still a far-fetched dream to those who believe in equal rights but don’t support “feminism” as a movement and some might even think it’s time for an anti-feminist movement.

Such conflicting mind-sets only reveal how deeply misinterpreted feminism is. Feminism is equal rights irrespective of sex. When put this simply it’s difficult to deny the cause but sadly the movement has come to be seen as anti-men, radical, superficial, forceful angry women, futile and many other things that it is not. Even today boys are taught to be tough, active, courageous, strong, fearless, independent and competitive while women are just expected to be cooperative, passive and perfect. Humanities outlook on these matters are deep rooted to their surroundings, their upbringing and mostly their own experiences.

Sex is whether somebody is male or female. Sexual orientation is the social development of ladylike and manly attributes. Prejudice, religious discrimination, homophobia work in conjunction with sexism, creating complex forms of dogmatism and oppression. Feminism is a voice to a much wider audience.

BUT I’M A MAN! WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT FEMINISM?

No matter who you are, or where you fit into this conversation, we all have a lot of work to do. FeMENism is a concept which includes men. An enormous aspect of woman’s rights is understanding generalizations about manliness and the impact these conventions have on society and being a man. While some misandrists are feminists but definitely not all feminists are misandrists.

Today’s feminist activists are women and men of varying backgrounds who look to battle prejudice, sexism, classism, oppression, discrimination and violence together as it is the only way forward.