What is Feminism?
- Prisha
- Apr 2, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 6, 2021
Feminism is a word that has a lot of negative stigma revolved around it. It brings up images of bitter, angry women who hate men. I'm here today to change this definition.
Feminism is defined as the belief in social, political, and economic equality for all genders. That's all. Feminists demand equality for all genders -- whether it be male, female, male, intersex, non-binary, transgender, or any gender not listed. If you believe in equality for everyone regardless of their gender, you're a feminist. You most definitely do not need to be bitter, or even be a woman. There are many people who say that they do not believe in feminism, but they believe in equality, or that they simply don't believe in feminism. However, the question I believe we should all ask ourselves is why people don't want to be associated with a movement for equality. Why is it that people who identify themselves with feminism are called femi-nazis, while people who want nothing to do with it aren't even called sexist, or misogynistic? Everyone is human, and deserves to be treated with respect. The belief that any one gender is less than another is ridiculous, frankly, because the only thing that determines gender are differing chromosomes.
While every feminist wants equality, they want it in different ways. Hence, there are different branches of feminism.
Liberal Feminism -- works to include women in mainstream society, eg. Abigail Adams
Radical Feminism -- demands all male supremacy is ended. View the oppression of women as the most fundamental level of oppression. Eg. Anne Koedt.
Marxist Feminism -- believe that the only way to end the oppression of women is by overthrowing the capitalist system.
Cultural Feminism -- works to build a "women culture" eg. rape help centers. This type of feminism came about after radical feminism, and many people who refer to themselves as radical feminists are also cultural feminists.
It's important to note, that while each branch demands equality in different spheres of society, they all demand equality.
Now, I'd like to address some arguments "against" feminism.
- "Men and women aren't the same. Men are physically and mentally superior." This is a false argument, and an overgeneralization. First of all, yes, men, women, and any other gender, they are not the same. But lack of sameness does not call for inequality. But they deserve equality regardless. To put it into perspective, if someone with blonde hair was given less opportunities than someone with black hair, that wouldn't be fair, as they would be wrongly compromised by an arbitrary trait. Second, men are not physically nor mentally more capable than any other gender. While the hormones that their body produces does cause them to be more aggressive and usually bigger in size, that does not mean that they are superior. That is a difference, not a factor that allows for discrimination. Additionally, any other gender, with some extra work, could easily match up. Not that they'd need to, but they could.
- "Men and women already are equal. There isn't a need for feminism." This argument is invalid, because it simply isn't true. Even in America. For stats, take rape or sexual assault. In juvenile rapes, 82% of the victims are girls, and in adult rapes, 90% of the victims are women. Additionally, 90% of rapes go unreported. Out of the 10% that do get reported, 5% are false accusations. That means, from all rape cases, only 0.05% are false accusations. However, only about 1% of rapists actually face any conviction at all. And these are just rape cases. I haven't even mentioned the catcalling and general harassment that girls as young as thirteen face.
- "Gender bias is nonexistent. Women and men are provided with equal opportunities, but men just do better." This is usually in response to the gender wage pay gap. Also, this argument really only works if gender bias actually doesn't exist, But, contrary to this belief, a study by the UN found that almost 90% of women and men hold some sort of negative bias against women. It also found that there are no countries in the world that have gender equality. Additionally, the report found that in the USA, where there hasn't been a non-male president yet, 39% of people believe that men make better leaders. That number is comparable to New Zealand, a country in which there has been a female leader, only 27% of people believe the same thing. As for equal opportunities, I have to bring up Nigeria's Chibok schoolgirls. In 2014, at least 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria by a terrorist group called "Boko Haram." This was for the simple crime of going to school. In 2019, 112 of them were still missing. Of those who were either freed or escaped, many were pregnant. They'd been forced to marry and bear the children of their kidnappers. Additionally, several of them had also been raped many times.
- "Feminists victimise themselves. You all need to stop whining." By definition, self-victimization is the act of over-exaggeration or fabrication of victimhood in order to justify abuse, seek attention, manipulate, or to diffuse responsibility. Feminism is none of that. Since we provide both anecdotal evidence and statistical evidence over multiple instances, there is no fabrication nor any hyperbolical exaggeration.
- "Feminists hate men." No one hates men. A related argument is usually "Not all men." These are fallacious arguments. No one really thinks all men are bad, or that all men deserve hatred. But it's a large amount who violate other genders, large enough for it to seem like feminists hate "all men."
- "Men have problems too." I hear this a lot. I don't disagree. The most common example of these problems are usually how women are more likely to win custody battles and how men are more likely to be convicted compared to women, for the same crime. This is exactly why feminism isn't a "women's issue." It's a people's issue. It is due to gender stereotypes and norms that women are perceived as more trustworthy, nurturing, and generally more "good" than men. This is why women tend to win custody battles and not be convicted. Gender stereotypes harm all genders, not just women. If men are held to them, they cannot express their feelings or do anything remotely "soft." The thing about this is, however, that men have the least amount of problems. They're not invalid, but in this time, they should not be our prime focus, as other genders have it a lot worse.
- "If men and women are equal, can I hit a girl back?" This is probably the most intellectually lacking argument I've heard. The fact that men already hit women, abuse them, and violate them is exactly the reason we need feminism. The fact that you think women are lacking and weak is exactly the reason we need feminism. Instead of acting like a kindergartener, we don't want anyone to hit anyone.
This concludes today's post. Remember, use your voice, and get educated!
Sources:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/4/14/nigerias-chibok-schoolgirls-five-years-on-112-still-missing
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