Feminism;
why do I need feminism? What even is feminism?
It’s the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of the equality of the
sexes. Keyword: equality. Feminism is not about women being better than men nor
is it men being better than women. But as a young female, I have lost before
I’ve started knowing I likely will not get the same opportunities as a
privileged male.
Society’s
skewed ideology that women are somehow inferior to men as been ingrained into
us from the outset; I have grown up with a male-dominated government and it was
a running joke for me to seen and not heard. They wanted me to be submissive,
subordinate, subservient. They wanted wallpaper women, what good to them is
wallpaper that speaks?
I need
feminism, because I am still answering to the boys, men- and women. That think
my skirt length, defines my self-worth. That CATCALLING on the street is a
compliment, when it feels like a threat. My femininity is not a privilege; it’s
a badge of vulnerability, inferiority. We have apps designed to walk us safely
home and the tagline of my achievements is my gender- “Wow! You’re pretty good-
I mean- for a girl” or “Good job! But you kind of run like a girl” When was it
decided that being female or having feminine qualities was degrading?
A boy in
my class once laughed at me for supporting the feminist movement. He didn’t
know that he was laughing at the six million girls currently out of school. He
was mocking the eleven year old girl in Texas who was attacked by eighteen men
and all the media could talk about was… her clothing. He was laughing at J.K
Rowling; told to use her initials, because being a female author would obviously be less appealing. He was
mocking me, because feminism taught me to love myself, that self-care and
self-validation comes from me and that in itself is okay. He is dismissing the
benefits it will bring him, feminism is deconstructing the gender roles so that
we may have a world where a boy can cry or show emotions without the
repercussions or “breaching his masculinity”, that I know I can live in a world
where I am not discriminated or defined by my gender. Addendum: feminism means
equality and social justice for everyone. This
is what a feminist looks like and you
are what a feminist can look
like.
