Today, I'm going to be talking about a topic that I, as a woman, feel very strongly about. And that topic is: Feminism~!
I first started getting involved in the idea of feminism a few years ago, when I started to receive harassment from a guy that I knew in person online, and he started to portray the idea that he had the right to constantly message me and pester me with things that I won't mention here, as this is a happy and mainly-positive blog. This experience then led on to him stalking and harassing me in person also, and saying things like 'I know you want me really' 'Stop playing hard to get' 'You say no, but I think you mean yes really'.
Basically, this harassment went on for some time before I finally stood up to him properly and got help to make him leave me alone, but the main issue was that he felt that he was entitled to me because of the way that I dress and the fact that I'm a woman. It was during this time that I first started to research feminism and I realized it was exactly the kind of movement I could follow 120%~
Feminism stands up for the rights of women so that we may be treated as equals with men. That's all we want, equality. For both women AND men.
Feminists want women to be able to dress however they want without needing to feel in danger of sexual assault because a man felt that she was 'provocative' and he 'couldn't help himself'. We want women not to be blamed for being raped, just because they were dressed in a way that they felt comfortable. We want the sex-assigned roles i.e. Men going out and earning the money whilst the woman stays at home and does housework and raises the children, to vanish.
We want men not to feel entitled to a woman, just because she's a woman. We want men to stop acting like they own women. We want equal pay in the working world. We want more laws to protect us. We want the education system to be FAIR i.e. Not sending a girl home because she was showing her shoulder which may distract the boys from their education when what you're doing by sending her home is distracting her from her education. You're essentially telling her that boys' education is more important than hers.
However, there is a stigma against feminism that makes people instantly assume that all feminists are man-haters. Though that may be true for some extremist feminists, it's not the same for all of us. I certainly have nothing against men, I just believe in feminism and I feel that women are still oppressed and that needs to change. That doesn't mean I hate men. And of course, I acknowledge that men are also sexually assaulted by women, and that's equally as bad, but what doesn't tend to happen in those scenarios is the man being blamed because of the way he was dressed or because he made the choice to walk home alone, whereas with a woman you hear those things.
All feminism means to me is an opportunity to support the rights of women and to promote the idea of educating males and females to be equals with one another, rather than teaching from a young age that the men are the ones who have to go out and fight wars and become doctors and businessmen and earn lots of money an the women spend the money and stay at home and look after the children and the house. I believe in equality for everyone, because it's equally not fair on the men that it's instantly expected of them to be the financial provider in the family, etc.
So basically what I'm trying to say with this post is that feminists are not man haters, and we just want the equality that we deserve. Many feminists (myself included) constantly point out areas where men are also at a disadvantage. The majority of us are peaceful human beings who just happen to be willing to stand up for our basic rights as women. So the next time someone tells you they're a feminist, please don't roll your eyes or insult them, listen to what they have to say, because you'll more than likely find common ground.
I fully support #FightLikeAGirl~!
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