What the hell does that mean? To be a Feminist?
While driving to a meeting over the weekend, I all of sudden had the strongest urge to crack open my laptop and start looking into what feminism really is, and why it had such an icky reputation. Or maybe not. Maybe I perceive it to have a bad reputation in my small little corner of the world, but I decided to investigate anyways.
I have been often times, told, that I am a feminist because of my views relating to relationships, and a woman’s role (there shouldn’t be a pre-determined woman or man role, in my opinion, by the way), but I always got the sense that when I was told I was a feminist, that this was coming from a place of “Typical. She can’t get a man so this chick is on this rant” OR “Because she’s having difficulty with this situation, she’s blaming society for her incompetence”-
…you get my drift.
So I went straight to the inter-webs and looked up the definition of what it means to be a feminist:
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women.[1][2] In addition, feminism seeks to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist is a “person whose beliefs and behavior are based on feminism.”[3]
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism#Culture
It doesn’t sound so bad, I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for both women and men to have the same level of respect. That both men AND women work ALONGSIDE one another. Why does this term still need to be used? I mean, didn’t we go through all those feminist movements already? And why, when it is used, does it have to be put in a negative context?
I mean, are people annoyed that women were successful in the movement? Or is because we’re still talking about it despite being able to, I don’t know, vote…? Or is because there are dedicated people and organizations working towards giving women in other parts of the world the same amount of access as Canadian women?
Whatever you want to call it though:
Feminism. Girl Power. Spice Girls. I don’t know.
I just want to remind all those “skeptics”:
- There are more women in the world
- There are more women graduating from educational institutions
- …and..well..we’re better looking
And personally, if my views of relationships and the role of women initiates a reference to a powerful movement. Then YAY me because frankly: a woman. A Real Woman. Doesn’t need a term to define who she is. She simply does what she does and lets the world take notes -
