Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to all.
There has been a lot of misinterpretation and accusation when it comes to the feminist movement. People accuse feminists of degrading men and damaging the family structure. Or they say that feminism is irrelevant, that women have achieved gender equality and anyone who is still actively campaigning in the name of feminism is whining nor no reason.
Both these claims, I'm afraid, show misunderstanding bordering on ignorance. Yes, there are people who argue for the suppression of men and dismantling of marriage in the name of feminism, but that is not what feminism is at it's core. Feminism was started as, and the vast majority of it's adherents keep it as, a force for equality, acceptance and open-mindedness. The ONLY belief that is fundamentally feminist in it's nature is that women are equal to men. This is not a threat to men, as we can (or should be able to) flourish in business and politics and every other area with female competitors just as well as we could in a male-only environment. It is not a threat to marriage, as marriage can and does work as a partnership between two equals (and I would argue it works much better that way).
The other claim, that the aims of feminism have been achieved, is perhaps more damaging than the first. Yes, in a purely political sense, women are upheld as equals, and have all the same rights as men. And that's a fantastic achievement. But it's only half the battle- feminists still have a hell of a lot of work to do socially. How many men still believe it is acceptable to view women only as sex objects? How unequally huge is the pressure on women to look good and appealing to men, as opposed to the reverse? Feminism is needed as a counterweight to the anorexia-inducing sexual consumerist culture that has done so much damage to young girls in the West, if nothing else.
And then there are those who are still anti-feminist once you do strip away all the misinformation. Those of all genders who still say that being born a women should shut doors around your entire life; that you should surrender your will, your consciousness to the direction of other human beings just because those other human beings had the fortune of being born with other sexual organs to you. There is no justification for such a view. Anti-feminism and chauvinism is oppression and prejudice. There is no two ways about it. The pro-male-dominance viewpoint is no different from racism or homophobia. Any assertion that a person's unavoidable demographic group should cause restrictions to be placed around their life is unacceptable in my eyes.
Women are people, and people can think and speak and write and create and debate and contribute. If we were to remove feminism from our political and social consciousness, locking 50% of our human population into lives of servitude and mindlessness, then we haven't just done an enormous, unforgivable disservice to those people. We have lost out on a huge amount of potential beauty and intelligence and improvement to the human condition. Imagine if feminism had happened three millenia before it did. Imagine a twenty first century benefiting from twice the number of philosophers, artisans, politicians and scientists than it is today. It almost makes me weep to think how much has been lost because of humanity's long-standing horrendous, stupid attitude to women.
Well, we've almost reached the end of the path of chauvinism. But that "almost" is the kicker. Stop the feminists now, and we risk sliding all the way back down the hill we've been dragging ourselves up since the original suffragettes. Don't let it happen. Our society can't afford to halve the amount of intelligent people able to express their ideas.
And so, I think we've reached the end of that rantble. I am, undoubtedly, a feminist, despite the presence of a penis. And I really think you ought to be, too.
Both these claims, I'm afraid, show misunderstanding bordering on ignorance. Yes, there are people who argue for the suppression of men and dismantling of marriage in the name of feminism, but that is not what feminism is at it's core. Feminism was started as, and the vast majority of it's adherents keep it as, a force for equality, acceptance and open-mindedness. The ONLY belief that is fundamentally feminist in it's nature is that women are equal to men. This is not a threat to men, as we can (or should be able to) flourish in business and politics and every other area with female competitors just as well as we could in a male-only environment. It is not a threat to marriage, as marriage can and does work as a partnership between two equals (and I would argue it works much better that way).
The other claim, that the aims of feminism have been achieved, is perhaps more damaging than the first. Yes, in a purely political sense, women are upheld as equals, and have all the same rights as men. And that's a fantastic achievement. But it's only half the battle- feminists still have a hell of a lot of work to do socially. How many men still believe it is acceptable to view women only as sex objects? How unequally huge is the pressure on women to look good and appealing to men, as opposed to the reverse? Feminism is needed as a counterweight to the anorexia-inducing sexual consumerist culture that has done so much damage to young girls in the West, if nothing else.
And then there are those who are still anti-feminist once you do strip away all the misinformation. Those of all genders who still say that being born a women should shut doors around your entire life; that you should surrender your will, your consciousness to the direction of other human beings just because those other human beings had the fortune of being born with other sexual organs to you. There is no justification for such a view. Anti-feminism and chauvinism is oppression and prejudice. There is no two ways about it. The pro-male-dominance viewpoint is no different from racism or homophobia. Any assertion that a person's unavoidable demographic group should cause restrictions to be placed around their life is unacceptable in my eyes.
Women are people, and people can think and speak and write and create and debate and contribute. If we were to remove feminism from our political and social consciousness, locking 50% of our human population into lives of servitude and mindlessness, then we haven't just done an enormous, unforgivable disservice to those people. We have lost out on a huge amount of potential beauty and intelligence and improvement to the human condition. Imagine if feminism had happened three millenia before it did. Imagine a twenty first century benefiting from twice the number of philosophers, artisans, politicians and scientists than it is today. It almost makes me weep to think how much has been lost because of humanity's long-standing horrendous, stupid attitude to women.
Well, we've almost reached the end of the path of chauvinism. But that "almost" is the kicker. Stop the feminists now, and we risk sliding all the way back down the hill we've been dragging ourselves up since the original suffragettes. Don't let it happen. Our society can't afford to halve the amount of intelligent people able to express their ideas.
And so, I think we've reached the end of that rantble. I am, undoubtedly, a feminist, despite the presence of a penis. And I really think you ought to be, too.
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