The definition of feminism is as follows: the social, economic, and political equality among the genders and sexes. But it seems that that definition has been altered into something that depicts feminists as angry women who hate men and instead want social, economic, and political dominance above all other genders and sexes (transgender, gender queer, gender fluid- there are more than just two categories). Obviously this new definition is problematic by itself because though it criticizes feminists as power hungry, it actually perpetuates female subordinance in our society.
Feminism does not ostracize all genders and sexes other than women; and just this alone is one of most controversial aspects of feminism. People automatically assume that feminism is limited to the female population because it is labeled as fem-inism. Fem and female and feminine all sound similar, so people are quick to conclude that the theory is associated only with women, and this, unfortunately, is arguably one of the main causes behind the denial of feminism in our culture.
But then again, why are we blaming the word? Ignorance plays an important role here: rather than researching and learning what the correct meaning is, people accept what they see, and what they see is "feminism, fem, feminine, female empowerment! Those are those crazy women, right?" Our society has created this preconceived concept that feminism is a bad thing because of what it sounds like.
So how do we fix this? How do we, feminists, make it apparent to the rest of the wolrd that no, we are not looking for female domination? How do we make it known that feminism is simply a demand for equality? Perhaps we need a new word, because I honestly don't think that people are going to change their minds at this point. And this is not a defeat to the feminist movement; we are not changing the fundamental definition, we are simply changing the negative connotations affiliated with the word.
Equalist. This is the word that I am going to start using when I'm referring to feminist concepts because I am sick and tired of hearing "oh, you hate men," when I refer to myself as a feminist. I mean, calling myself an Equalist is beating them at their own game, right? The word Equalist does not infer any type of gender, sex, power, hatred- it sounds like equal, and that can thus infer equality. Which is what we, the women of this world, want.
We want equal pay. We want an end to catcalling. We want the right to wear the clothes we like, and not worry about being attacked or get classified as a slut or a prude (don't base personalities on appearances). We want to be able to say no, without having the fear of being harmed. We want employers to hire us and rate us because of our work ethic, not because of what we look like. We want to be able to walk down the street at any time of the day, and not worry about getting raped. We want no to mean no.
But we also want men to know that we are fighting for their rights, too. Child custody laws are often more in favor of the woman because women are seen as more maternal. The child should go to the better parent; the decision should not be affected by gender. Drop the idea that male rape victims are 'weak' or 'secretly wanted it'. Nobody wants to get raped-it's really that simple. Get rid of the notion of gendered bisexuality; bisexuality is the interest in BOTH genders, and usually people only see this as a transition phase or someone being greedy. Bisexual men are not gay: they are bisexual. Bisexual women are not only straight women looking for fun; they are bisexual.
Boys can like girl toys and girls can like boy toys- but, still, why must we gender objects? Pink, blue, purple, yellow, orange- these are hues that our eyes perceive as colors, not a way to label someone if they like it or wear it. Men should be able to wear pink without people saying, "wow a man with a pink sweater?!? You're brave." And gendered drinks, like really? A fruity drink is not to be used as a statement of "manliness" or as a way to make fun of people. It's a drink. A drink.
Feminism is for everyone, you see? Gender should never imply characteristic, and neither should it be used to discriminate, demean, or determine one's persona. Yes, gender does exist, but it should not affect what we enjoy, it should not affect how we are perceived in society, and, most importantly, it should not be used to judge out character. But still, the word itself has been changed into something very different of what it is asking for (I was a afraid to write 'demand' because this might be used against me). Misandry is when someone hates men and a feminist wants equal treatment among the sexes, see- there is no correlation between the two. But, regardless, I will refer to myself as an Equalist because I would rather people assume that I'm begging for equal treatment amongst the sexes and genders, instead of having people chastise me for the opposite of what I really want. I want equality, dammit!
Feminism does not ostracize all genders and sexes other than women; and just this alone is one of most controversial aspects of feminism. People automatically assume that feminism is limited to the female population because it is labeled as fem-inism. Fem and female and feminine all sound similar, so people are quick to conclude that the theory is associated only with women, and this, unfortunately, is arguably one of the main causes behind the denial of feminism in our culture.
But then again, why are we blaming the word? Ignorance plays an important role here: rather than researching and learning what the correct meaning is, people accept what they see, and what they see is "feminism, fem, feminine, female empowerment! Those are those crazy women, right?" Our society has created this preconceived concept that feminism is a bad thing because of what it sounds like.
So how do we fix this? How do we, feminists, make it apparent to the rest of the wolrd that no, we are not looking for female domination? How do we make it known that feminism is simply a demand for equality? Perhaps we need a new word, because I honestly don't think that people are going to change their minds at this point. And this is not a defeat to the feminist movement; we are not changing the fundamental definition, we are simply changing the negative connotations affiliated with the word.
Equalist. This is the word that I am going to start using when I'm referring to feminist concepts because I am sick and tired of hearing "oh, you hate men," when I refer to myself as a feminist. I mean, calling myself an Equalist is beating them at their own game, right? The word Equalist does not infer any type of gender, sex, power, hatred- it sounds like equal, and that can thus infer equality. Which is what we, the women of this world, want.
We want equal pay. We want an end to catcalling. We want the right to wear the clothes we like, and not worry about being attacked or get classified as a slut or a prude (don't base personalities on appearances). We want to be able to say no, without having the fear of being harmed. We want employers to hire us and rate us because of our work ethic, not because of what we look like. We want to be able to walk down the street at any time of the day, and not worry about getting raped. We want no to mean no.
But we also want men to know that we are fighting for their rights, too. Child custody laws are often more in favor of the woman because women are seen as more maternal. The child should go to the better parent; the decision should not be affected by gender. Drop the idea that male rape victims are 'weak' or 'secretly wanted it'. Nobody wants to get raped-it's really that simple. Get rid of the notion of gendered bisexuality; bisexuality is the interest in BOTH genders, and usually people only see this as a transition phase or someone being greedy. Bisexual men are not gay: they are bisexual. Bisexual women are not only straight women looking for fun; they are bisexual.
Boys can like girl toys and girls can like boy toys- but, still, why must we gender objects? Pink, blue, purple, yellow, orange- these are hues that our eyes perceive as colors, not a way to label someone if they like it or wear it. Men should be able to wear pink without people saying, "wow a man with a pink sweater?!? You're brave." And gendered drinks, like really? A fruity drink is not to be used as a statement of "manliness" or as a way to make fun of people. It's a drink. A drink.
Feminism is for everyone, you see? Gender should never imply characteristic, and neither should it be used to discriminate, demean, or determine one's persona. Yes, gender does exist, but it should not affect what we enjoy, it should not affect how we are perceived in society, and, most importantly, it should not be used to judge out character. But still, the word itself has been changed into something very different of what it is asking for (I was a afraid to write 'demand' because this might be used against me). Misandry is when someone hates men and a feminist wants equal treatment among the sexes, see- there is no correlation between the two. But, regardless, I will refer to myself as an Equalist because I would rather people assume that I'm begging for equal treatment amongst the sexes and genders, instead of having people chastise me for the opposite of what I really want. I want equality, dammit!