As you probably know, I'm a feminist. And unlike a lot of people, I take it seriously.
Like, very.
I've written about the topics of child marriage and girls' education multiple times here on my blog, because I want my blog readers to be equipped with the knowledge that girls and women are seen as inferior, but we don't have to be. We can rise above it. I strive to stay enlightened on real world issues, not just through advocacy, but through action - I'm always contemplating solutions for our biggest problems.
But not everybody feels the same way. Feminism is one of the most controversial topics in the Western patriarchal society; some people just perceive feminists as greedy, stuck-up man haters. But feminism is really about supporting equal rights for everybody, whether female, male, or LGBTQ. Masculinism and feminism are one and the same.
I'm not about to let my biology determine and define my place in society, especially because feminists have actually done so much for women in our society. We enabled women to vote, get a divorce, work, own property, have access to birth control, and have possession of their own bodies - not to mention we passed laws against domestic violence.
But in some places, women are still thought of as objects. Family disputes are settled by selling one family's most qualified girl to another for marriage. Girls get married at kindergarten age. They aren't allowed to go to school, to learn, and to have the knowledge necessary to become a provider in the family, instead of a maid who gives birth to children, cares for them, cooks, cleans, and abides to whatever the husband says without having a voice. And the truth is that anti-feminists know women are just as powerful. (The world wouldn't exist without women, and they have to admit they wouldn't either!) They know what we're capable of but don't want us to take over, so they make us look weak.
So why give them that? Why let them silence you, take away your voice, make you obey them? Feminists can see problems just like everyone else, but we're different in that we try to speak out and do things to solve the problem. We refuse to stay put.
Feminists believe that women should be paid as much as men who do the same job. If they want to be the CEO of a dominant company, why not? They deserve to be able to possess their own selves and bodies. If they don't want a boyfriend, why should they? If someone's good at what they do and committed to it, there's no reason they shouldn't be paid as much as a man. If someone wants to be single and doesn't want anyone getting in the way of the life ahead of them (women have so much more to do in their lives!), then let them. It's honestly as simple as giving women the opportunities men have had eternally.
That's exactly why I look up to feminists and advocates like Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai, and Hillary Clinton. If another 11-year-old said something offensive and you called it out as sexist, they'd simply shake their head in disbelief and say, "I don't care! That stuff's stupid," and if you try to explain to them that it's not, you'd just be mocked and called "weird." So why don't we all take it seriously? It's not as if we're asking people to save the world and run to Saudi Arabia to help women drive, we're just asking them to show the respect they already show for males. The kid could've just said, "Sorry," and that would have been respectful while simultaneously making for a shorter conversation.
The worst part is that we've already worked sexism into our daily life. If the PE teacher calls for a boys vs. girls dodgeball game, you can already guess which side was cheering. Whenever that happens, I'm always the girl in the corner who realizes that our side still has a lot of athletic potential - and even if we lose, that's better than being downright sexist and abandoning what I stand for. Similarly, "like a girl," is a compliment, no more, no less; so if you ever tell me I scream, run, or do anything, for that matter, like a girl, I'll smile and say, "Thanks. That's what I was going for."
But not everybody feels the same way. Feminism is one of the most controversial topics in the Western patriarchal society; some people just perceive feminists as greedy, stuck-up man haters. But feminism is really about supporting equal rights for everybody, whether female, male, or LGBTQ. Masculinism and feminism are one and the same.
I'm not about to let my biology determine and define my place in society, especially because feminists have actually done so much for women in our society. We enabled women to vote, get a divorce, work, own property, have access to birth control, and have possession of their own bodies - not to mention we passed laws against domestic violence.
But in some places, women are still thought of as objects. Family disputes are settled by selling one family's most qualified girl to another for marriage. Girls get married at kindergarten age. They aren't allowed to go to school, to learn, and to have the knowledge necessary to become a provider in the family, instead of a maid who gives birth to children, cares for them, cooks, cleans, and abides to whatever the husband says without having a voice. And the truth is that anti-feminists know women are just as powerful. (The world wouldn't exist without women, and they have to admit they wouldn't either!) They know what we're capable of but don't want us to take over, so they make us look weak.
So why give them that? Why let them silence you, take away your voice, make you obey them? Feminists can see problems just like everyone else, but we're different in that we try to speak out and do things to solve the problem. We refuse to stay put.
Feminists believe that women should be paid as much as men who do the same job. If they want to be the CEO of a dominant company, why not? They deserve to be able to possess their own selves and bodies. If they don't want a boyfriend, why should they? If someone's good at what they do and committed to it, there's no reason they shouldn't be paid as much as a man. If someone wants to be single and doesn't want anyone getting in the way of the life ahead of them (women have so much more to do in their lives!), then let them. It's honestly as simple as giving women the opportunities men have had eternally.
That's exactly why I look up to feminists and advocates like Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai, and Hillary Clinton. If another 11-year-old said something offensive and you called it out as sexist, they'd simply shake their head in disbelief and say, "I don't care! That stuff's stupid," and if you try to explain to them that it's not, you'd just be mocked and called "weird." So why don't we all take it seriously? It's not as if we're asking people to save the world and run to Saudi Arabia to help women drive, we're just asking them to show the respect they already show for males. The kid could've just said, "Sorry," and that would have been respectful while simultaneously making for a shorter conversation.
The worst part is that we've already worked sexism into our daily life. If the PE teacher calls for a boys vs. girls dodgeball game, you can already guess which side was cheering. Whenever that happens, I'm always the girl in the corner who realizes that our side still has a lot of athletic potential - and even if we lose, that's better than being downright sexist and abandoning what I stand for. Similarly, "like a girl," is a compliment, no more, no less; so if you ever tell me I scream, run, or do anything, for that matter, like a girl, I'll smile and say, "Thanks. That's what I was going for."
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