The Difficulty with Defining Feminism

Though there are still major problems that need to be worked on and feminism seems to not be working as well anymore. Due to the extreme gender inequality that exists we must create a feminist mindset where in society ignores labels, embrace more than just the “essential feminist”, and relieves people of societal pressures. Fighting labels that society has taught us to reinforce

Contrary to popular belief, true feminism fights for true equality for women, as well as other people groups. The false view of feminism causes women to distort gender roles, dishonor themselves, and degrade men. To begin, the modernized feminist movement has altered the way gender roles are viewed in society. Women are pushing for complete control in nearly every aspect of life. Many feminists believe women could do just as well, if not better, than men have been doing in leadership positions.

‘Stealth feminism’ is when women agree with all that feminism stands for but reject the label (Kimmel 263). The media tends to portray feminism in a negative way; and as a result of this, the status is rejected by young women. “They believe that if they were to call themselves feminists other people would think that they must be strident, domineering, aggressive and intolerant and-worst of all- that they must hate men”(Moi,1736). Some women will not want to be associated with such descriptions or agree with what the feminists stand for but would rather be identified with egalitarianism. Zucker defines egalitarianism as the phenomenon “In which women espouse feminist beliefs regarding the equality of women and men, while simultaneously rejecting feminist identity” (Zucker paragraph 9).In this case, women are either for feminism or against it.

It would help eliminate a lot of today’s problems if the playing field was leveled. We should see feminism for what it should be. Defined in its definition is its meaning so why demean it and turn it into something it was never supposed to actually be. People are fighting to be included in feminism and be able to stand as women but people don’t see the issues stirring in the movement itself. That is caused by third wave feminism,

Some vocal “power feminists” that are listed in our “Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture” by Julia Wood include Naomi Wolf and Katie Roiphe. These women both argue that the only thing holding back women is the artificial sense of inferiority and false sense of victimhood that many of them have in regards to how society sees them. Naomi Wolf argues that women should “stop thinking of themselves as victims”(84). Roiphe argues that by having non-violent protests against rape and sexual harassment along with Take Back the Night marches proclaims that women see themselves as victims. She ignores that fact that many women can see these events as uplifting and empowering for women.

Many people did not vote for the female candidate not because they did not agree with her ideas, instead they did not vote for her because of the sole reason that she is a female. People did not want her to be in office and be a leader. They did not think that she had the capability of being a leader only because she is a woman. That mentality needs to stop. Being equal as a society can then influence the companies to treat employees the same which can then promote equal pay.

The hating of men is actually called misandry. Feminists don’t want women to rule over men; they want men and women to be on the same level. Many people think badly of feminism for this reason. As with any movement, there are radicals who call themselves feminists and portray it as a man-hating ideology. But the whole movement cannot be defined by only a small fraction of it’s members.

As long as feminism fails to change the image as a gender bias extremist, there’s going to be worldwide resistance towards feminism. Given that the society needs gender equality within society, people should let feminist do the job. Society’s view on feminism is terrible. In the novel, Adichi OH 2 adds “These are the little things, but sometimes it is the little things that sting the most.” Little

This was a major milestone in the women’s rights movement. Susan B. Anthony once said “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” (Susan B. Anthony para 1). If only feminism were the same today it wouldn’t be a bad connotation and would still be a positive movement. This is because many of those associated with feminism today no longer see the need for equality. Instead, it seems they are looking for superiority.

Feminism advocates for neither gender holding more power than the other; therefore, if one does not support or consider themselves feminists, they are a sexist; believing one gender is superior to the other. It may seem contradictory, two movements can be used interchangeably and can have differences with one another. However, when looking at specific detailed roots of both equal rights and feminism, there is a difference. The difference between equal right and feminism is that feminism is solely focused on empowering women and balancing the powers of both genders, that they do not acknowledge the struggles and imprisonment of gender roles males have and do face. The equal rights movement is meant to fix the imbalance of sexes, this is different from the feminist theory that aims to rid society of the patriarchal hierarchy creating an equal playing field for both genders (Good,