I am a Feminist... (I think)

So for a long time now, and particularly since Emma Watson (one of my idols and girl-crush haha) began to speak out with her HeforShe campaign and made a lasting impression with her UN speech, I have been thinking about the concept of feminism. I took History as a subject up until this year and looked at the famous women's rights movements of the past, such as the Suffragettes and Suffragists. I am currently a Modern Studies students and I often come across theories such as the Glass Ceiling Theory, which suggests that women can only progress so far in our current society and shocking statistics which also indicate this and other instances of gender discrimination in the current day and age. And I am soon to become an International Relations student and I know that gender equality has yet to become a given in many many places across the world.

A couple of days ago, one of these quiz things popped up on my Facebook called 'Are you a Feminist', and so I decided to take it. To my surprise, there was just one question, to which I answered 'yes of course', and my results were calculated as follows:

What I was asked was if I believe that all genders should share the same social, political and economic rights and, to me, that's not a question. If this is the true and original definition of feminism (which with some research I have determined that it is) then I am a feminist. Full stop.

However, although I am deeply saddened to know that there are a very small minority who would answer no to this, who honestly believe that one gender or another is superior, I know that the real debate over feminism is not a result of people disagreeing with equality, but disagreeing with the notion of feminism itself. Feminism appears to have acquired some negative connotations over time and it is this that plants doubt in the minds of people who would otherwise be proud to declare themselves feminists.

This morning, when I clicked onto Facebook, out of pure coincidence a chat had begun on a group I'm in about whether people were feminists, and their views on feminism. Instinctively, I wrote the following comment without dwelling too much over it, and it was this and the extremely interesting discussion which followed which prompted me to finally write this post, because I knew that my views on the subject were clearer than they'd previously been:

Emma Watson made it pretty clear in her speech that, while her HeforShe campaign is targeted at getting men especially on board, that is only because women are statistically proven to be more likely to be gender discriminated and not because we are under any delusion than men do not experience various types of gender discrimination too.

Many of the extremist 'feminist' cases in the media depict women "man-hating", refusing to listen to other points of view, or being deliberately rude or rebellious in order to gain publicity. It is sad that people need to do this, but as was pointed out to me, extreme action was required in the past by the likes of the Suffragettes in order to achieve many rights including that of the vote. So perhaps strong movements still have a place in today's society, but discrimination by one gender of the opposite gender because they feel it's a sort of "payback" for the discrimination they have received, is like trying to fix a wrong with a wrong. It is my belief that only a small number of 'feminists' use the term to associate with such actions, but that it is this small number who have given the entire movement a bad name.

Within the previously mentioned discussion, a number of interesting points were raised. One person held the belief that feminism comes hand in hand with being a woman. In light of the hardships faced by women across the world I understand where this person was coming from, however I believe gender equality to be just as much the business of men as it is of women. A forward-moving, healthy society can only, in my opinion, be achieved as a result of equality, and cooperation in achieving this equality, between sexes, and such a society would be beneficial to everyone. Furthermore, while it may not be as glaringly obvious, men are victims of gender discrimination too; ever thought about how having to maintain masculinity or have a manly occupation, dress sense, favourite drink, etc. might be a stereotype which verges on discrimination? This is just the example which comes to mind immediately.

Another point which was raised A LOT, was people saying that they agreed with gender equality, but would not refer to themselves as a feminist due to the negative connotations and fear of being misinterpreted. I can completely relate to this point. It's the reason for that hint of doubt in brackets which features in the title of this post. I mean, in the end, as long as we are all in agreement of what needs to happen and willing to do something about it, then what's the value of a name? We can call it anything we like so long as it's positive! And we may as well steer clear of a term the media and a few people have tarred with one brush and move into the modern-day with a new, innovative movement. I get it. People don't want to have to explain every time they identify as a feminist about how that doesn't mean they hate men, or care less about men's rights. Because, let's be realistic, that's what we have to do and there is absolutely no reason why we should be defending ourselves.

However (I'm almost done, promise! ;) ) part of me sees the flipside. If we change the name, who's to say that there won't be a minority of people masquerading under that term who don't respect its definition. Why should/would we abandon a term that's got so much history and has got us so far? Therefore, it really is my belief that rather than arguing over the name, we should all come together and tell the world what it truly is to be a feminist/equalist//liberal feminist/decent human being...

In short: I am a Feminist. And proud.



I would love to know your views on feminism in the comments- I honestly love polite, respectful debate so don't worry if you disagree with me! I know this post was a bit different to usual, but I thought I'd test it out, so I would really love feedback on if you enjoy this type of post and, if so, what other topics you'd like to see me cover. Thanks for all your support xx