I
wasn’t sure what a feminist was even after reading up, so I decided to look at
some definitions.
A
feminist literally means that you are a person who supports feminism. There is
a large misunderstanding throughout society that you must be a woman to be a
feminist. This is certainly not true. Being a feminist simply means that you support
feminism. Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining,
establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for
women. In addition, feminism seeks to establish equal opportunities for women
in education and employment. A feminist is "an advocate or supporter of
the rights and equality of women (Oxford English Dictionary, 2012)."
Of course I am all for women’s rights and the
equality of women, but I would hardly consider myself an advocate. I’m not a
campaigner, backer, activist, sponsor, or any other synonym relating to the
word “advocate.” Thoughts of women’s rights rarely, if ever, enter my daily
thinking mind. The only time I consider women’s rights is when I hear something
outrageous, like how some states are able to fire women for using birth
control, or states that do not allow abortions. These are pretty much the only
times I pause to think about feminism. In fact, until this course, I did not
even have a clear definition as to what a feminist or feminism is.
Now that I am more informed, I think that I can say
with confidence that although I appreciate the rights I have as a woman, no, I
am not a feminist. I have never protested for women’s rights (or protested for
anything, if we want to get right down to it), I never follow politicians who
have the interests of women at heart, and I’ve never particularly cared about
women’s rights in a historical sense, and our journey to get where we are
today. I’m not sure if that makes me apathetic, lazy, or just uncaring, but
this course will hopefully open my eyes to a new, unexplored, world for me.
I think a lot of people’s views of what it means to
be a feminist is skewed. Prior to reading the definition of a feminist, I
simply thought that a feminist was an angry man-hater with a personal vendetta
against men, or someone who women who are not feminists. I always hear the
words, “You just put the women’s rights movement back 40 years” or some
variation of this saying when a girl says she would be happy being taken care
of financially by a man and wants to rear children at home and be a house wife.
I don’t think an individual woman’s wants and desires could put the women’s
movement back and erase all of that hard work. I think women should have the
right to choose to do whatever she wants with her life and body, and no one
should condemn her for that (unless it’s hurting someone else, of course).
In short, yes I enjoy the benefits I have as a woman
born in this day and age, but no I am not a feminist.
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