What It Means To Be A Feminist

When I tell people about feminism or show any passion about the topic in the slightest, I get glares all the time. Too many people have come to misunderstand what feminism stands for and refuse to learn more about it unless it’s in a funny meme (in which case, it still manages to convey a grand total of nothing but stigmas towards feminism) . I don’t think feminism should be such a controversial topic in the first place. From being an “angry feminist” or just being seen as whiny, the idea of feminism has become a laughing matter when it shouldn’t be. I’ve decided to use this post to talk more about what feminism is, and what it isn’t.

Common misconceptions of Feminism

1. Only females can be feminists, it’s in the name! : Just because the name is feminism does not mean men aren’t allowed to be feminists! In fact, males who are feminists are not as rare as you may think. It’s all about understanding what feminism truly is. It’s not a club that your only allowed to join if and only if your female.
2. Feminism is about raising females above males. It’s all about making females the dominant gender : NO. Feminism is truly about equality. It’s about bringing up the oppressed.
3. Feminists only start arguments: The angry feminist meme can assure you that this is something people tend to think. Sometimes people get defensive but it’s also important to further feminism through educating people.
4. Feminists don’t care about men: This only is thought because some think that feminism is about disregarding men and #girl power. Nevertheless it still is about empowering females but that doesn’t mean that we hate men all of a sudden. Go back to example one and two, feminism is for anyone who believes in equality.
5. Feminists only fight for white cis straight women: Feminism is about all women.

Somewhere in the history of feminism these misconceptions came up and started arising controversy around the idea. So what exactly is feminism? Why does it matter?

Feminism strives to make masculinity and femininity equal. The most common question I tend to get is Well if it’s about equality, why is it called feminism? Why not call it equalism? 

The idea of calling it feminism is to bring up the oppressed. In which, in this case is femininity and females. Calling it equalism would suggest that the pedestal men are sitting on be lowered to where women stand. That’s not what feminists are asking for. We want to bring up females to where men already are. Hence, gender equality. 

And finally, if it’s not supporting all women, (from poc, trans women, sex workers, lgbtq+ women, etc) in other words, if it’s not intersectional, it’s not feminism.

Images : FI 1 2 3