A few weeks ago, I overheard a group of men and women talking about one of the “evils” of society. Apparently, this evil has brought down society as a whole. When I heard which “evil” it was, my mouth dropped to the floor. They were speaking of “dang feminism.”
I couldn’t believe it. However, many people that I have come in contact with seem to share this opinion. The argument goes, Feminism is bad; equality is what we need.
But the last time I checked, the definition of feminism went something along the lines of “equal rights and opportunities for men and women.”
Some people think to be a feminist today is to be a radical man-hater who hates her father and will never marry. But like any other stereotype, this one is completely flawed.
In practice, I dare say there are just as many male feminists as female feminists, though none would care to admit it publicly because the term “feminist” carries a stigma.
I think the reason people look down on the notion of feminism is because of the word itself. Think about it: feminism. It sounds like it’s all about women and what they want. This is not true.
The reason it was called feminism in the first place is because it was a movement for men and women to be equal. This makes sense because at the time, women were a “lower class” than men, so to make them equal, we needed to focus on them as a group.
Our nation has changed since that time. Women have well-paying jobs outside the home. Women can vote. Women can run for public office. Women can remain single and not be ostracized. Society is approaching true equality, though there is still much work to be done.
But the feminist movement is experiencing a backlash from men and women who are tired of hearing about “feminism.” Some radical members of the movement have taken it too far and have lowered the public opinion of it. It’s time for a change.
Men and women deserve to be equal. Jobs need to be filled solely on the basis of qualifications. The only way to see these goals realized is to continue working with feminist ideals in mind.
However, for feminism to ever become popular again, “feminism” needs to die. The term implies that it is solely about women getting everything because they are women. It needs a new title, one that will reflect the true nature of the cause. The cause is noble, but we need to keep it pure, and the only way to ensure this is to change the name altogether.
Feminism is not about rectifying past wrongs. It’s not about how women are “owed” something. It’s about a promising future of true equality.
JanaZ Hatcher is a sophomore political science.