Alright, friends, I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a
while and the time has finally come. We need to stop being afraid to use the
word feminist. Furthermore, we need to stop being afraid to use it as a label
for ourselves. Not convinced? That’s because I’ve only written 3 sentences. Let
me thoroughly convince you.
So feminism. Do we know what that means? I’m not trying to
be a condescending piece of poopoo, I’m just guessing that many people don’t.
It’s literally all about gender equality. Some people contest the name because
they say it makes it seem completely focused on women. There is definitely an
emphasis on women (as the disadvantaged group here), but we’re all about
helping out the dudes as well. If you’re doing feminism the non-douchey way, we’re
also looking out for trans people, genderfluid, genderqueer, two-spirit, and
any other gender identity out there. Because the point is that we’re all human
and gender shouldn’t have an inherent value placed on it.
Alright, we’ve established the cause as what I think most people
would consider a worthwhile one. And yet only 26% of people say that feminist
is a positive term. Let’s talk about misconceptions. Burning bras? I know I’m
not the first one to make this point, but anyone who has ever browsed Victoria’s
Secret knows how expensive bras are. I may be a raging feminist, but I’m not dumb
enough to burn $40 worth of fabric.
We’re often categorized as man-haters. I can tell you that
personally, I do not hate men at all. I consider myself a huge fan of men.
Especially when they wear khaki pants or drive cars or have those veins
sticking out of their arms that should really gross me out but I actually find
it super attractive. I digress. We don’t hate men! We’re not particularly fond
of men who want to have a say in something they’ll never actually experience.
We may even dislike men who use their automatic higher status as a platform to
drown out the voices of members of oppressed groups. But we don’t hate men
based on the fact that they’re men. We hate the privilege that society
automatically hands to them.
A lot of people like to call us lesbians. This probably
follows the idea that if we hate men, we obviously need to find someone to have
sex with (shout out to asexuality, amirite?) My response to this would be that
if there seems to be a concentrated number of queer women in the world of
feminism, it probably has something to do with their intersecting identities. Queer
people are obviously oppressed by our society, mix that with the disadvantages
of being a woman and you’ve probably created a human who’s willing to fight for
equality. In my textbook that I’m not allowed to cite because it’s not
technically published yet, the authors talk about patriarchal bargains and how
many gay men negotiate the patriarchy (which would ostracize them for their
sexuality) by emphasizing their manliness. Lesbian women don’t have that option.
There’s my statistic-lacking theory.
Alright so you agree with the idea of gender equality. I
feel safe assuming this because if you didn’t, you would’ve already left this
page. What do you have to do to become a feminist? Call yourself a feminist.
That’s it. There’s no set of expectations you need to meet to earn the label. Something
like 88% of women want gender equality, yet only 23% identify as feminists. And
only 16% of men accept the label. If you believe in gender equality (for ALL
genders, remember. Not just men and women. Fuck the binary.) then you align
with the feminist cause and therefore can call yourself a feminist.
What next, though? I have some suggestions for you. Baby
steps are obviously fine, but also keep in mind that addressing gender
inequalities is a constant learning experience. I can say from experience that
each day I realize a new way that gender impacts my life. From the political
aspect, bills are almost constantly being drafted, proposed, voted on, and
passed that are meant to target a specific gender. You can’t just do an hour’s
research and then consider yourself knowledgeable. If you want to be an active
fighter for gender equality, you have to practice CONSTANT VIGILENCE. (Harry
Potter, anyone?)
So my first suggestion is to Google (or use the search
engine of your choice) rape culture. I think it was one of the topics that did
the most to bring me into the cause. It’s something that you don’t necessarily
realize until you suddenly see its effects everywhere.
Please, please, please, look up information about abortion.
One of the quickest ways to alienate yourself from other feminists is to claim
to be pro-life. I was there at one point. Make a list of the reasons you’re
against abortion and then do some research. I found, and you probably will too,
that most of my arguments were actually not based in fact at all. Look up the pro-life
movement and the things it’s responsible for. More than anything, remember that
pro-life isn’t about stopping abortion, it’s about blocking a woman’s safe and
convenient access to abortion and inhibiting her choices.
Think about the ways that gender affects you in your daily
life. As a man, that means acknowledging the privileges you have as well as the
obstacles you encounter. Think about the double standard of sexual expression.
(Have I talked about slut shaming yet? I definitely will.)
But overall, do not be afraid to call yourself a feminist.
As the great Albus Dumbledore once said, “Fear of the name increases fear of
the thing itself.” (Two HP references in one blog post, holla!) Show people
that feminists and therefore feminism aren’t things to be scared of. Let’s get
rid of the dumb stigma surrounding a worthy cause and then we can all happily
wear witty t-shirts advertising our feminism.
Stay rad, pals.
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