Importance Of Feminism
For the purposes of giving an introductory speech talking about yourself, I kept asking myself what my most defining feature was. After a week of deep thinking and not being able to pinpoint a certain feature, it honestly came down to the fact that I am a feminist through and through.
A feminist is someone who actively supports feminism which is the belief in full social, economic and political equality for women.
Despite the fact that the world we live in has evolved a lot over time and has grown to see male and female as more equal, it’s still not quite to the extent that it should be. Personally, this is why this topic resonates with me alot — I don’t want to grow up in a society that’s conditioned to see my male counterpart more favourably because of his gender or excuse certain behaviour from him because “boys will be boys”. It is first and foremost the duty of every woman on this Earth to be a feminist and actively campaign for equal rights. At the end of the day, If I, as a woman, won’t actively advocate for my rights and for gender equality then who’s going to advocate for me? Of course that’s not to discredit male feminists and the vital role they play in all of this, since prominet change has to be brought about equally from both sexes.
To put it plainly — It’s 2021, at this point women should be able to do everything a man is allowed to do. It’s almost embarrassing to keep discussing this same issue, but the key word in the previous sentence was “should” and not “can”.
To this day, men in positions of power exploit their power to take away the rights of women. This is particularly the case when it comes to women’s abortion rights because in many states in America such and countries around the world such as El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. In those countries, women aren’t allowed to have abortions because a man in power has more rights over their bodies than they do. How is this fair, how is this equality?
Recently, news outlets have been flooded with reports about a British woman named Sarah Evererard who was attacked by a police officer when she was walking home from a friend’s house. Naturally, this caused a lot of uproar worldwide because it just goes to show that even the men that are sworn to protect us and keep us safe — in this case the police officer — can easily harm us. Despite outcries from men claiming that it’s “not all men” who can do harm, the fear stretches far beyond policemen but any male figures in our lives from fathers to cousins to friends. It’s truly terrifying to exist not knowing whether the man who randomly says hello to you on the street is just a polite person or someone with ulterior motives. Not knowing if the strange man who’s walking behind you is minding his own business or is following you. Not knowing if the male driver you’re in the car with will safely get you to your destination or take you somewhere else. This yet again begs the question, how is this equality?
Living a life of constant fear, doing everything you’re “supposed to do” to keep yourself safe, like Sarah did, and still getting attacked, still getting harmed, still feeling unsafe. The worst part is when women choose to speak out about these horrible experiences, they’re not praised for their bravery and celebrated for being a beacon of encouragement to the remaining 97% , instead they’re blamed for a man’s out of line actions and their stories get falsified. Yet again, how is this equality?
As a woman I shouldn’t have to be scared of walking alone at night or think twice about what I’m going to wear before going somewhere or living a life of uncertainty and fear of every man I meet or encounter.
Because that’s the ugly truth of what it’s like to be a woman.
As a feminsit, I shouldn’t be told to shut up for speaking out about the issues of women. I should be able to talk about it without men turning the conversation to the struggles of men. I should be able to speak out without being judged for wanting equal rights.
Enough is enough.
I urge every man and woman to proudly identify with the term “feminist” and actively speak out about it, because we can no longer coexist in an unequal society which prioritizes one person over another because of something as futile as gender.
No more.
The time for change was 131 years ago. These old, misogynistic ideals that are still perpetuated by today’s society should have died out in 1890 when the suffragette movement first began.