Feminism. A word known by all, argued by a significant amount and feared by many. Why is it that nowadays a girl being referred to as a feminist by a guy is seen as more of an insult than a compliment, or simply a fact? Feminism is a serious issue that’s worth fighting for, however over time it’s lost its meaning and subsequently lost the support that it so rightly deserves.
Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way an expert on the subject. I mean, I took GCSE History and I studied the suffragettes and I’ve read enough articles and literature to at least form the basis of an opinion on the subject. However, I don’t have to know every fact there is to know about feminism inside and out, and I’m not going to use this post to argue for feminism. I want to use this to explain what feminism really is, because honestly it’s a lot tamer than many people who fear it believe it to be.
Firstly, feminists do not hate men. In fact, the most common misconception is that feminism encourages the demeaning of the male species in order to boost females. This is a lie, and any feminist that believes this doesn’t fully understand the fundamental principles of feminism. The feminist movement is built on the foundation of equal rights for all. That’s right. Equal. Not women being better than men. Not men suffering like women once did. Everybody being equal. Do you believe that women should be paid an equal amount to men when they do the same job? Do you believe that women and men should be judged equally in specific situations? If you agree with these then believe it or not you have feminist views, whether you call yourself a feminist or not.
Yes, it was created to get better rights for women, but feminism benefits men too. Equal rights means that in certain situations men would be judged and ridiculed less as well. Take the case of feelings being expressed: a woman expresses her feelings and it is fine, because she’s a woman, but a guy expresses his feelings and he’s ridiculed for being a “pansy” or “gay”. Why is communicating how you feel a girly thing to do? Do we not all have feelings? Feminism aims to discourage double standards, helping everyone (and that means both genders) be treated equally.
So why do so many people fear the feminist movement? Because, like every other cause, there are extremists that taint the general view. Think of it like a celebrity fandom: you get the fans who love a celebrity and what they do… and then you get the fans who send death threats to the partners of a celebrity, because they want them all to themselves, thus ruining the general image of the fandom. It’s those extremists that dominate and argue with their anti-male attitude, creating the negative views of feminism that are so greatly seen by the majority of people.
And yes, we’ve progressed, and girls can wear trousers and work in non-domestic jobs, but even though it’s more discreet, women are still not equal. The sad truth is, in the 21st century women are still not receiving an equal amount to men. In fact, according to ‘The Fawcett Society’ the overall gender pay gap still stands at 19.1%! That’s right. Men on average are still earning 19.1% more than women doing the same job! (If you don’t think that’s a significant amount of money, consider how much of a difference a 20% off discount makes when you’re shopping). We are slowly making progress, and that gap has fallen from the 27.5% that it was in 1997, but we’re still not there, and the difference is rather worrying.
So where do you stand on the feminism issue? Are you ready to fight or are you still in fear?
Read, comment, and don’t take anything personally, remember we’re all still forming opinions. Byeeeee
Still Forming Opinions... 
Feminism’s a tricky subject and you’re right, a lot of people argue for it without actually knowing what it’s about. Didn’t realise that the gender pay gap was so much tho! That’s completely ridiculous…
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I don’t see why feminism is a big deal! If girls work hard, get their degrees and be ambitious and determined then they can get just as far as any man can. Feminism is generally just an excuse to slack and blame the world for your misfortune. You want that 19.1%? Then work for it.
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I understand where you’re coming from. I don’t think that femininism should ever be used as an excuse to not work as hard as you can. I can’t stand girls who don’t try their best and then blame their shortcomings on being female. However, my point is that even to this day women can work just as hard in the same job and earn slightly less, even if it is as little as 1 or 2% less, and that’s what needs changing.
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“Men on average are still earning 19.1% more than women doing the same job!”
No, that’s not true. That’s the median figure across all jobs, not comparing men and women doing the same job. To a large extent this is down to women being more likely to do part time work, which is typically lower paid. in fact, if you look at the Fawcett Society’s statistics, the average wage gap for full time work is significantly lower at 9.4%.
Interestingly, the statistics show that the wage gap doesn’t really exist for younger women. In fact, women aged between 22 and 39, working full time, have a slightly higher average wage than a man of the same age.
As the statistics aren’t showing earnings for people doing the same job, the gap can’t simply be blamed on discrimination in the workplace. There’s a good argument that much of it can be explained by the different choices that men and women make, e.g. the fields that men and women choose to study in college.
As for feminism, I’m afraid I tend to judge movements by the organisations and leading activists that represent them. They’re the ones who have a platform in the media and influence on politics. To me many of the recent campaigns from mainstream feminism just look like scaremongering and puritanical moral crusading, albeit dressed up with women’s studies rhetoric…
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I agree that it is up to the leading activists to represent an organisation effectively, and if you see this as scaremongering then clearly they need to work on their tactics and particularly how they’re getting their basic message across. Feminism is and was not supposed to be about “puritanical moral crusading”, but unfortunately many people tend to be given an inch and take a mile nowadays (not always with malicious intentions). I suppose that this is a problem that needs tackling before their message can fully understood.
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