What Being a Feminist Means To Me
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What Being a Feminist Means To Me

Opinion

February 18, 2018

I myself am a very proud feminist and there are lots of reasons for that not all being what people seem to assume about feminists. So I am hoping to explain to people and maybe even encourage people to see what being a feminist is to me.

Let's start with a dictionary definition:

So to put it simply, there is a social imbalance and feminism is aiming to improve women's rights to fix it. So feminism actually has nothing to do with taking men down only bringing women up to the same level as men. 

But don't feminists hate men?

Nope. Let me introduce a couple more terms:

  1. Misogyny: dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. (simply put, hating women)
  2. Misandry: dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against men (simply put, hating men)

Whilst I may not be a child bride, someone is. Whilst I might not be suffering hugely, someone is.

This year, 2018, marks 100 years since women in England got the right to vote. Whilst to young people this seems like a long time, however, civilization as we know it is said to be around 6000 years old and some quick math reveals that women have been voting for 1.6% of that time. At the time this right to vote was seen as destroying the sanctity of the home and the natural order of things. Today the belief that women should not be treated as sexual objects and should have equal opportunity and rights to men is seen as destroying the sanctity of the home and the natural order of things. 

Also this year Iceland became the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women for the same job and aim to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022. The gender pay gap is not a myth. I live in England known to be a developed country which many people believe therefore is equal, however, the gender pay gap is 16.9% between men and women meaning that my brother and I could get the same qualifications and the same position and I would be paid 16.9% less than him.

What can you do?

1.Educate 

The most important thing you can do is to explain it to other people, to teach other people, to help other people. 

2. Women's March 

I suggest you attend a women's march if you really want to get out and do something but take care to remember that women's marches should include all women  and men or anyone who wants to attend whether they are cisgender, transgender, straight, gay or otherwise 

3.Vote! Vote! Vote!

People worked so hard for our chance to vote, died for it even so that now we can get our say heard. If you are old enough to vote to make sure you do and whether or not you're old enough I suggest you try to have at least a little knowledge of what the candidates are standing for.

Rachel Smith

Writer since Jan, 2018 · 9 published articles

I'm an 18-year-old aspiring writer/poet in Upper Sixth in England. My interests range from sports to fashion but most of all literature. I have occasionally bright hair and an obnoxiously cheery personality.

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