What is Feminism?

The definition according to google:

fem·i·nism/ˈfeməˌnizəm/

Noun:

The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

OK. We wish that negative connotations of the word did not exist. Sadly, that is not the case. It is unfortunate that so many people will avoid their personal desire for gender equality in order to escape the harsh judgement associated with being called a feminist.

And soooooo we propose we reinvent feminism so that our generation can reclaim our drive and passion to create a better society. We believe the word feminism should conjure up the above definition and only this definition- and it’s already happening! Now, each feminist looks different, has a different story, and comes from a diffrent background. The modern day feminist might even have a penis!  What all these people have in common, is that they care about the fundamentals of feminism.

Which today may relate to issues like:

• Sexual Assault and Rape Culture
• Parity in government and business
• Self esteem and body issues
• What’s happening with women around the world

It doesn’t mean you can’t wear makeup or be a stay at home mom, if you want to.  It means that you have the choice to.

It also doesn’t mean hating men.  This is a very tricky distinction, because we need to be critical of how our society socializes men and promotes certain systems of power (i.e. patriarchy).  However, that does not mean every individual male is the enemy.  Our brothers, fathers, boyfriends, husbands, friends, teachers, sons, are in fact very essential to the solution.  They can benefit from feminism as well- which is why it is important that they are included in the journey towards gender equality.  We want to be careful not to make this a He vs. She battle.

Let’s think about it this way:

If Group A dominates Group B, it might seem as though Group B must fight against Group A to overthrow the system.  But in the spirit of peace and love, wouldn’t it make more sense for Group A to instead share and work towards mutual goals of equality?

We know this seems like a lot to ask- Group A give up their power? But it’s not like the two groups ultimately have different goals in life.  And even more importantly, it’s not like these two groups don’t coexist and share their lives together.

So you might be reading this and saying, ‘ok these girls are naive.’ We are aware that some men don’t want to work towards gender equality (i.e. the trolls on the internet who posted this picture, and all the guys who liked, shared or commented on it).  But we are also aware that often times, their voices are heard much more than those of the men who do care about these issues.

So how farfetched is it really?  How many boys do you know that support these issues but feel that they are being blamed as part of the problem or are afraid that if they speak out they are betraying their gender?  Let’s end that.  Boys are socialized just as girls to play a certain role in society, and instead of alienating them, let’s include them in the conversation.  After all- besides the effect on their own experience, it’s their wives, daughters, friends, girlfriends and mothers who are affected by gender inequality.