Feminism, a topic people rarely hear about. Some know the word, but do not understand the meaning or history behind it. Others know it but have misconception of it in general. We can indeed put part of that blame on the media. People, I mean many people derive their meanings and understanding of so many things from the media. And yet, all the media knows of feminism is, “correcting gender norms”. So, what does this Feminism even really mean? Is it a religion that worships women? Well, you might say that. Feminism is a movement. Or should I say an organization, that wishes to end “sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression”. In a way, we have individuals who misinterpret the words Feminism and gender equality. Gender equality tends to focus more on disrupting or perpetuating the accepted norms in society, that men are superior to women. This inaccuracy (that women are subordinates of men) has long been around, for decades, an in fact caused the formation of the women liberation. Another misunderstood word. Women’s Liberation, also a movement which was put in place with the aim of correcting the values of and traditions of discrimination, especially against women. In the past, feminism was set to end sexism and sex exploitation against women from men. Nonetheless, as time went on, the women in the association came to a realization that men were not the only oppressors and sexist, some women also played that role against men too. This discovery somehow crumbled the world of feminists. Woke organizations struggled as matters regarding races and classes resurfaced. Other revolutionary issues began to overshadow the struggles within the awareness groups. Discussions like black men finally getting recognition in the work force and attaining the same level as white males as well. White women asserting their needs for freedom after civil rights. These and many other matters had arisen. The feminist group had to round up different strategies to bring back the attention of the public to why the movement was founded in the first place. However, some changes were needed to be put in place first before the consciousness of the public was sought after. Amendments like, not just looking out for women who were been oppressed, but also men who were experiencing or had encountered sexist. Now the movement was fighting against both male and female sexist. Although majority of folks had the mindset that feminism was anti- male, the mentality was beginning to dissipate and the movement finally being acknowledged.
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Hi Salima! You bring up a great point that being uninformed and wide spread misconceptions are detrimental to the Feminist movement. Because of this, feminism isn’t often discussed. Misconceptions and misinformation usually shed a negative light on feminism. Making people dismiss or reject it. This severely halts the movement, preventing positive progress toward gender equality and many other social/political issues.
Hi Salima,
I also agree that being uninformed is terrible for the feminism movement. So many people genuinely believe that a part of being a feminism is just about hating men and think the goal is to be superior to men. For this reason it’s common for people who identify as feminists to be seen negatively. With this kind of misinformation, we’re taking steps backwards instead of forward.