Feminism: What It Is and Why It’s Good

What comes to mind when you think of feminism?

Maybe it’s a crowd of women marching down streets, yelling and holding picket signs. Maybe it’s the hashtags that have been floating around on Twitter: #YesAllWomen, #MasculinitySoFragile, #IStandWithPP, and the like. Maybe it’s Emma Watson making her #HeForShe speech, or Halsey tweeting about empowerment. All of those things are connected with feminism; it’s true. But what is feminism? Why is it on the rise again? And most importantly, what good can it do?

A Bit of a History Lesson:

Although the history of feminism has been whitewashed again and again, feminism began as an anti-colonialist movement in Asia and the Middle East during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was unique because it was fronted by women, rising up to challenge the oppressive governments forced upon them by Britain and other European countries. When feminism first gained traction in Europe, Australia, and North America during the 19th and 20th centuries, its focus was on getting women the right to vote, and this goal was achieved in many countries over generations of work. In the United States, this goal was achieved in 1920 when Nineteenth Amendment was passed. (Note: People often say that the Nineteenth Amendment gave “all women” the right to vote because it included black women as well as white women. However, Native Americans could not vote until 1924 in most states, and they had to wait until 1956 in Utah. Also, Chinese people could not vote in California until 1926. We can see here that the suffrage equality the Nineteenth Amendment promised was not complete.)

Feminism didn’t stop there, though. Women’s suffrage was only the first wave. Second-wave feminism broadened the scope of the issues it addressed, and it included sexuality, place within the family, treatment within the workplace, reproductive rights, and other controversies. In America, the Equal Pay Act took hold  in 1963, which assured women the same pay as men for equal work. The Educational Amendments of 1972 soon extended this assurance to executives, administrators, outside salespeople, and professionals. This wave brought feminism into the 1980’s. The third wave of feminism extends from the 1990’s till the present, although some have hypothesized that with this age’s new technology, feminism is entering into a fourth wave which takes place online.

Whatever the wave, one thing is for sure: today’s feminism is the most inclusive it’s ever been. Although many groups of women still suffer marginalization due to being trans, their sexuality, their race, their physical and mental ability, their financial state, and other axes of oppression, there has never been such a push to include women who have been historically excluded from the feminist movement. Women from all across the world are beginning to raise their voices, using social networking and other sites as tools. The speed and mobility of information nowadays allows revolutions to grow like grass, and feminism has definitely found roots on the Internet.

One question still remains, though: What is modern feminism rooted in? After the progress of a hundred years, what could feminism still be fighting for? Hasn’t equality been achieved?

The answer: not quite.

Let’s expand on that answer quantitatively and qualitatively, shall we?

By the Numbers:

Ah, yes, numbers. Who doesn’t love a good, solid statistic? Here are some which outline the problems modern feminism looks to combat:

First, the well-known gender wage gap, documented with stats from Bluestockings Mag: Women make 77 cents to a man’s dollar. That’s not quite correct, actually. White women make 77 cents to the white man’s dollar. Asian-American women make 90 cents. But did you know that black women make 64 cents to a white man’s dollar? Or that Alaska Native and American Indian women make 59 cents? Or that Latina women make 56 cents?

Here’s another one with stats from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network: In America, 9 out of every 10 rape victims are women. 1 out of every 6 American women has been a victim of attempted or completed rape. That’s 17.7 million female rape victims, right here in the US of A.

What about outside of America?

Well, the Washington Post reports that in Pakistan, about 1,000 women die in honor killings every year. (An “honor killing,” to clarify for readers who don’t know, is the murder of a person whose behavior is deemed offensive by the standards of a certain society or culture. The offense can be anything from looking at a boy to showing a bit too much skin. Usually the victims are stoned, but sometimes they’re shot down.)

In Saudi Arabia, reports The Week, women have only just gained the right to vote. However, they still can’t go out without a chaperone, drive, show “too much flesh” or “show off their beauty,” interact with men over a limited number of times, or try on clothes while shopping.

Today’s feminism is concerned with fixing these issues and getting women the rights they’re clearly still lacking, as we can see from these stats. We can see that the need for feminism is still ringing across the globe. These problems are why we’re still riding this wave of feminism and why that wave is only growing stronger as time passes.

By the Experience:

In order to give a more personal idea of how feminism can help people, I’ve collected small blurbs from a diverse group of people who attend(ed) the Center for Talented Youth, a summer program which I used to be part of. I used CTY as my database because it has a large number of feminists and a good amount of diversity on all axes and spectrums.

“I’m Latina. I’m brown-skinned. I’m bi. I’m asexual. I’m genderfluid. I have ADHD. Sometimes it feels like I’m made up of so many things that I can’t control, but I know people will hate me anyway just because it’s not what they like, what they think is ‘normal’ or ‘ok.’ Some of that I even believed—I told myself for the longest time that being bi was wrong, that feeling that my gender was different didn’t make sense, that the only way I could be pretty was if I was white and blonde and skinny, that I was weird because my brain didn’t work like most other brains do. But then I discovered feminism. The real kind. The kind that wants equal opportunities for everyone no matter their gender or race or sexuality or brain. And I realized that the truth is, we all deserve to be treated like we all matter, because we do. Feminism is fantastic. It made me realize that just because I’m not white doesn’t mean I’m ugly. That just because I’m not straight doesn’t make me a terrible person. That just because I’m ace doesn’t mean I’m broken. And feminism has taught me to be the same towards other people—more respectful, more caring, more mindful of what others are going through. I think that’s the real beauty of it.” – Irene M.

“As someone who fits into multiple marginalized groups—I’m gay, Latina, mixed, mentally ill, and developmentally disabled—intersectional feminism seemed like a natural fit. But I didn’t discover feminism until my early teens. Before that, I was always at least a little ashamed of who I was. I felt bad for not fitting into the heteronormative standards prescribed by our society. Intersectional feminism—which is to say, feminism which accounts for the intersections of oppressions beyond gender— taught me to love who I am, and I’m forever grateful.” – Lucia I.

“Feminism has always been important, but it became increasingly important when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2011. Nearly 80% of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia are women, so sexism is very present in the way that people treat me medically. Family, friends, and strangers asking me if my pain is really real or if it’s just something I’m doing “for attention”, or in one particular case a doctor asking me if I was doing this because of an idea I got when I was on my period, are all-too-common in my life. Women in the chronic illness community, in my experience, stick together against these kinds of attacks, and without my female chronically ill friends I don’t know what I would do.” – Madelynn W.

 “Feminism has helped me be more accepting of my place in the MOAGI (aka LGBTQ+) community, especially [my] gender identity (demiboy) as I was always critical of myself in the context of my traditionally all male high school, and it asked me to be more honest with myself about how I should be more accommodating of all other people because, outwardly, I’m as privileged as can be (still in the closet orientation- and identity-wise, white, Christian, wealthy, able-bodied, etc).” – Ryan

And here is where I, the author, will insert my own voice. I am biracial (Korean and German) as well as bisexual. I’ve struggled to find my place in a world where my Korean experiences are discounted because I pass as white and people think that I’m out of my head or greedy for liking more than one gender. Feminism helped me to see that I am allowed to be who I am — that I’m allowed to like more than just boys, and that although I face a different, lesser version of racism because of my white skin, my identity as half-Korean isn’t invalid. Because I’ve adopted a feminist ideology, I have learned to be more inclusive and I have undone internalized biases. This has helped me to love myself more and learn about and embrace the diversity of humanity.

That’s Great, But Then Why Are So Many People Against Feminism? And Can It Help Men?

The anti-feminist movement (including the vast majority of “meninists”/men’s rights activists) has always been strong. This is partially because feminism challenges the patriarchy and constructs created by the patriarchy, which are all very established in our society. It can be kind of uncomfortable to look at those things head-on, the way feminism does. Oftentimes, anti-feminism has roots in angry, defensive feelings which are a natural response to realizing that much of our society is founded on oppressive constructs (i.e. sexual objectification, rape culture, gender roles). Anti-feminists also like to argue that modern feminism is no longer necessary, citing things such as the Equal Pay Act and listing off various female CEOs. However, by looking at the experiences and statistics mentioned before, the idea that feminism is no longer needed can be quickly dispelled by most rational minds.

The majority of feelings which surround anti-feminism actually boil down to ignorance, boosted by stereotypes. “Feminism wants to kill all men,” claims the anti-feminist movement. “Feminists hate children, and they’re all just angry women who want to be victims.” This statement is, of course, not true. However, that’s how the media and anti-feminists portray feminism, and that’s the stereotype which has taken hold and spread like wildfire. That’s why people are so reluctant to align themselves with the feminist movement — this is how people see feminism. This is what they feel they’re signing up for, even though it’s completely different in reality. Like every group, feminism has its extremist sects, but there are too many versions of feminism to list, and the vast majority of these are looking for equality and acceptance, not to kill men or stop motherhood.

However, there are also some people whose arguments against feminism are completely legitimate. These people argue that today’s feminism is not inclusive enough or does not focus enough on certain minority groups, such as black women, LBGT+ women, or disabled women. That is a valid argument and one that feminists are still striving to make untrue.

Another question many people ask is, “If feminism is about gender equality, why not call it something which focuses less on women? Men have problems too, you know.” It’s true that men do have their own set of problems, which will be discussed momentarily, but we cannot deny that the feminist movement was started by women, for women. Men have clear privilege over women in our patriarchal society, as we’ve proved earlier through quantitative data, and the set of societal problems on their backs is simply not as pressing as women’s issues. Besides, why do you want so badly to take the spotlight off women? Why isn’t it okay that this is a women’s movement? Is there something wrong about women having a movement to themselves after what they’ve gone through as a group for thousands of years?

Feminism addresses the societal problems which men face, the greater majority of which are caused by a construct known as hypermasculinity. Hypermasculinity is the idea that men must be physically strong and emotionally stoic at all times, in whatever circumstance. Men across America and across the world are always told things such as “Boys don’t cry,” or “Take it like a man.” These sayings and the ideology surrounding them have arisen as a consequence of the patriarchy, and even though women clearly have the shorter end of the stick in a patriarchal society such as ours, it’s often emotionally scarring for men to deal with the strains of being masculine all the time. Even less serious complaints, such as “Why do men have to give women their jackets?” and “Why do men have to pay for dinner dates?” have their roots in the patriarchy because of the idea that a man must protect “his” woman and should be able to feed and clothe her without her assistance. Feminism’s battle against a patriarchal society encompasses the movement against hypermasculinity and the damage it does to the minds and bodies of men.

How Can I Become an Effective Feminist?

Every feminist is involved with the movement at a different level of participation. Some people simply hold the ideology close to their hearts and work to implement it in their everyday lives. Other feminists go a step farther and join protest marches and rallies. As a busy student, I have found that the most convenient and effective way for someone my age to be involved in feminism is to promote feminist content on social media. This can be as simple as retweeting a feminist statement, but it also extends to starting hashtags, writing full blog posts, and making videos on feminism. Your level of participation is your own choice, and it should be a level which you are comfortable with and which you feel is useful. No matter how you choose to promote feminism, it will change the way you think about the world.

Within our own Manhasset High, a good way to become involved in the feminist movement is to join our Feminist Club, founded by Lesley Jeon and Brooke DiGia and advised by Mr. Novak. The club holds movie nights and uses the profits it makes to donate to charities. It also hangs up flyers of famous feminist icons in the hallways in order to spread the word about which celebrities are part of the movement. Although it’s a very new club which is just starting out, it has a large number of members and is gathering a wonderful amount of momentum.

The feminist movement is taking such strong root in the modern world and is creating real, positive change. Joining it and advocating for gender equality is such an important and mature step for school-age kids such as ourselves to take, and it’s certainly an educational and enlightening experience. Take a step forward and be part of it.

Picture taken from EverydayFeminism.com.