Feminism: We can do it?
Hello there!
The term feminism can be defined as: “a movement to end sexist oppression”. Traditionally, feminism targets the organisations and the mechanisms that are causing this oppression against women. However, this distinction shouldn’t be limited only to the way that women are treated in comparison to men, but instead, there should be a specific interest in the way that each sex is represented, particularly by the media. The social media, in particular, are bombarding the audiences with feminist issues and the need of claiming equal rights, which are still in question in many countries of the world. However, in everyday life, things are a bit different.
On one hand, we see events like the “SlutWalk” but on the other hand, there are still people who think of feminism as a remnant of the past. But let’s examine both situations separately. “SlutWalk” started 6 years in Toronto, Ontario aims to challenge cultural attitudes concerning the sexual legitimacy and gendered/sexualized violence. It is a movement that became a global event with marches going on around the world, from Australia to India, South Africa and the UK. It gained a great deal of coverage from global media and a lot of celebrities expressed their support to this movement. It is easy to claim that we are all feminists and we respect the equality of the sexes but is it really the case? There are many people among us, women as well, who are still afraid of the term. They feel that it has more to do with bra-burning rather than the day-to-day survival. For them, it has an almost negative meaning, an exaggeration from a part of the women who want more than they “deserve”, more than men. Another disturbing aspect of modern feminism conceptions is that we have already achieved feminism and we have no longer to fight to earn it from today’s society. Feminism is positively associated with past gains like to the ‘‘suffragette movement’’ and many people think that since women and men are equal on paper then there’s no reason to protest, to claim or even to fight. But the reality is different. Even if theoretically women have equal rights as men, there are still stereotypes concerning the traditional place of men and women. Sometimes it is difficult to ask for a promotion, a job or you're treated differently just because you are a female. Feminists are, therefore, often seen as troublesome since they need more, they don’t know their “right place” and they refuse to settle. Another stereotype concerning feminists is that they are considered as not caring about their appearance, as they don’t dress or do their make like the way that “guys might like”. But isn’t that obvious? Shouldn't we all consider what makes us comfortable, happy or confident without thinking what guys might like?
I think that feminism might sometimes sound complicated, but it’s actually a simple demand. It’s the demand of being equal. To have equal chances when applying for a job, a raise or for an office. It’s nothing more or nothing less than that. We should all keep in mind how far we’ve come but to try to achieve more, as feminism still has a long way to go before making equality real not just on paper but in everyday life as well.
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