Why Is Feminism Still Relevant?

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FEMINISM

A word we often see being debated online. The main problem in my opinion is, we have no idea what feminism is.

I mean how can we expect the people to know about feminism, when even our representatives and presidents don't know what the word actually means ** cough ** Donald Trump ** cough ** . In Trump's interview, when he was asked if he identifies as a feminist, his reply was, "No, I wouldn't say I am a feminist, I mean, I think that would be maybe going too far, I am for women, I am for men, I am for everyone."

I mean... that is literally what feminism means.. but okay. Feminism is equality for all. There is a HUGE difference between feminism and misandry.

Feminism is NOT the belief that women should be superior than men. Feminism isn't taking away from men but is rather helping the other gender raise in power equal to that of men. Feminism literally means equality!

So, If you believe girls should have the same opportunity as boys to get education, you are a feminist. If you believe women should be allowed to vote, you are a feminist. If you believe women should be allowed to drive, you are a feminist. If you believe women should be paid the same amount as men for the same task, you are a feminist. If you believe men and women should be treated equally and receive equal rights and opportunities, YOU ARE A FUCKING FEMINIST! You don't have to be a women to be a feminist, feminism is for everyone!

The core beliefs of feminism are:

• Sexism exists
• Misogyny is enduring, pervasive, systemic, cultural, and ingrained
• All genders should have equal rights and opportunites
• Genders are intellectual equals and social equals to men
• Genders should be recognized and treated as equals to men

If you are commenting against feminism, then you are a sexist. Simple as that. You are either a feminist, or a sexist. There is no sitting on a bench, there is no third way!

I have been repeating this again and again. Feminism is about eqality. It is not women vs men. It is about feminists vs the patriarchy.

Patriarchy is not just the men's fault, the problem is everyone, including women, who have internalized at least some of the patriarchal ideas. Hence, patriarchy is still prevailing. Even a lot of feminists subconciously are affected by the patriarchy. The war of feminism was NEVER about men vs women.

Why Do We All Need Feminism

Men Suffer Too!

Men are expected to be the provider, and breadwinners of the family, because waiting for them at home, of course, is a weak, passive woman who needs to be protected.

Men do face many problems at the hands of the patriarchy. We are expected to not show emotions because emotions are weak and “feminine.” We are not believed or if believed then not taken seriously when they come forward with stories of rape or abuse, just because according to men, they are strong hence such things can not happen to them.

We are expected to fit into this narrow definition of what it means to be a man, and if anyone deviates from that at all, then they are belittled and called “feminine” And that is why feminism is as important for men as it is for women.

Catcalling And Street Harassment.

Catcalling and street harassment is happening more often than you might think. In 2015, 100 percent of women on public transportation in France said they have been sexually harassed at least once. Every single woman who has taken public transport in France say they have fallen victim to sexual harassment, according to a French study. This includes catcalling, groping, and even rape.

In Pakistan, 93% women experience some form of sexual violence in public places in their lifetime. A 2014 survey of women in the US found that 65% had experienced some kind of street harassment, 23% had been sexually touched, and 20% had been followed. According to a 2016 ActionAid survey, 79% of women living in cities in India, 86% in Thailand, and 89% in Brazil have been subjected to harassment or violence in public, as had two-thirds of women in London, UK.

66% of LGBT respondents in a 2012 European Union survey said that they avoid holding hands in public for fear of harassment and assault. 50% said they avoid certain places or locations, and the places they listed as most unsafe to be open about their sexual orientations were "public transport" and "street, square, car parking lot, or other public space." According to the Stop Street Harassment national survey, LGBT men are 17 percent more likely to experience physical aggressive harassment and 20 percent more likely to encounter verbal harassment than heterosexual men.

Rapes Do Happen!

In Canada, one in four women will be raped, and on average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States.

And if you are raped, then you can expect not to be taken seriously. You might be asked questions like “how much were you drinking” or “what were you wearing” or “are you sure you didn’t lead him on,” as though any of that has anything to do with the violence that has been perpetuated against you. If you are raped, then it’s your word against his, and there’s very little chance that you will ever receive real justice.

In America, out of every 1000 rapes, 994 perpetrators will walk free. And even if assailants do serve jail time, it’s often very brief. Yes, some of the lack of arrests is due to the fact that a large number of sexual assaults and rapes go unreported. But why don’t people report? Because when victims do report, they are often automatically victim blamed by the public or thought to be lying. Even among reported cases, only 37% of reported rapes are prosecuted and only 18% of prosecuted rape cases end in a conviction.

The Wage Gap.

In the U.S. women make an average of 78 cents to their male coworker's dollar for doing the exact same job? And that pay gap gets even larger when you look at the salaries of women of color in this country. And if the decrease in the wage gap continues at the same rate that it is now, women won’t have average equal pay to men until 2059. For hispanic women it won’t be until 2248, and for Black women 2124.

“Female financial specialists make 66 percent of what their male counterparts make, female doctors earn 71 percent, and female lawyers and judges make 82 percent. That’s all controlling for age, race, hours and education.”
- The Washington Post.

Indeed it is true that women sometimes choose careers that pay less, it’s important to point out that the choices of some women to work in these fields are highly influenced by societal expectations about womanhood, and that’s definitely not the woman’s fault. Women still do a disproportionate amount of the housework and childcare compared to their husbands, and end up quitting or decreasing their hours in order to balance it all. Men even tho perfectly capable of doing even amounts of housework as women, often times, don't, because "that's just how things are."

Not Everyone Is As Lucky As You.

We often see people discrediting other peoples just because the said things did not happen to them, or just because they never before heard of such thing happening.

Well, it’s great that you’ve been so lucky not to knowingly experience discrimination; because the truth is, the majority of the world’s women don’t share the same fate as you. There are many women who do experience discrimination because of their gender as well as other parts of their identity. There are women who are harassed, there are women who are abused, there are women who are assaulted!

Just because you feel that sexism and discrimination haven’t had much affect on your life, doesn’t mean they aren’t very real and scary and detrimental in the lives of other women.

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT DISCREDITING SOMEONE BY VICTIM SHAMING THEM OR DOUBTING THEM, PERIOD!

Boys And Girls Are Treated Differently.

Boys are taught from a very young age that guys are supposed to like blue and play with action figures, and cars and robots, while girls are supposed to like pink, and play with dolls, and are given cooking toys and stuff like that. Guys are supposed to be strong and not supposed to show emotions, while girls are weak and it is okay for them to cry.

We are told that guys are supposed to act in a certain way, guys are strong and can fight, while women are weak and complete opposite of guys.

It is this very mentality, that furthers and promotes patriarchy in our culture, we are drilling these things in the mind of our children from a very young age. How about we let them choose which toys they want to play with?

Child Marriages Are Still Common.

Daily, nearly 39,000 girls are wed before they’re 18. In 36% of cases, the girls are younger than 15. Getting married that young robs a child of their education and childhood, replacing it with the duties of marriage. In addition, child brides have more health complications and maternal mortality. Statistically, child marriages end up having a larger risk and frequency of sexual abuse and domestic violence compared with marriages between adults.

Girls aren’t alone, as boys are often married under the age of 18, but the the number for females is far more than that of males.

Why We Don't Need Feminism

Trust me, I have been thinking of reasons since last 3 days and this is all I could come up with

You Benefit From Patriarchy

You like your role provided to you by patriarchy. You are either a men who likes his role as the provider. It gave you purpose, and makes you feel strong and, well, “masculine.” You like being able to marry a woman who will perceive her entire purpose in life to be serving him, living only for him; or you are a woman who likes staying at home and like serving your husband and being oppressed and living under him. You think that men are superior to women physically and mentally or you just like staying at home and not going out to work.

A lot of men say that feminism is taking away their rights and stripping them off their freedom, when the only freedom they’re losing is the freedom to oppress women.

All gifs taken from giphy