A Little Chat About Feminism

Helloooo! Today I'm going to be talking about a somewhat controversial topic. If you haven't guessed from the title, it's feminism. By no means am I an expert, and I know some people will read this and disagree with everything I have to say and I can't stop that. What I can do is explain what I know and believe as best I can. Feminism is such a broad topic and to attempt to write down everything would literally take days! Also, I'd like to add I'll be speaking in terms of cis males and females as I am a cis female, but I am still 100% acknowledging that non-binary genders exist and that they can face similar or the same experiences. I don't really feel I have the authority to speak on behalf of non-binary genders, so I'm just speaking from what I know personally.

fem·i·nism

ˈfeməˌnizəm/

noun

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

Feminism is about equality. It's about striving to be on an equal level as men. Essentially, what this means is that men are privileged in most aspects, and they have more advantages compared to women in regards to social, political and economic means. Feminism does NOT dismiss men. It is just more focused on women because, as a collective, women face more disadvantages than men. However saying that, of course men can be feminists too. But, if you are a male feminist, don't speak on behalf of females. Rather, acknowledge the issues faced by females and then further support women.

I think the main catalyst for misunderstandings in relation to what feminism actually is, is radical feminism. Radical feminists aim for women to me socially dominant over men. For me, I don't even regard that as feminism because it's not equality.

Another type of feminism is intersectional feminism. Intersectional feminism had a name put to it in 1989 by a black woman named Kimberle Crenshaw. It refers to the interconnecting and overlapping systems of oppression. Class, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, religion and age among many other elements are included. It is important to address these intersections because, to truly liberate all women, we must take into account and fight against the oppression all women face - not just those who are cisgender, white, straight, middle class and able-bodied. HOWEVER, only black women can claim he title of an intersectional feminist, as the notion was created by a black woman for black women. But you can still follow and support the intersectional theory!

So, some of the more 'mainstream' issues faced on a day to day basis such as catcalling, body shaming, objectification, sexual harassment on public transport and the pay gap are often linked to white feminism. Don't get me wrong, these issues faced by myself and other women and girls are completely valid, and oppression is not a competition. But there's also so much more to this, and that's when intersectional feminism comes into play. We need to include all other factors, not just gender.

The final thing I'm going to be talking about is something I shouldn't even be wasting words on, and that is 'meninism'. According to Urban Dictionary - such a reliable source, I know -, 'meninism' is a mockery of feminism, and proves women cannot request equality without men making everything about themselves. Basically, the men who choose to call themselves 'meninists' are afraid that feminism will damage their oh so fragile masculinity. They think feminism completely disregards their problems, which it doesn't, it's about equality. Bye if you're a 'meninist'.

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