In light of recent events, but not less any other time, I want to write an article about the significance of feminism, and more specifically what feminism is not. In today’s society there are many misconceptions about feminism, which is something that overshadows the importance of what this movement is really about. It is very easy to see the negative side of any situation thanks to social media, especially when people try to nitpick these pessimistic views over the many positive and impactful ones. There will always be people that have a misinformed idea of what feminism should be, but we have to remember that the portion does not equal the whole.
Feminists hate all men, and believe women are better than them
Probably one of the biggest misconceptions about feminists is that they hate men, and that they believe men are lesser than women. This is usually concluded from the fact that feminists are constantly fighting for women’s rights. The reason for this is because they bring light to issues where women have been denied certain things men have not. In the end, the core of feminism is about gender equality, not one gender being superior to the other.
All feminists are angry and create problems that aren’t there
There is a stereotype about feminists in which they are angry at everything and anything around them. For most, this is a huge misunderstanding. Feminists can, and usually are, very passionate when it comes to activism, but besides that they are just loving people trying to make a difference in the world.
No one is inventing these issues. Feminism seeks to address them because they already exist.
Feminists eschew femininity
This can be a common misconception in which people believe that to be a feminist you must be strong and though all the time, but in reality this is not the case. Feminists fight for equality, but they are, like anyone, just simply human. The belief that feminists are what we know as society as “tomboys”, is completely incorrect. In fact, a big part of feminism is actually embracing and accepting one’s own femininity.
And lastly, only women are feminists
This is 100% false! Feminism is about gender equality, and anybody can promote that.
Feminism is a lot of things. It is impactful, powerful, and life-changing, and like any social movement it is complicated and quite often misunderstood. While feminism can mean different things to many people, it is important to debunk myths like these, and hopefully open up people’s minds. I cannot possibly highlight every aspect of feminism, good or bad, in just one article, but I do hope this gave you some insights to what feminism actually is.
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