Ever since claiming the title ‘feminist’, people have started looking at me differently. Growing up, I was always one of the quieter, less outgoing kids. I didn’t raise my hand in class and I refused to do things that would put me in the center of attention. When I first started becoming interested in feminism and social justice, I didn’t think that it would change the way I behaved nor the way I was treated. I didn’t think that it would affect me the way it has
I started to find myself getting mad at people who made sexist and racist jokes. I started speaking out against people who were saying problematic things. Whenever I heard someone say something degrading to women or minorities, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I felt like if I didn’t call them out on it I would explode. It was a new side of me that neither I nor my peers had ever seen or expected they would ever see.
I’m sure that this newfound passion made me seem like a bitch, and I’m sure people were saying it behind my back. And if they weren’t saying it because of my constant accusing and correcting them, they were probably saying it because I had decided to call myself a feminist.
Unfortunately, it seems that the words ‘feminist’ and ‘bitch’ are frequently associated with each other in our society. Due to the spread of misinformation, people have false impressions of what feminism really is, which causes them to become opposed to it. There are a few commonly believed myths about feminism that I would like to talk about and bust (I’m funny, laugh at my joke please) to provide a clearer understanding of what feminism really means.
- Feminists hate men.
This is absolutely and completely untrue. While it is true that some individual feminists might hate men, a single feminist does not define the whole movement. Some feminists (particularly ‘white feminists’*) may have the mindset that all men are predators, but like I said: a single feminist does not define the whole movement. Feminists do not blame all men for rape, feminists do not blame all men for oppression, and most importantly:feminists do not hate men! In fact, feminism cares about on men’s issues, too! For example, feminism works towards abolishing gender roles and stereotypes, like destroying the idea that to ‘be a man’ one must be physically strong and emotionless. We are on their side, and we hope that they are on ours.
*The term ‘white feminist’ does not mean a feminist that is racially white, but a feminist who does not advocate for intersectional issues, or issues that don’t concern them directly.
2. Feminism discourages femininity.
Just like the last myth—and every other myth on this list—this is not at all true. Feminism absolutely does not discourage women from being, acting or dressing in a feminine manner. Feminism simply wants to abolish the idea that femininity is equivalent to weakness. Feminism wants to give women the ability to make their own choices and decisions, and to do what makes them comfortable and happy in their own skin. If this means dressing conservatively, so be it. If this means dressing promiscuously, so be it. If this means being a traditional housewife, so be it. If this means providing for their self, so be it. Feminism does not discourage feminine men nor masculine women or any non-binary individual anywhere in between. And while a primary focus of feminism is empowering femininity, it does not want to disempower masculinity. We simply want to put them on the same level.
3. Feminism is about female supremacy.
In my personal opinion, this myth is the main reason why a lot of people are against feminism. Men are afraid that women want to overthrow them, to establish a matriarchy. That is not true in the slightest. Feminists want to empower women without disempowering men. One of my favorite examples is the glass of water. Men have a full glass of water while women only have half. As soon as the woman’s glass is filled, the man gets upset. Even though her glass was filled so it could be equal to his, “She still got more!!!” Do you understand now? His glass, was already full, but if she’s going to fill her glass, he thinks he deserves two glasses. Men are at an advantage in this world. We—feminists—simply want women and men to have the same amount of water, the same amount of legal rights and social respect.
4. Only women can be/are feminists.
Bull. It might be true that the majority of feminists are women, but why the hell couldn’t a man be a feminist? In fact, all men should be feminists. Why? Because gender stereotypes—“Man up!” “Fuck bitches, get money.”—can hurt men. (Masculinity is not equivalent to strength and not all men want to fuck “bitches”. In fact, some men don’t want to fuck anyone!) Because men can be victims of domestic abuse and rape, and a lot of the time that is not recognized. Because women can contribute so much to the world when given the chance, including things that would be beneficial for men. Because who the hell doesn’t want equality? (And where are they? Because I would like to fight them.) Here’s a few famous men that identify as feminists or have taken matters of abolishing gender roles into their own hands and prove that the fight for equality is not just a women’s issue: John Legend, Aziz Ansari, Daniel Radcliffe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jesse Rutherford etc.
5. Feminists are bitches.
I will admit that a lot of the time, feminists might come off as bitchy. I myself probably come off as bitchy more often than not, but here’s why: when you’re first introduced to feminism, you appreciate opportunities you’re given to educate people because it’s fun to debate and it makes you feel accomplished. After a while, feminists will lose their patience, just like anyone else would. Of course there is no justification for being rude, but after having the same arguments over and over again, having to continue to try to educate ignorant and close-minded people, it gets kind of old. To us, this isn’t a fun little debate. This is what we believe in, this is what we’re fighting for. Feminists are stereotyped as bitches because they are upfront and vocal about what they’re passionate about and they refuse to take shit from anyone, not because they believe in equality. If opinionated men are leaders, why are opinionated women bitches?
If we can correct these common misconceptions, feminism will be looked upon in a much better light, and people will become more supportive of the movement.
Comments are closed.