A word about the f word.

Feminism.

Yep. I said it. And I'm going to say it again.
Feminism.

Why is it people refuse to use this word? They'll say "I'm all for women's right, but I'm not a feminist." Why? Why are we so afraid of a word?

I'm not remotely ashamed to call myself a feminist. Why should I be? Feminism isn't about "putting men in their place" or being better than them. It's not about hating men, or distancing ourselves from them. It's not saying that every man is an oppressor, or that all women feel oppressed all the time, or even are oppressed all the time.

Feminism is about equality. About getting rid of dividing lines in society, about people opening their minds to accept others for who they are, regardless of gender. So perhaps the term "gender-equalitism" would be better fitting... but I for one wouldn't use that term. Because by denying that feminism is valid, even as a word, we're perpetuating the problem.

Feminism has been made into a dirty word in our society. We roll our eyes, shake our heads and go "Oh, feminists, they're all crazy man-hating lesbians who don't shave - why don't they just get on with their lives?"
The answer is because the impact of gender inequality can stop people from doing just that. Whether we like it or not, employers look at women of childbearing age and think that they'll be unreliable for a long term job, because of the potential that they'll have kids. They're looked at in terms of appearance, and expected to meet the media's standards without any effort, criticised for dieting, eating too much, wearing too much make-up, not wearing make-up, having natural looking bodies, having unnatural looking bodies, they've got to keep bodily functions a mystery, somehow be universally sexy without actually wanting sex, and all the while they're expected to be happy in their own body.

And for all those women who tell their friends "I'm a woman, and I think feminists are ridiculous"?
Shut the fuck up.
You have no idea what your life would be like without the things that feminists struggle for. Alright, you might feel that we've got a good deal in this country, and we do, I'm not saying that we don't, but don't shit on the idea that not everyone has it easy just because you do.
Just think about how many times you've heard women demonised for having any kind of sexual appetite, for wanting to have sex with more than one person, for not wanting to settle into a serious relationship, and for being comfortable in their own body? Women who want that sexual freedom are sluts, they're something to be spat on, but men are glorified. Women who're happy with their own body - hair and scars and whatever else they might have - are made to feel dirty, but men are just, y'know, men, so they don't have to shave like we do. And scars are like, hot, and manly.

But it works the other way too. Men who're willing to show emotions aren't "soft", they're just fucking human. Men aren't idiots, or kids that need to be mothered for them to be able to get by, they're not morons who can't string a sentence together because their puny male brains don't work as well as ours.
They're people. We're all just fucking people.That's what feminism is all about. The idea that we're all people and need to be treated like people and not objects. People that are all fucking equal whatever way we're born.

x.S.x