WHAT IS THE ACTUAL MEANING OF FEMINISM AND WHY

Written by: Sabeen Sheikh Abid

THERE’S SUCH A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION TO FEMINISM?

HOW PEOPLE ARE GETTING IT ALL WRONG?

WHY HAS FEMINISM BECOME LOADED TERM?

First, in case you don’t know the actual definition of feminism. It is the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of political, social, and economic equality to men.

Feminism is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that aim to define, establish and achieve the political, economic, personal and social equality of the sexes.

Feminism is a complex set of ideologies and theories, that at its core seeks to achieve equal social, political, and economic rights for women and men. Feminism refers to a diverse variety of beliefs, ideas, movements, and agendas for action. It refers to any actions, especially organized, that promote changes in society to end patterns that have disadvantaged women.

Feminism is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes and the organized activity on the behalf of women’s rights and interests.With this being said many people scoff when the word is brought up and usually associate individuals who call themselves feminists to snowflakes and radical extremists. There has been a lot of confusion and misconception about what the word feminism means. Though feminists repeatedly insist that their goal is gender equality, but critics continue to be accused feminists of hating men. That’s why the idea of feminism is constantly being undermined by the current society. Thus, the assumption is far from the truth. People need to stop being so afraid of feminism and educate themselves on the movement and must realize why it’s so important.

The tarnished reputation of feminism is because of our society’s ignorance of behavior and mindset. Also, many people who aren’t well versed on the topic have a lot of premediated misperceptions on the characterization of feminists. Female feminists are often seen as unattractive, what people fail to recognize is that a feminist can be a male or female of any social, racial, sexual or religious background. Who believes in the harmony and equality of the sexes? Male feminists shy away from the movement in fear of being shamed for not being masculine enough. While some take the movement as discrimination toward males but, feminists just want to level the playing field between the sexes. People miss the point that feminism continues to be a steady influence in aiding the ethic, marginalized minorities, and disabled communities. Men and women should be equal in every way and the idea that men’s rights will be compromised to achieve this goal is wrong.

WHY DO SO MANY HATE THE TERM FEMINISM AND FEMINIST MOVEMENT?

I believe there are five critical reasons behind this:

1. Feminism has been associated with strong, forceful and angry women, and our society continues to punish forceful women.

2. Many people fear that feminism will mean that men eventually lose out of power, influence, impact, authority, and control, and economic opportunities.

3. Many people believe that feminists want to control the world and put men down.

4. Many people fear that feminism will overturn time-honored tradition, religious beliefs and established gender roles.

5. Many people fear that feminism will bring about negative shifts in relationships, marriage, society, culture, power, job and economic opportunities.

The bottom line is that feminists advocates for women’s achievement through peaceful organizations. Fake news and anti-women propaganda will sway society into believing that violence, hate, and vulgarity are feminism aims. Society needs to change the concepts of feminism word. It should not be a word that people are afraid to be associated with, feminism is beautiful when correctly understood. If our society was properly educated on feminism, more people would come out of the shadows, and the movement would be bigger than it is today. People should be loud and proud of what they believe in especially when it’s come to feminism. currently, Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male point of view and that women are treated unfairly within societies. An effort to change that includes fighting gender stereotypes and seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men.

Thus, I don’t shy away from using the term feminism or in self -identifying as a feminist. I hold the term as a badge of honor and encourage readers to do the same regardless of whether you are male or female. There is not a lot list of factual awareness of feminism. So, my fear is that rather than these outdated stereotypes fused within feminism, that our society may be disinclined to use the term because people will believe that equality between the sexes has already been achieved. I always thought that the term feminism was straightforward, if you believe inequality between the sexes, in the upholding of human dignity and basic human rights for all regardless of sex or gender.

In the end, we all must honor the beliefs, values, and ideas that feel right and good to us. To help us do that, I would ask you to think about these final questions

Do your beliefs and behaviors support equality for all, or just for some?

If you believe in equality for all, are you able to take a brave stand for it?