Feminism. Femin-imin-imin-ism. It’s a big deal.
I basically wanted to talk to you today because feminism keeps on popping up in conversation over the past few weeks, and I’ve been quite surprised by some of the reactions that I’ve got when talking about it. With almost half the people that I’ve spoken to, they’ve either been surprised by the fact that I consider myself a feminist, so say something like, “But not the lesbian kind, lol.” Not.
One person actually asked me, “How can you be a feminist and wear dresses?” Now, I’m positive I haven’t been sniffing glue, so I’m not sure where these feminist lines got crossed, but to me and to you, and to anyone who’s ever been pushed out of their mother’s vagina, I feel like everyone should be a feminist.
I feel there are three major misconceptions about the F-word.
One: that all feminists are hairy, masculine lesbians. I would hope that we’ve progressed into an age where “lesbian” is no longer an insult, but that is still a wildly generic stereotype mostly used by people who don’t understand feminism and want to put their confusion into a box.
The truth is: Feminists come in every shape, size, gender, religion. There’s just no exclusivity in caring or being an activist in regards to women’s rights. Though I do find some of my most intelligent friends to be my most inspiring feminist crusaders.
Two: that all feminists are man-haters. In the same way that people who are racist believe that there is an active conflict between groups, a lot of people think that feminism is just another word for women who hate men. In reality, I don’t know a single feminist who has a bad word to say about men unless it’s a specific man for a specific reason. Feminism is not about perpetuating prejudice or having one sex rise above the other. It’s about addressing cultural inequalities. “Oh, I’m a man, and I am a feminist.”
Three: that all feminists are angry. I personally get giddy over things like glitter and unicorns and being a feminist. I am a sublimely happy person and a person who cares about the inequalities of my friends, family, colleagues, and beyond. A ridiculous amount of the time, women have to deal with being called “emotional” or “angry” or “PSM-y” (God forbid) to justify not getting promotions they deserve, not being included in male-dominated arenas, and generally not being taken seriously.
With the constructed idea that all feminists are angry, it’s just another way to ignore the cause of the conversation itself. We are not all angry. We’re concerned that a lot of the issues we’re affected by get swept under the rug, and we’re simply trying to do what we can to make a positive change for everyone involved.
Whether you are male or female, if you care about women having equal rights to men, about saying goodbye to sexual harassment, about fixing gender pay gaps, about addressing women’s reproductive rights, and addressing the fact that there are more boobs than brains in mainstream media across the world, then you have to call yourself a feminist.
I’m not here to preach or judge. I just want everyone who’s watched this video to feel comfortable calling themselves a feminist and to do what they can to make a difference to the people around them. So send this to your (male or female) siblings and friends and colleagues, and leave a comment below with your thoughts and experiences because starting a conversation is the hardest part of making any sort of change.
Thank you so much for watching, and if you’d like to follow me on all of the blogs and social medias of the Internets, everything will be in the box below this video.
Also, I can be a feminist and wear dresses because it is my human, gender-less right to wear what makes me happy, and wearing pants makes me sad. Kudos to any man who feels the same.
