Understanding what ‘feminism’ really is

Feminist – A type of person: Unmarried, bitter, desperate woman. Fearless Independent ‘Girlboss’. The word feminist is rarely used to describe what it actually is. It’s been taken and twisted and ran with by different people with ulterior agendas that it’s lost its meaning. Sometimes it is a dirty insult spat from the mouths of frustrated men, or a woman’s justification for her unbridled hatred towards men. What we all need is an education.

What is feminism? It’s not a cause designed to destroy men, nor is it a mask to hide one’s hatred behind. The Oxford dictionary defines feminism as “The advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes”. Further research will tell one that equality is “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities”. Feminism does NOT mean ‘women are better than men’, ‘women should earn more than men’, ‘women should have more rights and opportunities than men’. It means on every level, there should be equality between the two. Anyone who believes otherwise is uninformed about the true motive of feminism.

I met someone who told me he wasn’t a ‘feminist,’ but he believed in equal opportunities for both sexes. He didn’t like that word. It was dirty he said. He told me he was a ‘human rights activist’. “If it advocates equality, then why is it specific to females?” It proved exceedingly difficult to explain to him that men aren’t the ones who need to fight for that equality. They already had the rights women need. To reference the common analogy: all houses in a neighbourhood are important, but if a house is on fire, it’s the one in need of water.

I engaged in an online discourse with someone who angrily expressed his opinion that if one is looking for equal opportunities, then women should engage in more jobs that require manual labour. He thought that was it, that was his trump card. “Well, more women should be construction workers then.” Unbeknownst to him, he just furthered the feminism movement with that statement of his. More women should be construction workers, and sportspeople, and actresses, and bricklayers and engineers and writers and every other career that was once limited to men.

Feminism doesn’t mean women should be babied. It doesn’t mean “when I go on a date, a man should pay for my food, my fuel and my outfit.” It means that when a woman goes on a date and the man asks if they could split the cheque, she should be earning enough to pay half of the bill without her account balance hurting. It means that a woman could come home from work after a long day, and meet her dinner prepared by her stay-at-home husband who loves spending time with his kids. Feminism doesn’t only advocate for a better place in society for women, it also takes the burden of the men’s shoulders.