Potpourri

Feminism [fem-uh-niz-uh m] - noun 1. the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. In the modern world the word feminism is misused and misunderstood. The misconception of the definition is not only by men but woman too. A majority of the time, woman will misuse the word to argue a belief or a male will swear on the word being synonymous with the word evil. These common beliefs are untrue. Feminism is meant to empower women and create an equal culture of the sexes. True feminism helps not only women but men as well, which is seen as a good enough reason to state that everyone should be behind feminism.

Time to time one may think or hear, men don’t need feminism or that feminism doesn’t affect men, which in fact is wrong. As Jackson Katz, from the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Project, has stated in an article titled Why Feminism is Good for Men, “Guys, if you don't understand feminism, it's not because it's not true. It's because you haven't allowed yourself to think about it yet.” Recently, men everywhere have been positively impacted by the new wave of feminism that has risen. For example modern feminists have broken down barriers on diminishing gender roles, making it increasingly socially acceptable for the man in a relationship to stay at home or for males to participate in more “feminine” activities. Feminism has also helped any married man in his relationship with his spouse, allowing the relationship to be more open. Adopting feminism as a male would open the mind to a new way of thinking.

On the other hand, as stated in the definition, feminism greatly impacts and betters women’s lives. All over the world, women have slowly come to adopt feminism to help empower themselves. Unfortunately, today the movement has failed to make many new improvements due to the lack of support behind it. Bette Davis, American actress of film, television and theater productions, could not have stated society’s views on feminism any better, “‘When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.’” Because of the awful way feminism is portrayed by the media, many have shied away from the movement in fear of being associated with extreme feminists. This image ceases several movements such as the fight on equal pay, violence against women, social inequality, and the division of domestic labor. Without support on the subject, women continue to be discriminated against and suffer.

Correspondingly, feminism has helped out the economy. Around the 1960s feminism broke through society. Beforehand the traditional role for a woman was marriage, childbirth, and homemaking. With pushes from feminists, women started to take authority and question their traditional role. As stated by Betty Friedan, American writer, activist, and feminist, “‘A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex, but neither should she 'adjust' to prejudice and discrimination.’” In 1963 Friedan published The Feminine Mystique prompting a wave of feminism that created the National Organization For Women (NOW). NOW helped women in the workplace by demanding equal pay, and pressured enforcement on gender discrimination in the workplace. NOW’s work motivated more women to join the workforce, and forged a pathway for women to reach above the glass ceiling and set higher goals for themselves in society.

All things considered, feminism is a pragmatic concept. Without feminism, a lot of the equality women have to men wouldn’t be here today. Also as one can now see feminism is not only for women, but men as well. Plus feminism contributes greatly to the modern economy. With the newly found facts above, maybe feminism isn’t a bad thing after all.

- I did my interview with this paper as well