You don’t have to be Anti-Man to be Pro-Woman
I’ve heard unfortunately ignorant citizens mutter “I’m not a feminist; I fight for equality.” This statement would be unbelievably hilarious if the people saying such things weren’t serious about it. But they are. And if one hasn’t understood already, this statement is just as relevant as “I’m not vegetarian, but I don’t eat meat”. It doesn’t make any sense.
Feminism isn’t about fighting men, or fighting anyone who against women’s rights or fighting anyone at all. Fighting only comes in because women have spoken up and are fighting for themselves. Fighting for what they rightly deserve. And this confused percentage of the population of our world should really get rid of the image that crosses their mind when the subject of feminism is brought up: of angry women filling streets and drawing attention to their pink signs by acting extraordinarily violent and upset. That isn’t what feminism is, and never was. Not understanding feminism is one thing. Never bothering to inquire and conjuring an entirely different ideology is another.
Fighting for oneself is standing up, breaking stereotypes, being heard for all the right reasons and in this way, making a deserving and necessary change in our world. More people need to understand that feminism isn’t against the values of equality, rather for the principles of equity.
Equity is where people get what they most fairly deserve, and equality is where people, everyone, gets the same amount of everything. If we construct a humongous public school for all the children in a city, and have 50 steps to be climbed to reach the entrance, and force and require every student to climb these fifty steps to be educated, that would be what is known as equality. Now if we add a ramp for example, for students who are physically disabled in the city, every student would be getting an education, and also what they require and deserve, also known as equity. And because all these students would be getting an education, that would be accomplishing equality among them in terms of learning.
Throughout history, men have naturally been subject to better treatment in terms of social perspective, occupational opportunities, freedom of expression and participation in varied activities and so much more. Women throughout history, on the other hand, have been evidently oppressed to a terrible extent. So why is feminism said to be unnecessary activism? Why is it wrong, looked down upon even, I ask, when they are asking for what they deserve, fighting for themselves?
“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back” Malala Yousafzai
Only if you give the right people what they deserve fairly can we ever fully accomplish and establish a society where gender does not restrict but allows; where men and women are considered equal halves.
Fighting for women’s rights and privileges is fighting for a world where females get what they deserve. If women have always been trapped under the sea, how do you ever expect them to reach the surface, the beach, where the rest of the world sunbathes and stands unknowingly? And unfortunately, nobody on that beach has bothered to throw in a life jacket or anything that might help females breath under that toxic wave of expectations and restrictions and abuse. The least the rest of this world could do, is shuffle backwards a bit, make a bit more space, as we swim up onto the surface.
This beach, is our entire world, where everyone deserves to stand and laugh and sunbathe, and nobody can be pushed into that awfully poisoned, and murderous sea.
Feminism, I tell you, is not trying to climb on a larger pedestal than the one a man is standing on. It’s simply trying to fit in on the same pedestal that he stands on. Fight for women, fight for the world. It’s that simple.
