First of all lets start off with what feminism is: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. It is essentially the belief that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of their gender.
Here's what feminism IS NOT: the belief that women are superior to men and therefore men should be hated.
So why is there so much confusion? It's because there are so many misconceptions about feminists and what they believe in. There are women out there who hate men, and they're called misandrists. I don't hate any man I meet or consider him an oppressor. I don't blame men in the present for the oppression of women in the past. I also don't think every man is a rapist. I think that rape is a big problem, and as a society we should focus as much on teaching men not to rape as we do teaching girls how to protect themselves. Moreover, some men see feminist women as hypocrites because we claim we want to be treated equally but then we ask men to treat us like princesses. Those aren't true feminists. If a guy takes me out to the movies, I won't yell at him if he wants to open to door for me or wants to pay for everything. But on the next date I expect to do those things. I expect to give the same about of love as I am taking. I'm not a princess and I don't need rescuing, but if you take care of me I will take care of you back.
I could go on and on about this, but now I want to explain why I am a feminist. Growing up, I was a major nerd, and in 1st-8th grade it caused me to be picked on A LOT. The geeky boys got left alone, but for a girl to be nerdy was so unheard of. I got spitballs in my hair, sprayed with a water gun, and I was always the weirdo without a partner for the annual group project. My freshman year of high school, when I confided in a friend that I felt left out because all my friends had boyfriends she suggested I "dumbed [myself] down a little bit to be less intimidating to the guys." She told me that guys thought I was attractive until I started talking and they realized I was a total nerd.
Even now, as a college student majoring in microbiology (and hopefully going to graduate school for biomedical engineering) it can be hard. My classes are predominantly male, and I don't feel like I belong, especially since I'm not like the stereotypical female scientist (frumpy looking and socially inept). Most of the males in my class either assume I am stupid or can't even look me in the eye when I speak to them.
Female scientists had always had a tough time, and that hasn't changed. I'm sure most people heard about Thomas Morgan's comment about women at a WOMEN'S CONFERENCE. Talk about the wrong time and place to say:
“Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry!” This buzzfeed does a great job of capturing the entire fiasco, and women's social media responses (these women rock btw).
http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/biohazard-suits-are-nsfw
This is why I am a feminist, it's 2015 and this is still commonplace. It's not okay. The women handled it flawlessly, but comments like that should never be made in the first place. Don't misunderstand me though, feminism is about more than just this issue, but this is the issue that made me passionate about feminism and made it personal for me.
Anyway, thanks for reading through that entire thing. To all the men and women out there that hate feminism, I <3 you but you have to understand what feminism actually is. I honestly don't believe these issues will be resolved until more people, men especially, support feminism.
Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday! Halfway done with another week!
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