Do you identify as feminist?
Do you personally believe that:
- girls should have the same access to education as boys do
- everyone has the right to vote no matter their skin color or gender
- everyone has the right to decide over their own body
- everyone should be able to decide for themselves if they want to have children and how many
- division of labor should be based on skills and interest and not on gender roles
- people should be paid for skill and not what they have between their legs
- domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault are unacceptable
- children do not need to be breastfed in public bathrooms because their mothers' bodies are sexualized
- it's not a woman's fault when she's been raped just because her dress was too short
- both parents should be concerned with childcare, not just the mother
- "running like a girl" isn't a bad thing? Because since when is it bad to be a girl?
If you agree to one or more statements above you've got to ask yourself why you don't identify as a feminist.
The biggest problem is that when lots of people with different opinions take on a topic like this you're bound to end up with different perceptions of the movement. You hear a lot about the radical feminism which partially discriminates men but that is not the feminism I'm talking about. Feminism is always for women but never against men or other genders. However radical feminism is still important because without it we'd be far from where we are now.
The goals of feminism are pretty broad but it's an ideology and social movement that seeks equal rights for women in every aspect of life and the change of social roles of women. General goals are emancipation, gender equality, the abolition of discrimination and anti-sexism.
It used to be about the right to vote and access to education and work. A lot has happened since then: women are free and no one has to put up with sexual harassment. Rapes are now being reported and punished even if they happen in marriage.
But still, there's so much to do. No country has gender equality. Germany along with Cyprus, Slovakia, and Estonia are among the four European countries where women have the highest economic disadvantage.
Is feminism just something for women?
The answer is definitely no!
There are many men who advocate for equal rights, respect women and celebrate their success.
It’s
important to work male stereotypes because they are caught in gender roles as well. They’re much more than „heroes“ but also people that are allowed
to show feelings and fail at times. There are plenty of men that suffer from mental
illness and don’t ask for help because it’s not „masculine“.
The „fight“ is
not over until everything goes without saying. When quotas are no longer necessary. When
there are no cover stories in the papers on "women in male jobs" or
"successful women." When a female president is no longer seen as
something out of the ordinary. When women naturally take on important economic
positions alongside men. These are the obvious injustices.
But it’s also
about the way people think and speak. Women are still told that they need to
decide between children and career.
Being a feminist today means to acknowledge the fact that men and
women are still not treated equally. It means to question gender roles and
not to accept the answer „that’s just the way men/women are“. It means to pay
attention to sexism in the media, at work and in everyday life and above all it
means to act on it.
I am not a
perfect feminist but I’m proud to call myself one. I’d always rather be a „bad“ or
passive feminist than none at all.
Disclaimer: This text is my personal definition of feminism and by no means 100% correct. I am no expert on this topic. My information is based on various sources on the internet. Since this was written for a school paper in Germany it is focused on Germany and the European culture. Feminism is such a broad topic and has many more aspects to it which I was not able to mention.
- April 26, 2017
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