Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Feminism and Equality

I think 'feminism' almost always carries a negative connotation, even though that according to the definition of feminism, there is nothing negative or outlandish about it. Feminists are stereotyped as being butch man-haters advocating for women to hold some sort of power over men. But really, all feminists really seek is equality for all genders, which to me seems completely reasonable. It sounds so simple, and many probably think that men and women are already equal, just like so many fail to see the inequality that still exists between races. I think that much of society sees us way past civil and women's rights movements, looking down upon those that are still trying to stand up for some sort of equality. Realistically, society has a long way to go towards equality. There are definitely radical, extreme feminists that give others a bad name, but I do not think feminists in general should be looked at as negatively as they often are.

2 comments:

  1. I particularly agree with your point about the length of time that is required for serious change to occur. Sexism has existed for thousands of years, and so it will take quite a while for it to be fixed. However, it has only been about 70 years since women have gained the right to vote, and within that time frame women have gone as far as being a vice presidential candidate in the Presidential race. Equality may not exist just yet, but women have to be happy with how far they've come.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree that the term feminism always carries a negative connotation. Although the correct definition of feminism is equality between men and women, many individuals correlate the word with radical feminists who are commonly brash, blunt, and seek to attack men. So now the question is how do we as a society eliminate the negative connotations of feminism?

    ReplyDelete