Feminism has several definitions. Reddit’s feminism subreddit defines it in this way: ‘Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women’ and states its purpose as this: ‘The purpose of feminism is equality – or, more precisely, equality of fair opportunity: where two persons who have the same talent and ambition enjoy the same chances of success, regardless of their particular social characteristics (such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc).’ Feminism generally includes a belief in: the patriarchy-the idea that society has been structured by (rich, white) men and that men generally benefited from this structure in ways that women did not (note: this by no means indicates that men don’t face problems)- and that remnants of this patriarchy still exist in many facets of our lives. Along with the patriarchy came a set of gender stereotypes and roles: men lead, women follow; men are strong, women are weak; men are logical, women are emotional; men are workers, women are caretakers and so on. It is also common for feminists to believe that, once the patriarchy is completely eliminated, full social and legal equality will be gained.
It is often claimed that a belief in feminism is no longer rational or justified, but there is evidence to suggest that social and political equality has yet to be reached.
Feminism is still needed because:
*Women make up less than 20% of Congress.
*Men are thought to be more competent than women.
*Women are “penalized” for negotiating their salaries.
*Women’s bodily autonomy is regularly debated.
*Lesbian women (and gay men) cannot marry in many states.
*Transgender women (and men) face many legal hurdles.
Gender discrimination, while greatly reduced in the past 100 and even 50 years, still exists. Women face a number of issues unique to them, and thus, feminism needs to exist. (Of course men face problems unique to them as well. This is why I would greatly welcome and support a men’s issue’s movement that isn’t rooted in vitriol.) Groups like Planned Parenthood, Girls Who Code, and The Anita Borg Institute (to name a few) have helped many. Activism like this and this is important.
Addendum:
Here are less pressing, (“softer” cultural) issues:
*The objectification of women in the media**(note that men are rarely objectified in this way)
*The prevalence of “slut shaming”
*This happened.
*The rage-filled reactions female gamers get when requesting occasional games with characters they can more easily relate to
*I have linked a post of my own, which contains more details and many links.
**I know this isn’t always a good news source, but the links within the article were good.
