Ok, I couldn't wait...this is just going to be too epic. I'm a 15 year old kid growing up in the burbs of Chicago, i'm not the most culturally inclined person in the world. Yet whenever I see the mistreatment of women..I.e catcalling, well lets just say we Chicagoans can get pretty angry. I am a pro-feminist male. Yes, I agree women should be paid just as equally as men, yes women should be able to have their voices heard, and yes men need to respect women more. But I think it should go farther then that, I think that we as a species can use feminism as a base for the betterment of both sexes. Ok, now I know what you're thinking "This kid is telling me that feminism should benefit men?", I retort to that with this bit of information. Emma Watson, in her United Nations address on Woman's Rights stated that "Feminism by definition is that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities" as well as stating "Feminism is too often seen as man hating, gender equality is an issue for men as well". Emma Watson is probably the most famous feminist in the world right now...she is trying to reverse the curse that has shrouded feminism for the past 20 years...its' terribly negative stigma. "But why does it have a negative stigma?" Well ladies and gentlemen, this is due to a phrase..."Feminazi", Coined by Rush Limbaugh in his 1992 book titled The Way Things Ought to Be. This phrase links Feminists to Nazis...I don't think I had to explain that, but why not. In this book Mr. Limbaugh stated, "I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what they really are: Feminazis" and then he rants on about the "Modern day holocaust" But that will probably be an issue we go over later. So with Rush Limbaugh creating the most hateful term against feminists anyone has ever seen....the world begins to connect Feminists with Nazi's. And lets be honest, if anything is connect with Nazi's people are going to hate it. The reason why the term exists is because of Radicals. In ever group their are going to be radicals, radical republicans, radical democrats, radical gamers. The list goes on and on...the whole point, however, is that people begin to take core ideas, invest so much into them, change them, and begin to preach them as though the newly changed idea was one of the original beliefs. This is causing Feminism to have a negative stigma...Radicals are the reason.
But lets be honest guys, I'm a male...I don't have the greatest amount of credibility within this topic. I mean even some feminists like Jessica Valenti are warning women about Feminist males. In fact she went as far as saying, and I kid you not here. "Mothers Should not breastfed their sons so they are less likely to develop muscle mass"...According to Miss. Valenti, "this will allow men to be as equal to women in strength and help end rape". Huh, well the explanation of this ludicrous idea makes sense. But let us not forget that this idea is just that...LUDICROUS. If a mother wants to breastfeed her child, go ahead. I'm 6"3, I was a formula baby...and after years of playing football...I'd say i have some muscle mass. So my question to Miss Valenti is, Do you really think that this is a viable solution? Why not try to outreach to males instead of pushing them away? why continue to tarnish the feminist stigma? 2 years ago I hated Feminists, I wont lie and say that I wasn't. Yet a good good friend of mine showed me how terrible things actually are for women. Gender Pay Gap, Having to drag a mattress around a college to have your voice heard about rape, and yes feeling uncomfortable walking down the street...Their are a lot of issues that need to be solved here...but lets just keep on saying that Mothers shouldn't breastfeed their children, because it makes much more sense then establishing a gender equality class in nationwide curriculum
So, How do we fix this? Well, I'm a huge fan of HeforShe. Why do i support this? because it's true feminism. It abides to the official definition of feminism."The Advocacy of womans' rights on the grounds of political, economic, and social equality to men". Also, it speaks to men as well as women. Because lets be honest here people, gender equality is truly an issue for both sexes. So i'm gonna leave y'all a link here to the official website, check it out if you'd like! I think it's worth your time. .
http://www.heforshe.org/
We all want to put an end to this topic, yes some ideas may be more extreme then others...but at least they are ideas. If you come up with an idea regarding the end of gender inequality, I encourage you to share it...but only if it makes any rational sense.
DISCLAIMER/PS: I'm a kid sooo I'm probably not the most well spoken person out their, if you were in any way shape or form offended by this piece...Let me know. This is a learning experience for me, and you guys are helping me:) I will also give you a virtual face hug because i'd feel bad for offending you. I think my next blog will be on Schools...not sure what exactly, but check that out later on this week. Thanks! Have a good one:)
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