I've been seeing some tweets about feminism and they haven't been very positive. What people seem to think feminism is is some attack on all males, women will rule the world, men are evil, men are the woman's enemy.....yaddayadda. People also seem to think that feminism gives women the right to be naked in public as a way of "being comfortable with themselves" or that wearing no bra is a sign of liberation (from what I'm not sure). None of that is true at all. Feminism, by definition from the Webster dictionary, is 1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes 2 : organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. Nowhere in that definition does it say feminism is the glorification of man-eating, butt-naked, breast-gallanting, male-abhorring women.
Now, many people may have a negative view of feminism because uneducated people pull stupid stunts and stamp the idea of feminism on them. For example, many women claim that Rihanna wearing the extremely sheer, flapper-inspired dress to the CFDA Awards was an act of feminism because she bared herself "fearlessly" and empowered women to embrace their bodies. No. First of all, she did it to get attention, to keep herself relevant in the media, to get people talking about her. It wasn't fearless, it was careless. It was an act displaying a lack of self-respect, a will to get attention no matter the cost. She makes millions of dollars and has millions of fans and still feels as though the only way to capture attention is to be naked. And, trust me, I love Rihanna just as much as the next person, but that was inexcusable in my eyes, and definitely not an act of feminism.
Secondly, I want to put this on the table for everyone to know. Feminism and female empowerment are not the same thing. Like I said previously, feminism is the idea of women being socially, economically, intellectually and culturally equal to men. Female empowerment is the uplifting of women, not above men, but within themselves. Female empowerment is keeping girls and women believing that they are beautiful, smart, and worthy of respect, no matter what society or anyone else says. It's a way to build and maintain self-esteem and confidence within the female community. Similar to feminism slightly, but not the same at all.
Thirdly, not just women are feminists. Many men are too! I found a great definition of feminism on Urban Dictionary, surprisingly: "Feminism is the belief that women are and should be treated as potential intellectual equals and social equals to men. These people can be either male or female, although the ideology is commonly (and falsely) associated mainly with women." So how can a man be a man-eating woman? (Unless sex change...never mind). Feminism is also the idea that people deserve and are entitled to equal freedom and equal civil rights, and should not be discriminated upon because of gender, race, sexual orientation, age, culture, religion, or way of living.
Feminism is not, by any stretch of the imagination, what Nicki Minaj is trying to act upon in her new 'Anaconda' video, which many seem to believe is the case. A woman crediting her behind for her success is not an act of feminism. I'm not sure what it is, but it's not feminism. Women bearing their breasts as an act of liberation from society is also not feminism. I get the point, if men don't wear bras then why should we? Well, because we have breasts. Feminism is about being equal to men, not becoming them. Put your bra back on ladies.
If you believe that women should be considered socially, intellectually, politically, economically, and culturally equal to men, you are a feminist. If you believe that all people are entitled to equal civil rights with no discrimination, you are a feminist. You don't have to identify as being one, but you hold to feminist beliefs. I just had to let you all know real quick.
Thanks for reading.
And if you don't know, now you know.
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