Okay, so before people start chasing me with pitchforks and sticks of fire, let’s set something straight: I am not an anti-feminist and I don’t hate women; I love women and love being a woman. I am very much for women’s rights. People assume that every woman needs to be a feminist, and that those who aren’t feminists are sexist, but that’s just not true.
Take a look at modern day American feminism. What real difference, as a group have they accomplished? I do thank the original feminists, like Jane Austen, who through her novels expressed that women were more than objects for men to own, that women could do more that what society expected. They could read, they could be independent, they can say ‘no’ to a man they didn’t want to marry. And Lucille Ball, who was the first true female comedian. She was shown, not as a side character, but as a goofy leading woman (who was also the first woman to wear pants on national television).
However, I don’t see women like that anymore, and nowadays feminism is a joke. I agree that there is still so much to be done for women, but are third-wave feminist really doing the job? First-wave feminism began in the 19th century and focused on women’s suffrage, giving women the right to vote. Well, white women, anyway. It involved women speaking without being spoken to and having their own opinions (how scandalous!).
Second-wave feminism started up in the mid 60’s until the 80’s and had a main focus on the freedom of sexuality. Women began to dress differently, wore bolder looking makeup, and most memorably fought for and gained abortion rights. Woman forced their way into the workforce on their way to equality and gaining respect as more than just housewives. Inspired by the Black Power Movement, women began women-only meetings. Well, rich, white women anyway. Several accounts at the time from women of color refer to them attempting to join these meetings, only to be turned away due to their race and financial situation.
So this brings us to today’s third-wave feminism, which is about what? Slut-shaming? Fat-shaming? #freethenipple? It’s so unorganized and so unfocused, I don’t even think feminists know what they’re fighting for. I understand that not all feminists think this way, but a big majority do. I just don’t want to be associated with a group that is so self-centered and hypocritical. At the Women’s March, the one that was supposed to be so revolutionary, a large number of women were not allowed to march. Their entry was denied because they are pro-life.
“Although organizers say anti-abortion women are welcome to attend the Women’s March, their inclusion in what the event represents could become more complicated if the platform laid out by the organizers is a sign of the feminist movement in the Trump era… that feminism is a political term and that the idea that women should be able to choose what they do with their bodies is fundamental to feminism,” stated Elizabeth Velez, professor of Women and Gender Studies at Georgetown University, to The Washington Post.
So women should have the freedom to say what they believe in, but only if they agree with you? This isn’t feminism, this isn’t equality. Third-wave feminism isn’t the way. We can’t find peace if there isn’t true unity between all women. I agree that America isn’t perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than other countries. While women are fighting and getting killed for the right to read, we’re here, protesting magazines for having skinny models.
I agree with modern feminism, just not the plan of action, or lack thereof. If we really want equality, peace, and unity, we have to accomplish it together, as a sisterhood, across the nation and the world.
