Feminism – (noun) the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of equality of the sexes.
Feminism is one of the many touchy subjects most people would prefer not to mention or talk about, which is one of the reasons it needs to be addressed, respected, and represented in a peaceful manner. This essay was originally supposed to be an essay based completely around factual evidence and statistics, rather than personal experiences, but I found it necessary to also include an experience that recently happened as well. I had faith my original piece would be successful in addressing the matter, but I also felt that if I didn’t include this personal experience the essay wouldn’t be able to reach it’s full potential. Research and factual evidence is only a small portion of constructing a sensible and touching essay, compared to motivation and passion towards the subject.
On July 8, 2018, I announced that I would start my “Feminism: Pro and Con” essay to my friend. The topic then ended up being discussed within a group chat we were both in. Since the members of said group chat only knew the title of my essay, and had no idea what the essay would address, there were several different reactions. Immediate responses came regarding the essay and it’s topic. At this point in time, I was just about to start researching the topic before starting the essay. I had no factual evidence supporting either side of the argument and was prepared to collect some. However, when the first few texts from the group chat came in, I decided it would be beneficial to also include this information.
The group chat consists of a total of six people, most originally from different friend groups, ranging personality wise. Four of the six are female including me and the friend I mentioned in the paragraph above. The other two, however, are male, which did end up playing a significant role in the end. Naturally, not everyone in the group chat voiced their opinion regarding feminism, but the people who did ended up helping to display how feminism in our society is viewed, supported, represented and addressed. A total of four people communicated within the group chat, while one person made the decision to privately message me, and the last one I privately messaged a day after to get his opinion.
The discussion started off with a very opinionated feminist commenting on how there could be no flaws to feminism, by strongly expressing her opinion to the other group members. The next person to comment decided to just agree that feminism was perfect, without really explaining why and just going with what her friend said. As the opinionated feminist elaborated and expressed her opinion regarding the topic, her friend still agreed without really giving a reason as to why. By that point in time, the subject became more fragile by the minute. There was a fine line between debating and arguing, which we were about to cross. I chimed in then, saying how they only knew the title and how I hadn’t started in any way to prepare for the article, and how opinions and criticism should come after the first draft. One of the boys decided to join in the conversation stating how feminism in society had appeared to “turn toxic” because of extremists. It soon became a cycle; a strong opinion without a full explanation as to why, the friend who agreed, the guy who was neutral regarding the topic, and the people who stayed out of and avoid the conversation.
The tension was growing within the group chat and people begun to get mad at each other. While the guy was trying to communicate with both of the girls, one of the other members of the group chat decided to privately text me. She was the more flexible, neutral, and peaceful one of the group. She messaged me about how the group chat was getting scary. While I was discussing with her privately, the group chat continued with their strong opinions and lack of support. The peaceful one of the group helped me to realize and reflect on what was happening in the group chat and how we, as teenagers, mimicked and mirrored how major topics are discussed, viewed, and accepted in our current society.
In the end, some people willingly apologized to the other members of the group about how they reacted and the tone they used. During the end of the conversation, confessions of experiences was also made, helping the others to better understand. This discussion about feminism took place in a group chat of six younger teenagers. Within the time we discussed the topic, we were able to express viewpoints and support viewpoints, see the viewpoints of others, debate regarding said viewpoints, and end peacefully. A group chat of young teenagers were able to grasp the concept of feminism and resolve the conflict regarding the topic quicker and more efficient than a large majority of society, which I found was very interesting.
In this scenario, with this particular group of people, I found that gender and personal experiences did have somewhat of an impact in people’s opinions and reasoning as well as the way they presented themselves within the conversation and the tone they used. Although you would have assumed I wrote the last sentence on behalf of the males within the group, it was actually the other way around. Throughout the conversation, I found that certain females seemed to react the way they did because they felt obligated to because of their gender. I also found that it was a less touchy subject personally for these two male individuals to discuss, which also played a role regarding reactions, tone, and opinions. However, I did find that the group chat did help to display a very real situation in our society, even though we were just teenagers discussing and debating about a subject through text.
Feminism was created to help establish equality among the sexes in a peaceful way within society. The only thing women wanted was to be viewed, respected and treated as equals to men. Studies have prove that women currently only earn around 77% compared to the male coequal. Looking from a certain stand point, 77% does seem like an increase compared to what women have made in the past, but there are thousands of other ways women are mistreated around the world. For instance, 62 million people of the female gender are denied education internationally. If women are deprived of their education, they would not be able to be an equal competition for the male population, which would make them viewed as weaker. The goal feminism hoped to accomplish was equality among the sexes, women wanted to step out of the men’s shadow and become their own person; they wanted to stand next to a man and be considered an equal, not hidden away and shamed.
Look around at the current world we live in. Gentlemen, how would you feel if you were constantly underestimated and devalued by your society and the other sex? How would you feel if you were one of the 1.2 million girls worldwide who are victims of human trafficking? If you had a daughter, who came to you in tears after being discriminated against and put down for something she had absolutely no control over, wouldn’t you want something in this society to change? No human should have to live in fear of being raped, harassed, mistreated, devalued, underestimated, or anything along those lines.
Feminism was a way to help women feel empowered and free before the media got a hold of it. Our world twists words and rebuilds them as things that they were never meant to be. Is this the kind of legacy we plan on leaving? That anyone in this country who isn’t white and male is somehow below the people who are? If you were pressured by society’s standard of “normal” and had no way to change it, would it really be you that needed to change? A large majority of us would want someone friendly, accepting, and loving to help you if you were being mistreated, so why does a majority of us not help when we come across things like this in real life? We don’t have any control over things like our gender, the only thing we have control over is how we treat ourselves, and how we treat others. There are no cons to feminism if you are abiding by the dictionary definition of the word. Equality never hurt anyone.
facts: https://www.makers.com/blog/21-facts-you-never-knew-about-international-gender-equality
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