I remember once about four years ago, I was speaking about feminism with a male friend of mine. I’ll never forget the sinking feeling I felt when he said, “feminism is got too radicalised, they all need to just calm down and marry already”. While maybe not to the same extremities, feminism as a movement has been shifted to be received with negative connotations. One study recorded that individuals associate with feminists negative characteristics like ugly, aggressive and uptight and only twenty six percent of the same study replied that feminism was a positive thing. However, what is forgotten through the stereotypes is the basic premise of feminism. It stands for equality and freedom of choice, simple as that. However, the stereotypes limit it as a movement to be able to successfully orchestrate any worthwhile means of progression towards equality. It’s difficult to say but people might actually turn away from feminism because of the public perception associated with the movement, because they are afraid to associate their self identity with something that is not appreciated by society.
A common misconception about feminism is that it is about women being better than men. That feminists are man haters and aim to make men suffer in retaliation to the gender inequality women have received. This is incorrect but can still contribute greatly to the audible groans you are met with when you deem yourself “a feminist”. The fact of the matter is that yes, we live in a patriarchal world and yes, women do aspire for gender equality to become reality. But most fundamentally, fighting against an inherently patriarchal society is something to be praised, not scorned. The feminist movement works towards the progression of society as a whole through the lens of equal rights. Equal rights is a part of the ideals of democratic states and should headline decisions in relation to social issues, international politics and international development. By my male friend stating that feminism is too radical is a false description. The feminist movement fights for human rights that make women the same as everyone else; how can that be too radical?
The portrayal of feminism in the media can often be quite one dimensional but it is important to highlight it as an extremely multifaceted movement that can help with other social issues, too. Take for example, the global refugee crisis. Something like this that is described as a humanitarian crisis is greatly aided by a feminist perspective in order to receive stronger basic human rights, protection, and economic and social security. When an individual becomes a refugee their safety net disappears and their future becomes more uncertain. Refugee rights are pivotal in upholding equal treatment which can be interlinked to the same premise as feminism. For refugee women in a global context, there is a wider issue of women being exploited and experiencing violence. Through the feminist perspective, we should understand the importance of gender-sensitive treatment of refugee women which will enable them to not fall through the protection gap, and the importance of the necessary resources that are needed in order to protect refugee women. By the feminist perspective, working in cohesion with the refugee crisis to achieve equality, the growing tone of anti-refugee sentiments should not be felt.
The expansion over the years of feminism into more intersectional avenues has definitely created a larger focus on equality rather than its past goals of, say, women’s right to vote. While gender equality was the stepping stone for feminism, race and class have become inextricably interlinked with it. The intersectionality of gender inequality and racial discrimination is another reason why we shouldn’t discourage the actions of feminists. The idea behind this is that when someone experiences gender inequality, that can also be linked to your race. Women may specifically experience racism because of their gender such as human trafficking or during times of ethnicity-based conflicts, like in Bosnia where rape is used a weapon. By understanding that feminism does not merely attempt to demolish the oppression women face but that it can be tackling numerous other important and related issues that our society is faced with, is how one can appropriately understand feminism as a cause.
Anyone can be a feminist, all it takes is a belief in equality because equality is at the very forefront of what feminism sets out to do. By interlinking feminism with humanitarian issues along with its relationship with class and race, we can understand how the negative perception we may have of feminism does not give the full picture. We understand in society that women have been an oppressed category but made strides to break down glass ceilings. What we need now to understand in media and public discourse is that feminism also works in collaboration with other oppressed categories. This is what makes the feminist cause so quintessential today.