Essay Sample on Feminism: Not Just an Outlet for Angry Women

Introduction

The first myth about feminism is that it is a movement for angry women. The notion behind women who are feminist and that support feminism is that they often have bundled up emotions of anger which they tend to release on people on the basis of supporting women. The very idea of women fighting for their rights and those of other women is seen as a retaliation by others and not as the support it is.

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Every human being can be angry at one point or another and the fact that women have in the recent past decided to stand for what they believe is right should not be confused for anger. Over the years, women have always been side lined, and told they were not as good as men. This is however incorrect and the reason why feminist exist; to prove otherwise.

The second myth is that feminism is a movement for women who hate men or 'male bashers'. It is often a common belief that women who identify as feminist have no love for men whatsoever. They are meant to look like the bad people because it is thought they dislike men for taking up women's powers positions and voices.

This is in fact not true. Most women who are activists are usually a wife to someone, a girlfriend, a mother, a sister or a grandmother to someone, and the very nature of being a feminist makes them love men even more. What most people don't understand is that feminists only try to fight for the rights of their fellow women and that they do not condemn men for what they are.

The third myth about feminism is that it is a rejection of motherhood. Most people assume that feminist dislike motherhood because they assume they think that staying at home is a reflection of the oppression that mothers tend to go through, by not working. Feminists do not view motherhood as a failure, but as an opportunity to change the society by raising their children right so that they may know and differentiate the good from the bad

This is untrue because most feminists focus on improving the social conditions of most women so that they can have a better and more fulfilling motherhood experience. As a result, they fight for paid maternal leaves so that women can be able to take care of themselves as they nurse their young children.

It is a myth that feminism is a rejection of all things feminine. Feminist are said to promote masculinity and reject femininity. The mere fact that feminist try to fight for equal rights for the women as is for men makes them seem as though they do not support femininity.

On the contrary, feminist are often on the forefront to promote and encourage femininity. They believe that women and females in general should have a voice and a chance to enjoy as many privileges as men do, and a chance to air their issues without being shut down or ignored. Feminist promote the very fact of being a female with a voice in a male dominated world.

Feminism is not a white middle-class movement. The fact that feminist are usually well abled women with access to adequate resources makes most people think that the movement is only made up of women from the middle class .

The truth, however, is that any individual can be a feminist; men, teenagers, women and even the elderly.

Feminist Backlash and Why People are Involved in Backlash Against Feminists

Backlash is a hostile or negative reaction to an idea. It could be a political idea, social or economic idea. This types of negative reaction is often known to take place after some time after the idea has been presented to the people and is not an immediate reaction. People have to first identify with the idea, familiarize with it, then disapprove it for it to be called backlash.

The backlash against feminism and women rights dates back to the 1990s where people began being sceptical about the idea. Backlash against feminist may be as a result of many things among them the myths that have been discussed herein. For instance; feminism is considered a movement for the angry women who are not satisfied with the way things are. The lack of information on what feminism is all about often causes people to reject or have a negative reaction to the idea.

Sometimes men may feel threatened by the women who try to fight for their rights and those of their fellow women. The woman is often considered a weak creature who is a subordinate to the male and thus is not entitled to enjoy certain rights that men enjoy. As such, when women are seen to fight for these rights, then men develop a negative attitude to the movement because they feel threatened.

Often times, women who identify themselves as feminist are afraid to point it out in public because they feel that the word is either too strong or not right at all. The fact that women are afraid to be called feminist while they in fact are, brings about a backlash from other people. The women fail to stand up for what they believe in, in the fear that they will be labelled as feminists.

Post Feminism and Why It is Problematic

Post feminism is the belief that feminism is dead and that the women have already been empowered to the fullest. Today, despite more women rising to positions of power, they still represent a very small percentage of women who have been able to clinch into power and hold on to it.

Consequently, there are many indicators that show that women liberations is still far from being realised. For instance; violence against women still exists and cases where women are discriminated for being women are still rampant. Secondly, we still experience instances where women due to their gender are paid less that what their male counterparts are paid for the same amount of workload and working hours.

This clearly indicates that a lot still needs to be done in promoting and educating people on the importance of gender fairness. Take a look at media's continuous objectification of the women's bodies. For the longest time, women have been viewed as an object meant to satisfy the male sexual desire and not as people. This continues to show that the respect that ought to be given to women has not been achieved.

As a result, post feminism has become more problematic than ever. The idea that women are liberated makes everything seem like it's okay while it's not. Fewer female leaders are seen to make it to the top every other day as there is no one to encourage the younger ones that everyone both male and female have equal opportunities. Additionally, the difference in wages between male and female doing the same job has continued to increase, because people are not being educated on equality. Other problems that have been associated with post feminism include continued media objectification of women's bodies, and violence against women.

Conclusion

In conclusion therefore, most people are still afraid of feminism because they think that women are out to overpower and take up their positions. This is however not the case and feminism should be encouraged because its primary duty is to empower the woman and make her feel worthwhile in a world where most rewarding lifestyle, careers and positions are male dominated.