Feminism is not a bad word!
This shirt says: “𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚖: 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜.”
Funny to me how the words “feminist” & “feminism” still scares a lot of people - both men & women. As if the feminist movement was aiming to limit men, to limit their freedom, to limit anyone’s freedom.
The definition of 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚖 is the belief in full social, economic, and political 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 of the sexes.
People tend to say instead of calling themselves feminist: “I am a 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝”. And that’s the aim: for humanity to be fair & equal.
The thing is, we aren’t there yet. Denying that some origins, genders, sexual orientations, religions or else, are subjected to discrimination enhances those bias, enhances inequalities & slows down the progress.
𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?
Denying that feminism is needed & beneficial to progress is denying that women are still subjected to discrimination and violence. Similar to saying anti racism isn’t necessary as if there was no injustice towards ethnicities. Making sure we all work at a more inclusive & fair world is a responsibility we all should carry.
Yet, when it comes to expressing feminism, the response of people tends to be rejection and distrust as if the only mention of it, was directly threatening them.
The justice for all doesn’t take away the freedom of others. I often hear that feminists don’t like men! Feminism has little to do with men rather than with breaking free from a culture based on patriarchy which aggravates & amplifies the oppression women have been subjected to for centuries.
There’s discomfort in admitting to oneself that you may be part of the problem. Truth is: we all are! It’s our responsibility to be curious, open to discussion, challenge our own bias, educate ourselves. We must work through that discomfort!
We all make mistakes on different subjects, and we will unwillingly hurt people in our lives, sometimes without even knowing it. Acknowledging this ignorance and our own shortcomings gives space to listen to others, to apologize when we may have been insensitive and more importantly teaches us.
Nobody’s perfect, we can all make a change little by little, in being more conscious about the micro-aggressions / the injustices, in speaking out.
It’s not normal: not to be paid equally, to be harassed, to not feel safe, to not dress how you want, to not be heard when you say “no”, to be mutilated, to be raped, to be killed, to be by default the caregiver, to be burdened, to be looked down on if you don’t want to be a mother, to be judged for your choices, to be put in a mold that supposedly fits your gender dispriving you of what makes you ‘you’ & restricting your freedom to be your true self. The list could go on and on.
If being passive and neutral about these issues is what you do, then you inherently approve of the injustices.
Please be curious, educate yourself. Women wouldn’t insist on the matter if there wasn’t a real issue, trust me, we have a lot to do already! ☮️💜💪🏻