Feminism: A question. Or a lot of them

You see, feminists do not want it to be about empowerment. We want it to be about equality. So when we point out that calling us ‘feminazis’ is rude, or suggesting that male feminism should not be an unforeseen concept, maybe instead of saying you’re tired of hearing us talk about feminism, do something about your thoughts. Think differently. It’s easy to blame society- easy to say that pink is exclusively for girls, because you’ve been taught that on your mother’s knee. If you don’t fix your opinions, who will?

Feminists are sick of talking about feminism, too. With males. With females. With other feminists. With their children. Because there’s this whole environment of is it really worth the argument? Is it worth the struggling? Is it worth the opposition? And the answer is yes and will always be yes. Sure, women can have jobs. Sure, women can vote. But this is said with an air of righteousness and the real questions are, why didn’t we always have these rights? Why is abortion still an issue? Why do women still earn less than men for the same jobs?

And Hillary Clinton. Oh, Hillary Clinton, who may stand poised to become the next President of the United States, and the first woman president. If she does, she’ll ruin it for women, because all her laws come packaged with ‘I care deeply for women and children’ stamped across, and they’re not what we all believe in. There’s this whole air of why aren’t you in favour of Hillary? You’re a feminist. No president is going to be perfect, but one that strives to have her name be synonymous with feminism needs to try a little harder to not disgrace the word. And Hillary is not a good example of a feminist president. She’s wealthy. She’s white. She is a better alternative than Donald Trump, but is she really a representation of the feminist movement? How many morals do we have to ignore to stand with her?

Edit, after the election: Well, Donald Trump is President, but my opinions still stand if she runs again.

It bothers me that most people our age do not consider themselves feminists. If we don’t, who will? Most of us are born in a whole new century, and somehow it doesn’t concern people that these are still valid issues. They’re more concerned about telling the old generation how far advanced we are, but the true test of this is equality. And when that doesn’t exist, can we really tell ourselves we’ve come so far from the 20th century?

Gender is not an easy conversation to have. It makes people uncomfortable, sometimes even irritable. Both men and women are resistant to talk about gender, or are quick to dismiss the problems of gender. Because thinking of changing the status quo is always uncomfortable. ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie