This Is What A Feminist Looks Like

I am a feminist, and being one, I get quite a bit of hate. People tend to have such a negative view on feminism. A large part has to do with the portrayal of them in the media. To many people, feminists are male-hating extremists that like to shove their ideas in your face.

Yes, of course there are feminists like that. But in every belief or movement, there are people who are extreme. Take religion for example. There are those people who use religion to practice hate, but that's definitely not everyone. Yet, it's the people who act on the extreme end that end up representing everyone in that group, because they are the ones gaining the most attention.

So what exactly is feminism? There are different kinds of feminism, but for the most part, it's just gender equality! Being a feminist is recognizing that in our patriarchal society, women do face oppression. It's not saying that women are better than men, but instead that there are still gaps in gender equality which needs to be fixed.

The whole idea of hatred towards men is called misandry. Misandry and feminism are two completely different things. A person can be a feminist who is misandrious, but it is not something built in the roots of feminism itself.

And yes, men can be feminists too! I personally know some wonderful male feminists who are huge allies to women. They're active in ending violence against women and fighting against the gender gaps in society. The reality is that any form of inequality ends up affecting everyone, and it's everyone's job to take part in bringing justice.

Many social services practice feminism in their framework, since this is an excellent approach when working with oppressed groups, especially women. It's not to say that they don't work with men. But recognizing that there are more privileged groups in our society is important. It doesn't make them more or less valuable, but it means they have much different experiences and struggles.

Feminism isn't something to be ashamed of, but proud of. To sum it up, if you believe in gender equality, you might just be a feminist.