Yes, I am about to post my (first) feminist rant. Yes, it is the cliché internet blog move. Watch me! …
Don’t get me wrong; we’ve come a long way. Even throughout my years in high school, I've noticed a slow rise in consciousness at my school and in my community. People’s eyes have been opened to the double standards, the blatant discrimination, and the subtle biases. At this point, we all know.
Then why aren’t we changing?
Most everyone knows that feminism exists; many even understand exactly what it means and support it wholeheartedly. And yet, everything persists. Every day, torrents of slurs and innuendos whiz by with the same childish snickers, eye rolls, and judging looks. The diversity workshops have been led, the posters have been disseminated, the videos have gone viral; everyone has the raw materials necessary to construct a brighter future. Yet, by some ironic coincidence, we are choosing to keep ourselves locked away in the present.
Sexism in our society stays afloat on a foundation of chosen discrimination. At this point, we know the truth: considering a gender-based concept of inequality is laughably idiotic. I am not here to argue over basic points of human rights. I am here to ask that if we know feminism is a valid and validated movement, why isn’t everyone a feminist? If I know men who actively support women in the classroom, why do they continue to objectify women in private? If I know women who stand strong in a public sense, why do they continue to shit-talk “whores” one-on-one?
“Feminist: a person who believes in the social, economic and political equality of the sexes" - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We need feminism because I am sick of the doublethink I see everywhere in our society. For once, I need to see someone take a piece of diversity work to heart when they aren’t standing in the spotlight of public political correctness. Once, just once, I want to be surprised by a group of boys engaging in private conversation without objectifying women. We need feminism because I haven’t been surprised yet in 17 years. We need feminism because when I came out as a gay man, I was showered with support but also with pity for the oppression I was bound to encounter: oppression that women face with and without support every day. We need feminism for the hard times coming when our society realizes it has a choice to change or stay frozen in willful ignorance. Finally, we need feminism for the day we don’t need feminism, whether it be tomorrow or in a thousand years. Because the day that girls the world 'round can wake up one morning without the faintest idea of what a feminist even is, the day that our work is taken greedily for granted, will make everything worth it.
Don't forget to subscribe!