Femenism is a term used a lot in media today, everyone thinks they know what femenism is and that description usually correlates to their opinion on the topic. But Femenism as a defenition has not changed since it was coined in 1837, the defenition is “the belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes” according to Britianica. That defention has been used in several social revolutions, mostly regarding the Femenist Revolutions of England, Ireland, and the US. However the ideas around femenism have changed as society has. Femenism in the US mainly started with the Sufferage Movement of the late 1800’s where women were fighting for the right to vote, however that right was not granted across the US till 1919. Then another way of femenism began spreading across the US in the 1960’s and 1970’s when women began challemeging sociatla norms of higher education and domestic roles, women were now fighting for equality in jobs, education, and sports. That brings us to today, 2024, where femenism has continued to grow from the second wave of the 60’s and 70’s. We are in an era where over 50% of women are in the workforce, companies are starting to end the wage gap between genders, and women now have professional sports legues. But this progression leads to a misinformed idea of what femenism actually is.
Recently a tiktok went viral where a girl is doing a trend claiming shes not a femenist by explaining that she feels pretty in dresses, says “thank you” to those who open the door for her, and likes children. This idea of femenism is typically the rebuttle to society wanting an expansion of femenism, they use the idea that women who are femenists dislike things that are associated with being femenine or a woman. The criticism most people gave to this tiktok was that femenism isn’t about hating femenine associtated things, it’s about having the choice to engage in these behaviors and lifestyles. That is where a lot of people today get confused on what the ideology actually is, it’s not the hating men and anything femenine idea portrayed on many forms of media, that is one of the main reasons people believe they are not femenists.
In todays world where women are breaking through the glass ceilings on a daily basis, its the misconceptions that set us as a society back and farther away from the main goal of femenism. In todays world, women are being shamed by other women for being profesional athletes, chosing to not have children, and not enjoyinfg certain acticities associated with being a girl. So when thinking or hearing about why you aren’t are femenist or believe in it, think of the correct and accurate description before making your decision.
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