EQUAL - Why I'm a Feminist

Woman running in a field with the word equal written on it

The other day I asked someone if they were a feminist, to which they responded ‘no, I just believe that everybody should be equal’. I think that this accounts for a large proportion of peoples understanding; that feminism is about a new sense of inequality.
In reality this is far from the truth. Feminism realises that we still live in a patriarchal society where men are at the top (albeit a much less patriarchal society than it was).
There is a reason why this matters. Margaret mead wrote ‘never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has’. Society does not naturally progress towards justice and equality, it is only through people critiquing it to its very foundations that change happens. 'Change does not role in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle'*.
Someone asks ‘why should a person be able to own another person’ and a movement is started. Someone asks ‘why should black people have to give up their seat for white people’, and a movement is started. Someone asks ‘why should women not be able to vote’, and a movement is started. This has taken place throughout history, and will continue to take place long into the future. Feminism is one such movement.
It asks questions such as ‘why is it that 1 in 3 women will be sexually abused by a man in their lifetime, and how can we change it’, why is it that famous females are judged on their looks and what they wear, but famous males are judged by the skills and talents that they have, and what can we do to change it’, ‘ why is it that when a man asserts himself he is ‘assertive’, but when a woman asserts herself she is ‘bossy’ and what can we do to change it?'

May we become those who speak out against inequality and injustice wherever we find it, may we question the very foundations of our societies, and may we join the movements that speak of a better day.

For more on feminism I highly recommend this video by Laci Green, and this one by flip the script.
*quote by Martin Luther King Jr

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