Feminism is supposed to stand for equal rights for men and
women. However it has become a term with negative connotations associated with
it. There are radicals out there who have turned a movement of equality into
the exact opposite, punishing men. This then sparked meninism, as a defense for
the male gender. In my opinion, this whole issue has spiraled out of control. What
ever happened for just fighting for equality? That’s it. Period. All humans,
black, white, Mexican, male, female, transgender, gay, straight, bisexual,
everyone. I would consider myself a feminist, in that women should be treated (and
paid) the same as their male counterparts, however that’s the extent. I don’t want
to demean men, I want to elevate women. Make sense? So from here on out, I propose
that all of us who believe in equality rather than one gender dominating of the
other be considered equalists.
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| Radical Feminism |
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| Equilists |
Meninism has arisen in response to the ideas of radical
feminists. There have been a ton of different memes ans sayings all over the
internet displaying this view. As much as it might pain me to say it, some of
their points are valid. But, they, like radical feminists, do cross the line at
times. The whole thing is a slippery slope from fighting for equality to being
sexist against the opposing gender. It is extremely important (now that we are
equalists) that while we strive to gain rights for other people that in doing
so we don’t try to take away rights of others.
Throughout history women have always been thought of as
second to men. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. Men did the “important” things like work for a
living, run for political offices, and generally contribute to society. While women
tended to stay home to raise the children and take care of the house. I mean it
wasn’t until the 19th amendment ratified in 1920 that women even had
the right to go vote in national elections. But, nowadays things have started
to equal out more. Women are working; they have high ranking jobs, and hold
political offices just like men. But, we are still not perfectly equal. It is a known fact that if two people worked
the same job, and had equal skill level at said job. If one were a women and
the other a man, the male would be paid slightly more. Which by all means is
not equality yet. As equalists we now believe in the equality if both genders
in matters similar to this.
Wage is just one aspect of society that demeans women and
how they are viewed and respected. While
we do need to stand up against those situations and fight for all genders to be
treated fairly, we cannot go overboard. That’s what gave feminism such a bad
connotation to it.
Even in high school this debate gets talked about and
discussed among peers a ton. I could be walking down the hallway and someone
will be wearing a meninist T-Shirt, or another group of people will be talking
about a protest that happened advocating for women’s rights. So this issue is
very relevant even to today’s teens, because however this issue gets resolved will
affect how we live in the future and what kind of society we will live in. I
just hope that in the future there won’t be issues still about how a group of
people are being oppressed, or targeted, or being mistreated. I mean haven’t we
learned our lesson yet? Why does our society keep insisting, generation after generation
that some group of people is inferior to another. I mean to me it seems
perfectly clear that we “have to treat others the way we want to be treated”. Any
little kid knows that, so why is it that our main issues are debating whether
gays can get married? Or riots that police are targeting African Americans? I just don’t get it. This issue should have
been settled a long time ago. Here’s a radical idea for you: everyone is human,
everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly in this world. There are
certain factors that people just can’t help or change what they are. This
includes race, gender, and sexual orientation. So why should you get more
rights as a human because you somehow got lucky and were born as a who you are?
No reason. I fight for equality of all, not the oppression of others so that I
seem better.
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