We the equalists

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.

Radical Feminism

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 19^th 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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