feminism noun
fem·i·nism | \ ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm \
1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes
2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests
— Merriam – Webster Dictionary
/ˈfemənɪzəm/
the belief and aim that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men; the struggle to achieve this aim
— Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
All genders are entitled to the same political, social, and economic rights
Creating this gender equality requires gender reform, gender resistance, and gender revolution. It is a contrast to chauvinism which can be expressed as an underlying attitude of superiority towards the opposite. It is equitable pay, and the right to make individual decisions about one’s own physical being.
“Feminism” challenges the standardization of inequalities against women advocating specifically for the rights of women with a basis in advocating for all genders. It is in opposition to discrimination, objectification, oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, and anti-suffragism. It is equality that is not confused with sameness. It is not the teacher in the classroom who grades a boy higher on a project done with minimal effort and chalking up disinterest to “that’s just how boys are”. It is not the mother who encourages her daughter to learn recipes so she can cook for her husband one day and who tells her son that he doesn’t need to bother with learning basic life skills like cleaning, loading the dishwasher, or cooking those same recipes because he will be too busy working to have time for that. It is not the father who only helps his son with homework and projects and never helps his daughter who was taught to be independent of help at a young age. It is not the waiter who brings the check immediately to the man at a restaurant because he must be wearing the pants. It is not the friend who gossips and judges another woman for leaving her abusive husband saying that she must have driven him crazy. It is not a presidential candidate saying a reporter is menstruating because she chose to call him out with the harsh questions that most were too afraid to ask. It is not the man who gives a long lecture to prove he knows more about a subject than a woman, who interrupts and “mansplains”, and when she makes a point he tells her she can’t take constructive criticism.
It is the mother who buys her young daughter a Darth Vader costume for Halloween because she didn’t want the princess costume. It is the father who loads the dishwasher without being asked because he lives in the same house as his wife. It is a woman playing and winning at tennis at a point in time when everyone told her it was a man’s sport. It is the woman who wears makeup not because she cares how she looks to men but rather how she feels and how much fun she had wearing it. It is the man who doesn’t comment about how much makeup she has on but rather moves on because it’s her face and her decision. It is the person who doesn’t offer unsolicited advice to a woman because they think they could’ve done it better. It is dressing for yourself instead of what society tells you is your body type because if what you wear makes you feel good then who cares what anyone else thinks.