What Does Feminism Mean to Me?

I clearly remember the first day of my Women Studies class when my professor gave everybody a question that was rather simple, but, at the same time, created some difficulties for me. Our instructor asked us what the meaning of feminism was. This question became the topic of our first assignment and I expressed my thoughts on feminism in the form of a short answer. Now, when time has passed and I have learned many interesting and fascinating things about this movement, my thoughts have changed considerably.

What I knew at the beginning of this course was that feminism is a movement that fights for equal rights for women. Thus, I have spent some time thinking about it and tried to find out the true meaning of the term to complete the assignment. However, nothing new came to my mind so I wrote down that feminism is a movement that unites ‘women who support each other and show that they are equal to men in everything’. Rereading my answer over and over again gave me the understanding that my attitude to feminism was neutral. I knew its general definition, the one that is known to everybody else, and thought that information was enough for me. Nevertheless, having spent some time researching the topic and watching various videos I came to the conclusion that I was a feminist myself.

In contrast with my primary thoughts on feminism, now I know that the word and the movement itself have a more profound meaning. Moreover, I even feel as if I was misguided, partly by media, as to the image of the feminist movement. According to Cavanagh, a negative stigma is attached to the word feminism (2014). Many people think, and so did I, that feminists hate men, believe that females are a better sex and that they deserve some kind of privileges. Unfortunately, people jump at a conclusion without proper considerations and that is one of the biggest problems of our society. Cavanagh adds that a feminist is a person who upholds the idea that all humans, both men and women, should have equal rights in political, economic, and societal matters (2014). In this perspective, all individuals should be feminists.

Many people believe that in the today's world there is no place for feminism because women already have equal rights to men. Frankly speaking, I thought about feminism this way too, because I was sure that there are no problems with inequality today. However, the situation is slightly different that it may seem. Some data suggests that women's population constitutes more than a half of a general populace, but less than 20% of women become representatives in Congress (Cavanagh, 2014). Thus, women are underrepresented in US politics. Although women have employment opportunities equal to men, there is still a 23% pay gap (Cavanagh, 2014). According to this information, the world still needs feminism to promote women's rights.

To continue, Cavanagh (2014) names a number of reasons for why people still need such movement as feminism. First, after the marriage women are assumed to take their husband's last name. Second, when being assaulted, women often feel ashamed. Third, due to the movement, women know how to prevent rape. Fourth, the problem of women's rights still exists in many world countries that do nothing to deal with marital rape and such an aspect as marrying off underage girls. Fifth, many countries do not allow women to obtain a college education. Evidently, the world needs feminism until every woman is heard. At the beginning of this course, I did not realize the seriousness of the feminist movement and did not know its true meaning. However, I have changed my opinion about feminism and even began to consider myself a feminist.

Interview Results

It is a well-known fact that opinions on such a contradictory issue as feminism and its importance and usefulness always differ. As a part of my assignment, I have interviewed four peers as to their views on the movement. To avoid any gender biases, two of my interviewees were male, and the other two - female. I asked them to fill in a questionnaire about their feminist views. The questionnaire contained multiple choice questions, such as 'Do you agree that men and women are equal?', 'To what extent do you believe that feminists are man-haters?', and 'Do you think that our society still needs the feminist movement?'. Having completed the questionnaire, my interviewees handed them to me. I went through the answers and asked each peer some related questions based on their responses with the aim to understand their positions better. I wrote down their verbal answers to be able to analyze them later and draw an overall conclusion. The main thing that I learned from the interview is that there are both pro-feminism and anti-feminism opinions among my peers.

One of interviewees said that he believes in equality for men and women and that he sees no need for further development of the movement since women have everything what they fight for. He drew the examples from his family, saying that his mother earns more than his father. He concluded that if there were issues with inequality, the abovementioned fact would not be possible. However, I think that my peer's situation is only an exception but not the rule since statistics reveal us the opposite side of the coin. I am glad that such things happen in the today's world, but I am also sure that it would not be possible without the movement. I believe that the opportunity for women to earn more than men is the exceptional merit of feminism.

Another girl had views similar to mine and said that she is grateful to the movement for various opportunities she enjoys in the society. She said that she has never felt assaulted or humiliated because of being female. Nevertheless, the girl did not deny the need for the movement in the developing countries since she heard that females are not always treated well there. In my opinion, feminism is needed not only in the remote places where people have never heard about equality, but also in our society. Fortunately, this girl has never been assaulted because of being a woman, but thousands of women in our country happen to be less lucky. Thus, feminism is not a matter of a particular woman but rather the defender of all females on this planet.

One more male interviewee surprised me a little. He said that feminism is a dangerous movement and that feminists spoil other women who would obey men if the movement did not exist. That point of view is clearly anti-feminist one that opposes all forms of it. I think that there are not many people with such radical views, but, at the same time, I cannot deny that this kind of opinion exists. The possible reason for that is the way feminism is portrayed in the media.

As for the remaining female interviewee, she said that she supports feminism and believes that all humans are born equal. She is interested in the feminism issue even though she does not take the Women Gender course. She is greatly keen on history, including the development of feminism. The girl's views are similar to mine and I think her thoughts are so profound because of her interest in the subject as well as conducting much research. The last interviewee is convinced that the world still needs feminism because many women suffer from gender inequality.

The Effects of Rape

Unfortunately, many women become the victims of rape annually. Since I have been taught about rape and its effects since childhood, I feel strongly about this topic. Rape has negative effects on woman and affects her future. In fact, rape destroys women's lives. Although this fact is known to all assaulters, there are still people who attempt to ruin somebody's future in this way. It is necessary to stress that not only rape itself has negative consequences on the victims, but also attempted sexual assaults are detrimental to the woman's psychological and physical health. Although the effects of the two differ slightly, they also have many similarities.

Rape leads to a number of negative consequences. According to a new study conducted by Sinn-Texas in the US, rape, as well as attempted sexual assaults, negatively affects women's health causing depression, PTSD, and other issues that often go unnoticed. Researcher also states that women who were raped have low self-esteem, little or no sexual desire, as well as self-perceived mate value (2012). Rape affects a number of domains, among which there are psychological and social, in the life of women. That is why measures should be taken to prevent females from being raped. Nevertheless, if the assault did happen, what woman needs in that case is support and assistance, which can help her overcome difficulties created by sexual abuse.

To conclude, feminism is a movement that stands for women’s equal rights. Unfortunately, many people do not know the true meaning of feminism and mistakenly consider themselves as anti-feminists. The possible reason for that is the image the media has created for the participants of the movement. They are often portrayed as man-haters who are trying to achieve some privileges in the society. However, the main idea of feminism is equal rights for women in politics, economy, and other aspects of life. Moreover, the movement also teaches women how to prevent rape which has negative consequences on them and their future lives. Nonetheless, opinions differ as to the issue of feminism and its importance. As the result of the course, I have changed my views on the issue and even began to consider myself as a feminist.

About the author: Georgia Kliff is a master in Literature at Maryland University. She is currently working as one of the best writers and here are some of her articles about essay on social issues She also studies male psychology.