What Does Feminism Mean To You?
We have been hearing the term “Feminism” a lot over the last few years. So what does Feminism actually mean? According to Wikipedia “it is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality of both the sexes.”
Countless movements and organization are working towards the welfare of women, to help ensure gender equality, right to work, right to vote and own property and many more agendas. Thanks to them, women have now been able to achieve so much success and importance in today’s 21st century.
History
Before I divulge any further let me just give you a brief history of feminism. It is split into three time periods, the first period was from the 19th century to the early 20s century which was focused on overcoming legal inequalities. The second period was from around the 1960s–1980s which was focused more on cultural inequalities, gender norms and the role of women in society. The third period was in the 1990s–2000s which refers to diverse strains of feminist activity failures. Based on the history we can see how women for centuries have been struggling for equality between the sexes.
So what does Feminism really mean to me?
Born in the 21st century, where women are becoming more progressive and confident, challenging men in every field I still believe the inequality still persists. Not just at the workplace but at homes too. Till date, I still see how parents treat their daughters and sons unequally, for example, if the son misbehaves that is ok as he is a boy but the daughters should be at their best behavior at all times. I know this does not happen in every household but this thought still persists. The sons are given larger shares of family property compared to the daughters and so and so forth. Well for this to change it is very important that the mentality and attitude towards either gender should be same/equal, it is only then will the younger generation especially the girls realize that nobody is superior to them.
Belonging to a family where my siblings and I have always been treated the same, I cannot say that is true for everyone. It is sad that we have to fight to be treated equally in our own family and in our society. It is important that we look at each other as human beings and not just as males or females, as both genders are capable of carrying out any task with ease and hence should be given equal opportunities to do so.
As a woman, I just wish we were not just looked upon as being only a housewife or as someone to bear children though they are the most difficult jobs we as women are more than just that. We can balance our work life and home life beautifully, we can run a country, fly a plane, solo travel the world and do everything unexpected. So why should we be given less of an opportunity to showcase our talent and skills?
Feminism is not about women wanting to rule the world or put men down. It is not about women wanting to disrespect traditions and break marriages and relations. It is only about being equal with both the genders and demand equal respect.
