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Claiming an identity always comes with added politics.
Being a “feminist” was once considered radical and in some ways, in today’s culture, it still is. To desire a life outside the bounds of domesticated roles was unconventional, but the women who dared to diverge were the ones who fought for our right to choose our desired path. That being said, no woman should be shamed for the path she chooses. But just like any movement, it always needs to improve.
Here is ENTITY’s collection of five things that are commonly heard in the feminist movement that feminists are sick of hearing:
We aren’t all steel-boned and invulnerable. We are allowed to be weak. It’s what makes us whole, multidimensional human beings.
What? You want to be a mom instead of a sword-wielding-CEO-superwoman? Ban her from the feminist movement! The fact that we now have the ability to choose whether we want to raise kids or be in the professional world is part of what women have been fighting for. And who said you can’t do both? Unless you are bell hooks, Alice Walker or the ghost of Susan B. Anthony, you don’t have a place to determine who is a “real woman” or a “real feminist.”
We’ve all heard this commonly touted statistic: “Women make 78 cents to every male dollar.” Well this is certainly the case for white women. However, women of color, including black, Hispanic and Native American women make significantly less, yet this is often not addressed when discussing the gender wage-gap. It’s important to acknowledge that feminism covers a spectrum of sexual, racial, religious and ethnic identities. There are women of color, disabled women and transgender women, all of whom are are often overlooked within the movement.
It’s not uncommon to hear the misconception that American women have nothing to complain about because our gender equality issues don’t match the problems of women in African countries. Just because it’s not an extreme issue doesn’t mean it isn’t a legitimate problem. Gender issues range from small to large scale problems and they are all worthy of attention.
Gender expectations hurt women just as much they hurt men. The more we understand how masculinity harms young boys, the closer we are to understanding how to dismantle such oppressive institutions that hurt men, women and everyone in between.
While we still have ways to go, having choice is a great outcome of the feminist movement. Whether your choice is to get married and be a stay-at-home mom, a preschool teacher, a nurse, CEO or partner at a law firm, it’s your choice. At the end of the day, we’re all just fighting to be seen as human beings.
