What It Means to be a Feminist

Lately I’ve wanted to make my blog a bit more personal, so you really get a glimpse of my world. Sometimes that means swapping a beauty topic for something like study tips or relationship advice – or even today’s post on feminism. Awhile back I wrote about inspiring women, and so many of you had amazing responses that I wanted to use that as a jumping off point, specifically in regards to feminism.

For whatever reason, feminism often gets a bad rap. The term itself is sometimes greeted with negativity even in a society that supposedly thinks of everyone as equals – have you ever noticed that? Perhaps it’s because the women before us who began the feminist movement and fought for our equality took to the streets to enact change. The reality is that in our world, people have to be bold to create change. Or it could be that “fem” is part of the word, and people mistake that for superiority rather than equality between females and males. While every ideology has its extremes, feminism at its core is about equality. Even if you don’t consider yourself an activist, that doesn’t mean you’re not a feminist or don’t support equality.

In my opinion, everyone that believes in gender equality is a feminist in some way. If you believe that women and men were created equal, hands down, no exceptions, then why not consider yourself a feminist? The quote above by Gloria Steinem sums it up perfectly, as did Emma Watson’s UN speech last September.

Hearing people say they aren’t feminist, or seeing them roll their eyes at the term can get frustrating to say the least. But much of the time it means a person misunderstands what feminism represents, thinking it belittles males. Then of course, there really are plenty of people who don’t support feminism – as we all will unfortunately learn at some time or another, not everyone supports or practices gender equality. But more often than not it comes down to education… Knowledge is power.

Next time you talk to someone who is uncomfortable by the word feminist, take the time to open a dialogue and consider their thoughts and motives, and uncover what they think being a feminist means. More than likely you will open their eyes to something they haven’t previously considered. You may even be there when someone realizes that they are, in fact, a feminist!

What does feminism mean to you? I always love to hear your thoughts!

<3 Mish