The Tarnished Perception of Feminism

April 3, 2019

Lucy Minchoff

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If you know me, have ever browsed through my Instagram page, or have even seen me walking down the halls, you probably know that I’m a feminist. I advocate for women’s rights in my free time and walk around school wearing activism T-shirts. I’m not shy about it. But, surprisingly enough, I’m not 100% confident in feminism. Over the years, feminism has gotten a bad reputation. People often shy away from the feminist movement, and some even label it as “cancerous.” So, I’ve chosen to take a further look at the term “feminism,” and so far, I’ve learned that feminism is, by no means, a specific term. If you look up the actual definition of feminism, you will see that feminism is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as being “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” However, the default Google definition reads “the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” So, what’s the difference? Well, the first source says that feminism is the theory of equality of the sexes, while the other defines it as the advocacy of that theory. These are two very different definitions. One only focuses on equality, while the other focuses on advocacy or the level of public support. So, is feminism simply the radical belief that men and women are equal, or is it more complicated than that? To dive deeper into this question, I decided to ask some people “Are you a feminist?” The answers were surprising. The first person replied, “I support anything that allows women to be treated any way a man would be but I wouldn’t say I’m someone who goes out of my way to advocate it.” The second person said, “No.” The third person said, “Like the literal definition, yes, but not part of the third wave of feminism.” Then, I asked them, “Do you believe in gender equality?” The answers were surprising. Each answer was a straight up “yes.” In reply to the first question, I received three very different answers. All three seem to have very different definitions of the term. However, all of them believe in gender equality. What do these findings tell me? I’ve learned that there is no one definition of feminism. Some people may view a feminist as being a person who believes in equality of the sexes. Others may view a feminist as someone who voices an opinion on the issue. Some people only view feminists as those angry people who constantly say that everything is the patriarchy’s fault. What I’m trying to say is as long as people have opinions, there will never be a straight definition of feminism. People will always have their own, altered views.