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Mary Thompson (Max)

Mr. Campbell

UWRT 1103

March 28. 2015

Distortion of the “F” Word: Gender Equality v. Anti-Man

In the early days of the feminist movement, the meaning of the word feminism

became distorted. Through aggressive feminists in the past that were fighting to take

away rights from men, a strong anti-male bias attached itself to the word feminism.

However, as time has passed the movement has evolved and so have feminists.

Feminism has never meant anti-male. Feminism is defined as the advocacy of

women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. It is

not their goal to take power away from men; they simply want to give equal rights to

women. 

In the United States, women make only $0.78 to every dollar a man makes.

They are performing the same job but just because they are female they are

automatically paid 22 cents less than a man. I have personal experience with this

matter, which caused me to become involved in the feminist movement. I was hired

as a cashier my sophomore year of high school at $7.50/hour. I started dating one of

my male coworkers; he was hired at $7.75/hour for the same job even though I had

past experience and he did not. My male friends made the same wage while my

female friends made the wage I received. We were hired at a lower wage just because

I was a woman. I worked harder, I worked longer, and I proved myself as a

trustworthy employee; however, every single woman made $0.25 less than the men.

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I do not wish to take away their right to make money. I simply want, no, I

simply demand the same opportunities and rights as him.  I demand the right to make

the same wage for the same job. I demand to be judged on individual achievements,

not gender. I demand a change. This is what feminists are fighting for. We want the

same rights that men have given themselves since the beginning of time but have

always denied women. If I am to give birth to a man, I demand to have the same

rights as him. 

Through my research I will prove that women are not anti-man, they are pro

gender equality. I will provide information about the modern feminist agenda. I will

closely examine the stigma associated with feminism and what is being done to break

it. I will use books, websites, magazines, speeches, and scholarly articles to explore

and provide you with the information you will need to truly understand feminism. I

will hopefully prove to you along the way why everyone should be a feminist. 

I: On September 20th, 2014 famous actress, Brown graduate, and ambassador

of UN Women, Emma Watson cordially invited men to join the fight for gender

equality. The HeForShe campaign she was promoting extended a hand to the male

population to join the fight for gender equality, something long overdue. Watson

gracefully pointed out the struggles for men such as showing emotion and having

rights to their children. She focused on the fact that there are two sides to this battle

and we have to fight together in order to obtain absolute equality for the genders. 

Throughout her moving speech Watson pointed out that unfortunately "no

country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality."

She talked about the fact that women still make less than men do for the same

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work and that it wont be until 2086 until African girls are offered a secondary

education. This is the sad truth unless men are able to stand with the fight and help to

implement new standards for women. Standards where they are paid the same wage

and where they are encouraged to pursue higher education. 

  Since her speech, the HeForShe campaign sign has been seen globally. Steve

Carrell tweeted a picture of him wearing HeForShe cufflinks at the Oscars. Harry

Styles, famous boy band singer, instagramed a picture of him holding up the

#HeForShe sign, along with many other male celebrities.

II: Feminists grasped the world’s attention in this controversial commercial

that used young girls cussing to express the real problems still evident in the world

concerning women. In this case, even bad publicity was good publicity. The f-bombs

dropped by these girls found its way to the top of Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and

YouTube. It was talked about on The View, Ellen, and almost every news outlet. It

served its purpose; to make people listen. Whether you agree or disagree with the way

they went about publicizing this issue, you can't argue with the facts that it states. The

girls stood there and said that 1 in 5 women will be raped, then counted five of them

and asked who it would be. This made the problem real because these were young

girls that you aren't helping by ignoring the problem. They talked about unequal pay

and opportunities, one of the main issues facing American women today. 

The real question is though, will this actually change anything or give people

another reason to turn away from feminism. 

On the opposite end of the feminist movement, Always released this

commercial this past super bowl and captured everyone’s hearts and attention. It

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asked young women who has passed puberty to fight, run, and throw like a girl.  Then

they asked young girls you hadn't hit puberty to do the same. The results were

shocking. They proved that through puberty and social media a girl’s view of herself

can diminish and wither away. They believe that they are weak because that is what

society tells them. They believe they can't play sports because it will make them look

unattractive or "too-manly". Feminist’s goals consist of changing this environment

for young girls; they want to make it so girls can grow up in a safe and supportive

environment. They want to raise a new group of feminists who are ready to tackle and

fight for women's rights, gender equality, and other social issues. 

This campaign made by UN Women was also broadcasted at the super

bowl. They showed a series of pictures like this with women’s mouths covered by

Google searches of “women cannot be”, “women should”, and “women need to”.

They were true accounts of what answers first appeared in the search bar; it was

horrifying. It reflected the views of close-minded individuals still interested in living

in the 15th century. This is yet another campaign to force people to realize the

discrimination women still face. For the purpose of this project I typed in the same

words but for men. Below are screenshots of my results.

This is not just a matter of women’s discrimination, but men's as well. These

results show the idea that men need to stand up and man up. They shouldn't express

their emotions or cry. Men should drink beer and do manly things.

III: Recently while shelving books at my part time job I came across

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi's book We Should All Be Feminists. Adichi is a well-

known Nigerian author and advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. This

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book was originally a TedTalk she gave back in April of 2013. She told a few stories

of her childhood and growing up in Nigeria. She talked about the first boy that called

her a feminist, and meant it as an insult. She discussed how a man told her that her

novel was feminist and that she should "never call [herself] a feminist, since feminists

are women who are unhappy because they cannot find husbands." After much

criticism she finally had to call herself a "Happy African Feminist Who Does Not

Hate Men and Who Like to Wear Lip Gloss and High Heels for Herself and Not for

Men." 

One of my favorite parts about her speech was when she talked about how it

made sense for men to rule a thousand years ago because whoever was the strongest

ruled. Since men have testosterone they are able to gain more muscle (with

exceptions.) In today's world however, we have iPhones, we are not cavemen. You do

not rule based on how strong you are, you rule based on your intelligence, your

creativity, and innovation. There is no hormone to control that so women are just as

able to possess these qualities as men. Therefore, women should have the same rights

and should be able to hold the same positions. 

She shared that people have told her to not use the word feminist, simply say

you are a "believer in human rights." Her response: “to choose to use the vague

expression human rights is to deny any particular problem or gender." Her opinion is

that feminism is the word to describe what we have to fight for and there should be no

exceptions to that. People should embrace the true meaning of feminism and men

should join the fight as well. 

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IV: The first wave of feminism started in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

It emerged through urban industrialism and socialist politics according to Martha

Rampton with Pacific University. The original focus was two obtain women’s

suffrage. The second wave began in the 1960s through the protests of the Vietnam

War and the Civil Rights Movement. This agenda included the passing of the Equal

Rights Amendment that guaranteed equality regardless of gender. The third wave

began in the 1990s and is currently referred to as the post-modern feminist

movement. This wave has expanded globally through cultures and is starting to focus

on men as well. They have a stance of gender equality and want to make it clear they

are not anti-man. The are fighting for equal pay, reproductive rights for women, and

the significance of gender equality and the inclusion of men. Rampton sums it up by

saying “the third wave of feminism breaks boundaries.”

Angela McRobbie, cultural theorist and feminist at the University of London,

traces women’s sexuality through the waves of feminism. She says that due to shifts

in modern feminism, women are being offered the same sexual freedom as men,

within limits. Through the fight for reproductive rights such as access to birth control,

women are able to take control of their bodies and their sexual orientation and explore

the world around them. While there is still discrimination between the sexes on the

subject of sex, women are slowly obtaining the rights they want. However, the notion

that women who sleep with a lot of men are sluts while men that sleep with a lot of

women are heroes is still very much present. This post-modern movement is hoping

to change that stereotype.

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V: Debora Spar, author of “Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for

Perfection”, presents the agenda of modern feminists in her interview with National

Public Radio. As a graduate of Harvard Business School and the president of Barnard

College she understands what it is like to claw your way to the top in a man’s world.

She mainly focuses on the pressure on young women to be everything: to work, have

a family, and balance a successful personal life. She gives this expectation reliability

as she had the pressure on her shoulders as well. Spar talks about the need for more

women in leadership positions and political equality. This is yet another successful

woman, who loves men, and is fighting for gender equality.

Marisa Meltzer parallels with Spar. She is an accomplished author of two

books and has had work regularly published in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Elle,

Vogue and The New York Times. Her insight into the subject of feminism provides a

gives a true realistic aspect of current feminists with claims that are relevant to

today’s youth. Her article in The New York Times titled “Who is a Feminist Now?”

examines role models for young girls and if they truly know the meaning of

feminism. She began with an interview with rising actress Shailene Woodley who had

been asked if she considered herself a feminist. Her response was “No, because I love

men, and I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the

power’ is never going to work.” Meltzer goes on to describe how young girls don’t

really know what the word feminism means or stands for. While older celebrities such

as Beyoncé and Lena Dunham embrace the word, younger celebrities such as

Woodley and Taylor Swift steer clear of the word due to the attached stigma. Most,

like Woodley, don’t even know the real meaning. Feminism is not something that is

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often taught in school. Most people find the subject uncomfortable to talk about. Men

feel that if they bring up the subject they might say something offensive and women

feel they might say something that disintegrates their claims. In order to stop the

stigma we have to talk about it. We have to force this history into the light and learn

every aspect of this controversial word in order to truly understand its meaning. We

have to ask questions, do research, and not be afraid to feel uncomfortable. We have

to embrace feminism head out in order to achieve gender equality.

VI: Gender equality is a pressing matter that must be achieved for the sake of

our future and the generation beyond ours. Feminists are the means to achieving this

ideal; we cannot ignore them, we cannot fight them, we must join them. In order to

declare this world as equal between the genders, men and women must join together.

They must destroy the anti-male stigma attached to feminism and create a strong

front. Through my research I hope to have not only informed you of the problems

facing feminists, I hope to have influenced the way you think of them. I hope I have

convinced you to become a feminist. You daughters, sisters, and mother deserve

equal pay; they deserve the ability to hold a political position without being called

incompetent. Your sons deserve to be allowed to express their emotions freely

without discrimination; they deserve the same rights to their children as mothers do.

The battle of the sexes has to cease. Abilities should not be based on your gender but

your personality, your creativity, and your passions. Feminism is not anti-man it is

pro gender equality.

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Works Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. We Should All Be Feminists. Vintage, 2014. Print.

Always #LikeAGirl. 2014. Film.

Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism. 2014. Film.

Hegewisch, Ariane. "Pay Equity & Discrimination." Institute for Women's Policy

Research. IWPR, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

McRobbie, Angela. “Beyond Post-Feminism.” Juncture 179-84. IPPR. 1 Sept. 2013.

Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

Meltzer, Marisa. “Who Is a Feminist Now?” The New York Times. nytimes.com. 21

May. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

Rampton, Martha. "The Three Waves of Feminism." Pacific University Oregon.

Pacific University, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.

Spar, Debora. Interview by Barnard President. “Today’s Wonder Women Must

Reframe Feminism.” National Public Radio, 16 Sept. 2013. NPR.org. Web. 8

Mar. 2015.

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Watson, Emma. "Gender Equality Is Your Issue Too." UN Women. UN Women, 4

Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.