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Mary Thompson (Max)

Professor Malcolm Campbell

English 1103

February 4th, 2015

We Are Not Anti-Man, We Are Feminists

Introduction and Overview

The feminist movement through the 20th and 21st century has brought many

rights to women such as voting and the fight for equal wage. Since feminism

surfaced, men have taken it as an anti-man campaign. I intended to explain what

feminism really is, what feminists are currently fighting for, and explain why this is

not a campaign to undermine men. I intend to examine what the word feminism

means in today’s society and how it influences young girls today. My goal is to show

that feminists aren’t anti-man; they are simply fighting for the equal rights.

Active feminist Emma Watson said, “Apparently I am among the ranks of

women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men

and, unattractive.” Her article for the introduction of HerforShe campaign article

beautifully says what I believe many young women are thinking. She elegantly lays

out what society thinks of strong women who fight for equal rights and bravely

confesses “no country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.”

While trying to appeal to men, Watson explains that men should also be allowed

individual rights such as being able to express their feelings without being called

weak. This article fully captures what I intend to capture in my Inquiry Project.

My research so far has consisted of mainly articles: Time Magazine, New York

Time, and UN Women being among the many. I feel that articles really capture the

different points of view on this controversial issue and encompass the real thinking

of society today and how feminism affects all of us. I have also talked to both my

male and female friends about this topic. I have learned that when you bring up the

word feminism, males usually role their eyes and stop the conversation there. Most

men don’t realize the way women feel in society today having lesser rights, most

women don’t either. I have seen that when you bring up this problem, young men

assume you are annoying and controlling. One even went as far as saying that “men

have more rights because they are more competent than women in a lot of things.”

Since when were tasks split up between the sexes? Shouldn’t they be based on

individual skills? I would be interested to see these “roles” in society switched. Even

my female friends try not to pay attention to the problem in our society because

they are afraid it will make them seem unlikable to guys.

This topic has many different twists and turns. Most people don’t understand

that in some countries, women aren’t allowed to speak men other than their

husband without being shot. They don’t understand the frustration we feel when

hired for the same job as a man but at a lesser wage. Women are not weak, women

are not fragile; women are strong, brave, and are the same species as man. Genitals

should not decide whether we have the right to wear pants, or show our faces. It

should not decide if we are hired for a job nor should it decide what we are capable

of.

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Initial Inquiry Question

My initial question at the beginning of this project was what is feminism.

According to the Cambridge dictionary it is defined as “an organized effort to give

women the same economic, social, and political rights as men.” The next question

few questions were slightly more complicated. I wondered what specifically were

the rights still being fought for today. I also wondered why the word feminism had

now changed turned to a negative slang word used to describe an “overly confident

and aggressive woman.” What was being done to change the meaning of this word?

What are the different sides of this argument and why do not all women consider

themselves feminists? Do not all women want the same rights as men? Do all men

not women to have the same rights? What was the current mind set of young adults

today when presented the topic of feminism?

My Interest Topic

What originally sparked my interest in this topic is something that happened

to me a few weeks ago. I had watched The Wolf of Wall Street and a friend of mine

asked why I didn’t like it. I replied by saying that it was vulgar and depicted women

as incompetent and only as objects, not as people. He responded by rolling his eye

and mumbling, “fucking feminists.” At that moment I realized that I was a feminist. I

was a feminist because I didn’t believe it was right to have women depicted as

simply object for men to amuse themselves with. Women are individuals with rights,

rights that should be equal to men. After reading Emma Watson’s speech about the

HeforShe campaign I became more determined to research this topic and learn what

about the current feminist movement. Her speech inspired me to not let my gender

define me; it inspired me to change the meaning of this world in today’s society. I

would like to learn more about what a feminist really means.

Next Steps

I plan to continue to research my topic using the library database and the

Internet to find more articles. I hope to narrow my topic to a specific part of the

feminist movement through this research and find what I believe to be the most

important part of this controversial and complex topic. I hope to find some peer-

reviewed sources to help give my subject scholarly support and evidence to the

questions I posed earlier. I will continue to use major newspapers and websites

such as UN Women and The New York Times.

Max,

This definitely sounds like it will be an interesting topic to read about. While

writing the paper don’t forget to stay unbiased towards men. The last thing you

want is for men to read this and feel like they are being attacked. At one point in the

paper you stated the definition from a dictionary, remember Malcolm said that was

a no no. Include examples of countries and how these countries make women

inferior. Also maybe talk about the particular reason, if there is one that seems

evident that women may be seen as objects in movies. I would discuss why men

might see feminists as anti-man. And do genitals really determine whether or not we

can wear pants?

-Zack