Feminism...The Good Kind

 I am the oldest of four girls. Growing up, I was taught that I could do anything I wanted, as long as I put my mind to it and worked hard. Rights as a woman never seemed like an issue.

We live in a time period where the battle of rights is everywhere. Gay rights, women's rights, racial rights...it's literally inescapable. This isn't new, obviously. The fight for rights has been happening for a long time. During the Renaissance, people fought for their rights as a human being. Thus, humanism was born. During the Enlightenment, people fought against the power that churches and other organizations held over individuals. Both of these time periods seem to mirror some of the fights for rights we have had over the past one hundred years.

The fight I am intrigued by is the feminist fight. Feminism has gained a bad rep because of the "man-hating" that goes on. Instead of focusing on the good things about women and the good things about men, some feminists are determined to put men down and make women the dominate gender in society. While I agree that there are still some inequalities between men and women, (especially in salaries) I do not believe that there is any reason to disparage men.

Emma Watson has become a very loud voice in the feminist movement. However, unlike a few other feminists, she realizes that "man hating" is not the way to gain more equality for women. Feminism has almost turned into a schoolyard tactic--bullies putting other kids down to make themselves seem better. Putting men down does nothing to improve feminist arguments, it just makes the feminists look desperate to mudsling. The worth of an individual should not change because of the worth of the individuals around them. Men can be powerful, just as powerful as women.

My call for change is to stop the feminist "man hating." There is nothing beneficial to putting men down. What are we teaching little boys and girls when we say men are "lazy, rude, domineering," etc? We are teaching them that one of them is better than the other. We need a world where men and women are aware of the strengths in themselves and each other, and where they are willing to work hand in hand to make the world a better place.

UPDATE

Thank you for your comments. I think that as I continue to study feminism and its effects on society, I will work to focus on the individual characteristics of men and women that make them important. I also want to continue developing my argument that changing feminism back to "good" feminism doesn't take much effort if we all just try a little bit.