Feminism- what is it in the 21st century? We recently celebrated International Women’s Day which reminds us of the journey we’ve made so far in the fight for gender equality. We have come a long way when it comes to women’s rights and it seems the ideology of feminism is becoming mainstream. Whether it’s the popular song by Beyoncé or Twitter having plenty to say; you are sure to come across it nowadays.
I’ve become more and more aware of what feminism is and the issues surrounding it as it became main stream. When someone mentioned Feminism it used to mean unshaved legs and women who hated men but not anymore. Beyoncé released an amazing popular song called ‘Flawless’ which included a powerful, inspiring and thought provoking segment of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speech which ends with her saying ‘Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economically equality of the sexes’, and this brings me to Emma Watson; she recently did a speech for the ‘He For She’ campaign pointing out that feminism is not just for women but for men.
Female bosses earn 35% less than men; this means that a woman would have to work until the age of 80 in order to catch up to the lifetime earnings of a man. Let’s look in our school, in the three top positions we have two men (Mr Woods and Mr Siaw) and only one woman (Mrs Day) it may not be intentional but there are more men in the most senior positions. We want women to earn equal pay for equal jobs and to see them hold high positions as many men do. We want to see phrases such as ‘You run like a girl’, not seen as weak but instead seen as strong ,we recommend the Always ‘Run Like a Girl’ advert. Men should want gender equality for the sexes which I think is an excellent point as many men seem to turn a cold shoulder when it come to feminism.
It’s a movement that affects everyone, not just women and it’s about time it got the airtime it deserves. But it seems with popularity comes problems. Feminism is not a trend and is not a word to be thrown about. It means something. It’s about equal rights for women and men and I hope this is not forgotten. If feminism’s new popularity accomplishes anything, let’s hope it’s to inspire the next generation of powerful women to keep on fighting.