#ToTheGirls: My Views on Feminism

Tom Hilton

This blog post analyzes the broad and common misconceptions of feminism.

Most likely you have clicked on this for 1 of 3 reasons: you want to support feminism, you have no idea what the hell feminism is, or you came here to troll. By all means do what you will because any attention will make feminism continually relevant. BOOM! That is part of what feminism is about: being the bigger person because there are so many assholes that hate feminists when they don’t even know or understand what it is.

Brooke

During my sophomore year of high school, there was this girl in my grade that was always sexualized. One day, she woke up and did her normal daily routine but at the end of the day she went to our nearest train tracks. She walked in front of an oncoming train and died instantly. A week after her death the principle came onto the morning announcements and explained what happened to her. Apparently, she was raped earlier that year by a fellow classmate and was diagnosed with depression and an eating disorder soon after. But my principal did nothing to spread awareness of depression, eating disorders, or rape. He unsympathetically stated the facts. I am not blaming him for anything and I am NOT saying my principal was being unsympathetic because he is a man. I am simply saying, something must be done to help women/girls, and even men/boys for that matter, to get the help they need. That is why I am a Feminist.

Most of the people I have talked to about feminism have either said “feminism is a stupid excuse for women to blame men for their problems” or “feminism is outdated and no longer applies, we have equal rights.” What scares me is women are saying these things too. How is something positive like feminism get such a bad rap?

Rosie the Riveter

One of my favorite blogs is by Janelle Ann McCarthy called Janellisms. One of her best posts is “What Feminism Is and What It Isn’t.” I love this post so much because McCarthy uses logic to argue feminism is a good thing. Also, she is great at using images to her advantage because the first thing you see is a big picture of a women dressed and posing as Rosie the Riveter. The image easily conveys what the post is about, to the tee.

In McCarthy’s post she goes over some of the most popular misconceptions about feminism and I would like to share some with you.

1. “Feminists hate men.”
How is this possible? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, social equality of the sexes.” So how could we hate men if we need men to help spread equality as well. Also why do some men identify as feminist?

2. “Feminists burn their bras and refuse to shave.”

Shaving is personal preference dumbass! And burning bras is an very expensive hobby which some people somehow can afford.

3. “Feminists want to blame men for every issue they face in life.”

Ok so every man is to blame for everything revolving around my life because they are easy targets, right? NO! You are wrong. 100% wrong. If there is a man in my life that does something to hurt me, then it is his fault, no one else's. And if I have problems at work or have a fight with my best friend, men are not to blame. If anything, saying this crap shows your incompetence and will eventually get you shot, so have a nice life, while you can.

“I’m a Feminist”

My favorite Youtuber, Jack Howard, had posted a video a year ago that was quite different from his other content on his channel because it is titled “I’m a Feminist.” I remember when he posted this video, how much hate he got for it. The comment section was like a bloodbath but Howard accepted all criticism and politely proved them wrong with logic. His opening line is “‘Yeah no I’m not a feminist, I just believe in equal rights.’ Is something I said about a year ago and little did I know, that is a feminist.” He starts off by giving personal experience and analyzes why he changed from making fun of feminism to being a feminist. And he clearly describes the cycle in which he learned what feminism is, even giving examples from his own life that are considered sexist. He does all of this in a comedic undertone, making the video light-weight instead of a life or death type situation, making feminism more appealing.

Get over yourself

I think by now, you probably have figured out, I am all for feminism. Whether people say feminism is good or bad. I will continually say “I am proud to be a feminist because I want equality for everyone, including myself.” Simple as that. Feminism is good. There are always going to be people who hate on feminism because they have nothing better to do but any attention is good because attention keeps feminism relevant. So thank you to anyone who spreads feminism like wildfire (good and bad). You are why women are no longer expected to get married, have kids, be a housemaid, and always tend to their husbands. We have broken these stereotypes so why can’t we break the negative stereotypes about feminism?

Morgan Rink is an dual enrollment student at Robinson High School and Northern Virginia Community College. Her research interests are psychology, current affairs, and culinary arts.