I have decided to split this into a few different posts to make it like a series of discussions. This is only part one.
The Debate
"BEING A FEMINIST
DOESN'T MAKE ME A MAN-HATER."
"IF NOT ME WHO? IF NOT NOW WHEN?"
"FEMINIST: A PERSON WHO BELIEVE IN THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC EQUALITY OF THE SEXES."
*Please note: I may get rather ranty, hopefully you will just recognise this is something important to me.*
All across the media at the moment is the attempt at female empowerment. Movements like "Free The Nipple" aim to overcome the taboo over publicly seeing women's breasts, while men can freely show their "nipples". "He For She" works to exempt women from inequality of all forms, all over the world. In a series of posts entitled "Femininity Not Feminism", I want to discuss the work of both of these campaigns but also a leading feminist in her own right, and my own views on what we could call a debate.
But before we start, I think this diagram below will be helpful.
I wouldn't say I quite agree that you should "reconsider your life choices", but maybe think about it. And remember, not all women feel the need for feminism. And not every woman is a feminist. Feminism is equality. It is NOT women being more powerful or dominant than men. I think it is this that many forget. In all honestly, whoever decided on the word should have stuck with 'equality'.
Two days after my 18th birthday, my boyfriend and I ventured to Liverpool for a day out. We visited Liverpool's Tate Art Gallery and next to one of the pieces was commentary. In said writing, it was mentioned that the artist was looking to promote "femininity not feminism" through her work; hence why I have decided to call this series after this commentary.
When I searched "femininity vs feminism" on Google, the results were mainly Christian based; talking about how a women's identity in God gets lost because of the debate. Whether you consider yourself to be a Christian or not, stay with me a second.
I came across this website called "Jesus Is Saviour", and the link from Google's search results is this: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Womens%20Page/feminism_verses_femininity.htm
Now, please note that I started off reading this thinking to myself "oh yes, this is great and exactly what I wanted to write about". That was until I scrolled down to the "Here's some wisdom from my pastor..." section:
"You can name anything you want to name, but I am opposed to anything in the world that de-emphasises the line of difference between the sexes. I believe that ladies ought to be feminine and sweet and lovely and charming. I believe men ought to be strong and masculine and decisive. I'm opposed to anything that makes a man and a woman act alike, look alike, dress alike, or talk alike."
Now I'm sorry but I feel like this is a little "twisted". I doubt God really minds whether we dress like a female, or we dress like a male. Women should be who they want, and men should be who they want.
I hope this sparked something in you, whatever you agree, disagree, believe, disbelieve.
