Feminism vs. Feminism

In a conversation with some friends some time ago, the topic of feminism came up. By asserting myself as a feminist, I was attacked by two of my friends for being "crazy" and for believing myself to be superior and hating men. Considering that these were people with whom I had spent the last few months, the situation was quite depressing. Many times, in discussions with them, I noticed a tendency to claim that a woman would not do "this" as well as a man or comments like "You're a girl, you don't know about these things". Because of reactions similar to those I described earlier, there is a certain fear of saying you are a feminist. The reason for this behavior is due to the fact that feminism has been derived from its basic definition, it has been taken to the extreme, and it has reached for many what one of our ambassadors likes to call feminazism.

So what does it mean feminism and what does it mean feminazism?

Feminism, at its core, is a social movement that campaigns for equal rights for women and men in all fields of activity. Interest in women's rights dates back to the Enlightenment. The first important expression of feminism was Mary Wollstonecraft's "Justification for the Equality of Women" (1792). In 1848, at the Seneca Falls Convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others demanded legal equality with men, unlimited access to education and the right to equal wages, so the "Women's Suffrage Movement" took scope, extending from America to Europe. American women received the right to vote through a constitutional amendment in 1920, but their employment in various jobs was limited, as the general mentality was that women should take care of the housework. The decisive moments in the development of the modern feminist movement were the works "The Second Sex" (1949) by Simone De Beauvoir and "The Feminine Mystique" (1963) by Betty Friedan, as well as the establishment, in 1966, of the "National Organization of Women".

Feminism it doesn't have a definition, firstly because the word doesn't exist, and secondly because the explanation I'm about to give is actually how many people interpret feminism. This coined word refers to a social movement that supports a hatred of men, claims that women are superior, that they don't need men, and that life would be better without them. Although I cannot give you exact data related to this theme, this extremism can be seen more and more prominently over the last few years.

This article wants to show part of what a feminist thinks, how we don't think we are superior, we don't think men have it better, we don't hate men and we don't think life would be better without them. For those men who think that women adopt feminism without meaning, and for those women who have taken feminism to an extreme, I propose a make-believe game. My goal is to create an image for you without women or without men, to realize the need for the presence of feminism, equality, and the need for both sexes.

So what would a world without men or women really mean?

Male readers, imagine waking up one morning and women no longer exist. Instead of thinking that you're going to sit around all day playing video games or drinking beers with the boys (a cliché example that shouldn't be taken too seriously), imagine the day as normal. You have to take your child to kindergarten, I think today would be a free day, considering that more than 80% of the positions of educator, teacher or teacher are occupied by women. You will say, "I don't have children.", ok. You want to go to the bank, take out some money to go shopping, but the ATM is not working, so you go in to see what happened, but the bank is empty, 85% of the people working at the bank are women. You finally decide to go shopping anyway, but find that the store is almost empty, 90% of the salespeople are women. Before you go home, you go to a cafe, but like the shop, the cafe is understaffed, considering that over 80% of the waiters or baristas are women. A few hours later, you remember your psychologist appointment, but before you leave home, maybe you should check your appointment, because more than 67% in the field of psychology are occupied by women, also the possibility that no one will answer your phone is high, considering that over 90% of assistants or secretaries are women.

Female readers, imagine waking up one morning and the men are gone, instead of thinking you're going to sit around all day getting your nails done and talking to girls with a glass of wine in hand (a cliché example that shouldn't be taken too seriously), imagine the day going as normal. You get in your car to go to the office and turn on the radio, but surprise, almost no station is working, considering that over 80% of the radio operators are men. All of a sudden, the car makes a strange sound and stops running, so you call the auto shop, but no one answers, because over 80% of the mechanics are men. You will say "I don't have a car.", ok. You decide to take a taxi to go to the store to do some shopping, the problem is that over 85% of the taxi drivers are men. When you finally get to the store, you find that it has been ransacked due to the guard's absence, with more than 80% of this job being held by men. After shopping, you go to meet a friend at a restaurant, but unfortunately it's closed, because over 75% of the chefs are men. On the way home you notice that a building across the street that is supposed to be under construction looks abandoned, because over 90% of the builders are men.

The reality of the matter is that we obviously need women as much as we need men, and that need is the reason feminism exists. Being labeled "crazy" for believing in equality is something that needs to stop, as does the notion that women are superior. We are not "crazy feminists", but people who believe in the possibility of change and equality.

Resources

Chart: The percentage of women and men in each profession

Encyclopaedic Dictionary Britannica