Feminism is a tool for women’s empowerment

Jordan Coll/Staff Writer

If we branch out and consider all the social issues that exist today, I feel feminism would be at the upmost top of this fight for social justice.

Feminism takes a strong stance on liberating women from the patriarchal influence of men in various mediums of everyday life.

This means redefining what the so called “gender lens” has placed on handling hot topics in regards to social justice groups.

Equal rights, pay, gender status are all branches stranding from the same tree “revolution,” leading a purposeful cause.

When I think of feminism, I think of a group of women who wish to break the common thread men have in positions of higher influence.

Numbers don’t lie when they suggest women earn an average of 89 cents for every dollar a man in the same age group makes, according to Pew Research Center.

Our system is clearly broken. One voice is as equally important as the other and the willingness to hear people out is essential as well.

We cannot just cross out anyone’s opinion on the basis of gender or occupation in the workplace.

Movements have a cost to them in that they emphasize what needs to be spoken out loud and publicly acclaimed.

But ever since the start late 19th century what could be characterized as the beginning of the “first wave of feminism” aimed for the political equality of women.

Marches and changes in legislation were basically the only way to actually reshape the views governments had in viewing the potential of women themselves.

Even so, the right for women to vote was not even a power naturally given to them but it was well sought out in congress, allowing the 19th amendment to let women vote.

It seems to me women have had a harder time in the very scenes of historical timelines in getting the same opportunities men have.

Is feminism just about equality or is it so much more?

Finn Mackay, a feminist who had spoken for TEDx Covent Garden Women Conference suggested that feminists have always “struggled with unequal men,” letting the audience know women have come a long way in terms of having a settling voice in society.

The third wave of feminism, as some scholars would like to acknowledge the current time we are living in, makes women more susceptible to opening up to sexual harassment cases.

Take Anita Hill’s case for example, a snowball to an ever-growing avalanche of sexual harassment complaints all because of one person who decided to shed some light on the manner.

Also, in this movement woman had taken a greater step to take 24 seats in congress, a move which was thought of as highly unlikely in the eyes of men.

The change was so intimate that the very idea of saying the word “girl” became a topic to juggle with and fiercely adapted to “grrrl” a common practice on college campuses.

This was said to empower more women who sought to sink more teeth on the issue itself.

As you could see from the way we find meaning in words to the occupations we have offered them today, women are no longer staying quiet.

A culminating voice has come together in the act of merely changing a system which is far from perfect.

In my eyes, cultivating safety and voicing your opinions out is a way of improving our day to day way of living.

It’s easy to say one gender is better than the other or men are just ineptly gifted to doing things better than women are.

The fact of the matter is that women as much as men should be given an equal opportunity in anything they desire to pursue in their lives.

What I see nowadays on the news is so many women who have come forward with all these allegations but at the end of the day it has proven nothing.

Our system is much more broken down than we could have possibly imagined, and if this is the way that things are, a call for change is desperately needed.

But feminism goes beyond equality, in my opinion it wraps itself around every social justice movement we have today such as environment, anti-racism, LGBTQA and so much more, feminism is a mighty stance of living.

This is what women are accomplishing one step at a time.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of Panther Press Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash

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