Women’s rights, men’s rights, who’s right? Recently, someone started a Tumblr blog and it’s a lovely place where men and women can write in and explain why they think that feminism isn’t needed. The reasons are flowing into the blog like water over the bowl of a clogged toilet, and have included rather stellar entries such as:
“I don’t need feminism because not all men are disgusting, and because sometimes women are.”
“I don’t need feminism because men and women are different.”
“I don’t need feminism because it’s a bunch of crap.”
“I don’t need feminism because I love a man.”
“I don’t need feminism because I can vote, own property, own a business, get a divorce, etc.”
As you can see, the arguments against feminism are quite compelling. In fact, they’re almost as compelling as, “We don’t need desegregation laws because not all white people are racist” or “We don’t need hate crime laws because I love a gay man.” And where’s the irony award for the woman who thinks she doesn’t need feminism because she can vote and own property?
I’m not sure where these people get their idea of what feminism is, but there seems to be a discrepancy or two between what it actually is and what these people think it is. Simply put, feminism is the belief that women should be equal to men. That includes having the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities that men have. Yes, there are women that want to be superior to men. I don’t define them as feminists, though. I define them as something that can’t be published no matter how many asterisks I use in place of the letters. Wait a minute, how about this? The women who want to be superior to men aren’t feminists. They’re *****, much the same as the women who think all men are pigs.
So, maybe it’s not the idea of feminism that’s the problem, but how some people define that particular word. I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind thinking that a certain group of people should be inferior to another group of people simply for what does or doesn’t dangle between their legs. So, what happens if we put the word feminism on the shelf? I used to think that people who wanted to drop the term feminism and change it to egalitarian were weenies that were caving into a few loons who didn’t know what feminism was. But, now that I see how populated the loon community is, I’ve decided that the feminists need to step aside and let the egalitarians take over. It’s a good term and covers more than just equality between men and women. All of the feminists that I know, men and women included, not only think men and women should have the same rights, they also think they should have those rights no matter what their sexual orientation or color of their skin is. In other words, total equality for all.
So, let it be known that I, Rachel Birdsell, being of somewhat sound mind, do on this 14th day of August in the year 2014, do hereby declare that I am no longer a feminist, but instead, am now an egalitarian. So mote it be, amen and yea verily, baby!
Rachel Birdsell is a freelance writer and artist. You can reach her at rabirdsell@gmail.com
The Day I Renounced Feminism
Rachel Birdsell
Women’s rights, men’s rights, who’s right? Recently, someone started a Tumblr blog and it’s a lovely place where men and women can write in and explain why they think that feminism isn’t needed. The reasons are flowing into the blog like water over the bowl of a clogged toilet, and have included rather stellar entries such as:
“I don’t need feminism because not all men are disgusting, and because sometimes women are.”
“I don’t need feminism because men and women are different.”
“I don’t need feminism because it’s a bunch of crap.”
“I don’t need feminism because I love a man.”
“I don’t need feminism because I can vote, own property, own a business, get a divorce, etc.”
As you can see, the arguments against feminism are quite compelling. In fact, they’re almost as compelling as, “We don’t need desegregation laws because not all white people are racist” or “We don’t need hate crime laws because I love a gay man.” And where’s the irony award for the woman who thinks she doesn’t need feminism because she can vote and own property?
I’m not sure where these people get their idea of what feminism is, but there seems to be a discrepancy or two between what it actually is and what these people think it is. Simply put, feminism is the belief that women should be equal to men. That includes having the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities that men have. Yes, there are women that want to be superior to men. I don’t define them as feminists, though. I define them as something that can’t be published no matter how many asterisks I use in place of the letters. Wait a minute, how about this? The women who want to be superior to men aren’t feminists. They’re *****, much the same as the women who think all men are pigs.
So, maybe it’s not the idea of feminism that’s the problem, but how some people define that particular word. I can’t imagine anyone in their right mind thinking that a certain group of people should be inferior to another group of people simply for what does or doesn’t dangle between their legs. So, what happens if we put the word feminism on the shelf? I used to think that people who wanted to drop the term feminism and change it to egalitarian were weenies that were caving into a few loons who didn’t know what feminism was. But, now that I see how populated the loon community is, I’ve decided that the feminists need to step aside and let the egalitarians take over. It’s a good term and covers more than just equality between men and women. All of the feminists that I know, men and women included, not only think men and women should have the same rights, they also think they should have those rights no matter what their sexual orientation or color of their skin is. In other words, total equality for all.
So, let it be known that I, Rachel Birdsell, being of somewhat sound mind, do on this 14th day of August in the year 2014, do hereby declare that I am no longer a feminist, but instead, am now an egalitarian. So mote it be, amen and yea verily, baby!
Rachel Birdsell is a freelance writer and artist. You can reach her at rabirdsell@gmail.com