I am a Feminist

Helloo Everyone,

My name is Ali and I'm a feminist! When typing that I felt like I was at one of those meetings when you know they're like "Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves and say why we're here" haha! Anyway back to what I was saying, yes I do in fact class myself as a feminist. A few people have asked me in the past when did I first call myself a feminist and to be honest with you I'm not eternally sure? I know it was only a couple of years ago because I never knew what feminism really was until I started university; I think that's when I started to grow up more and learn things for myself! I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this post but I will say this is not me necessarily telling you should be a feminist.. Don't get me wrong I do wish that more people (both women and men) were, but I also believe it's a decision you have to make yourself but if while reading this post helps you make up your mind then I'm happy!

From speaking to various people I've come to realise there are some stereotypes about feminists that are just plain misleading. Here are just a few that I want to clear up now!

Feminists Hate Men

No, just no.. *face palm* There are some they may dislike some men however just like not all men are the same, not all feminists are the same. If they do that has nothing to do with being a feminist, that's their own personal opinion!

Feminists Can Only Be Women

THIS COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG! I will admit that it does seem that the majority of feminists are women but that doesn't mean that's the way it was intended. The percentage of men and women in the world is close to half each so why would we only want 50% of the population to be feminists?! Let me give you an example: say you've made a decision to do something and you tell your family and friends because you're happy about it, you're going to want all of them to agree with what you're doing right? You're not going to be want only half of them to be on board with you?! Sorry I know that's a naff example but you get where I'm going with this haha!

Feminists Don't Like Women To Be Feminine

I think this one has being taken the wrong way.. the way I've taken it is that it means women shouldn't feel like they have to be feminine just because you're a girl/women not that they shouldn't be feminine. If you don't like wearing skirts, don't wear them! If you don't like shaving, don't shave! If you're more interested in starting an career than getting married and having kids or visa versa, both are just as good! Do what you want to do, not what others accept you to do.

Feminists Don't Want Equality

This just blew my mind when I first heard this because the whole point of feminism is to ensure women and men have the same rights as each other, no more and no less, so I don't really have much to say about that.. apart from it's wrong (sorry but it is)!

I'm not going to lie to you as I'm writing this is be completely honest with you, there will be some feminists that yeah maybe fit into one or two of the above stereotypes and that's okay; it doesn't mean that all feminists are like that and it doesn't mean you have to be like that! Even to the ones that are I don't see them as 'bad' feminists, they're still standing up for what they believe in all in their own way and that's great in my book! What I'm trying to say is you don't have to fit in this so called box to be a feminist; whatever your gender, education, occupation, marital status, whether you have kids or not and the list goes on.. ANYONE CAN BE A FEMINIST!

Short and simple definition of a feminist: "Someone publicly supporting that women should have the same social, political, legal, and economic rights to those of men."

The main problem that feminism has is education; people aren't being educated properly on what feminism stands for.. we need to raise more awareness not just about feminism itself but what is actually means and how it can help everyone! You might have noticed that feminism is also known as 'The F Word' like it's a dirty word? I know that isn't always the case but we should feel proud of how far feminism has come even now and we need to come to a point where we feel comfortable saying we're feminists without worrying what remarks we might get otherwise how do we expect others to follow? Not to say everyone isn't entitled to their own opinion, that goes without saying, still that needs to be the same for a feminist as well! That's fair right?

I've done it, I've finally written my first post on feminism!!! After this I'm hoping to start incorporating feminism into my blog to help raise more awareness, I know it's only a small thing but I guess every little helps spreading the word! What do you think? I'm really glad I wrote this post so I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much and I'll see you next time :)