Feminism--and Why (Some) Women Hate It

Feminism seems like such a dirty word sometimes. Not because of what it means, but because of the connotations which people assign to it. When I tell people I am a feminist, reactions range from the offensive ("but you don't look butch/lesbian/radical/crazy/etc") (not that there is anything wrong with any of these things) to the quizzical ("why would you want to be a feminist? Feminism is just women wanting to be better than men."). Society, although often divided on many topics, seems to agree that feminists must look, speak, and act a certain way, because we all have to just be stereotypical angry women, right? Feminists aren't a certain group. Feminists can be men or women, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, or asexual, transgendered or cisgendered, queer, of any age, race, or social class. Feminism is not a movement restricted to those who are classed as "the typical feminist," however that is seen. Feminism is simple: feminism is equality. It is simply equality. Equal treatment, equal opportunity, and equal respect for those who are female or those who exhibit behaviours classified as "feminine." Feminism is not the quest for the domination of the male, it is the quest for the end of what can be equated to sex- or gender-based subjugation. It is the quest to be considered equal. 

The other day, my friend brought up the fact that she doesn't understand why the term "feminism" is even in existence. At first I was very confused, but when she clarified her meaning, I realized how insightful of a point she was making. She explained that she noticed that racist is a word, but there is no word for an anti-racist, because racism is most definitely not in vogue. However, because sexism and male privilege are so ingrained in our society, this case sees those fighting for equality being the ones marginalized with a label. When she said that, it harmonized with how I feel in a way I had not expected. Her words were in accord with ideas I did not realize existed within me, and I am pleased that she put words to these thoughts. 

Now that I've put words to what I believe the core of feminism is, I'd like to make the point I am really trying to get across with this. Why do many women seem to hate feminists? When men develop a bad taste for feminism, it is more understandable. It is not often that they truly have malice towards women in their hearts; instead, the disconnect comes from the society we live in. Because most of human history has played itself out in male-dominated societies and because male privilege is prevalent in our society, when women fight for equality, it can seem to men that instead, we are trying to subjugate them. Although equality is the only thing being striven for, because men do not often notice the disconnect and inequality in our society--at least in my experience, many males believe our society is already completely equal--it can seem as if we are trying to take their rights away. While I in no way defend them, I do not think they provide a singular obstacle to overcome, but rather one of many. I look towards the anti-feminism women as another enormous issue. A faction of anti-feminist women shares the view that feminists "want to be above men" and that feminists "make up all their statistics" and that all feminists "want to kill men." These women are not only opposed to the feminist movement, but those people who comprise it. It seems unfair that a movement made up of so many people has been relegated to the status of being a single entity with a single mind, when, in truth, it is comprised of people from the entire spectrum of human life that simply have a shared goal. However, although these people seem to garner their information from perhaps a small faction of the views and information put forth by feminists and broadcast this information as if it was the view of all feminists, they are not the most harmful of the anti-feminist women I have encountered. The most harmful are the ones in everyday life who look down upon you because you proclaim your desire for gender equality. They do not outwardly argue with you in most cases, but undermine you. An argument can be dealt with--facts can be presented and discussed, and an agreement may not be reached, but at least everything is out in the open. When each action that is being made is undermined, it is much more difficult to confront. The big question here is, why? Why would someone willingly go against people who are actively trying to expand upon their rights? The answer must lie in society. To figure this out, we must remember that feminism is an unpopular opinion because it goes against the patriarchal structure of our society. Anything that is in conflict with the norm will seem uncomfortable to those who do not familiarize themselves to it--this is human nature. Also, I have heard from many that they agree with my viewpoints, but will not outwardly display agreement because they have a deep-seated fear that if they seem like a "crazy feminist," men will not love them. Others will merely find the stereotypical feminist annoying and generalize the entire group from that point onwards. Some believe that because of their religion, feminism is invalid. For one reason or another, the majority of women (in my generation, at the very least) are rejecting those who are attempting to reach out and attain rights and acceptable treatment for everyone.

I believe the way to combat this is to change the perception of feminism in society. False notions about what it is should be confronted head-on, so that proper education about the quest for gender equality that is feminism may occur. There can be no more misinformation if perception is to be changed--and that is what must happen. I would encourage all people to educate themselves on this and other important issues. Unsure of somebody's statistics? Look it up. Don't know if what you are about to say is the truth? Don't say it. Misinformation, whether about this or any other issue, is a plague that will spread quickly. But on this issue, people must know: feminism is not a quest for dominance. Feminism is a quest for equality. I cannot stress that enough. 

picture from a deactivated tumblr blogger--not my own

(Post-note: These are all my opinions. I do not claim to speak for anyone else and I do not claim to be absolutely correct in all that I say. Although it may seem that I am accepting a gender binary in my language here, it would be much more complicated to talk about the issue without using terms that most people are familiar with, so I have written in the most simplistic way possible. I don't really expect anyone at all to read this far, but if you have, I hope my viewpoint may have incited some thought processes within your mind.)

On Fire for Freedom

I'm sure everyone has seen a "Free Tibet" sign or banner at some time. But does anyone really care? It's so far away, we say... is Tibet really in trouble? The answer is simple and to the point. Tibet is in deep trouble. Their rights and freedoms have been taken away by the communist Chinese governments, and it has led to a terrible toll. The Tibetan people are being oppressed, and they have gone very far to let the world know how they feel. There has been a rash of self-immolating activists for freedom in Tibet recently. Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire, for those who are unaware. On January 13th, the first self-immolation of 2013 was committed by a 22 year old Tibetan man named Tsebey. This man was part of the Tibetan Youth Congress, commonly known as the TYC. The TYC are dissenters of Chinese control and suppression of Tibet, and many of the self-immolations have been by members of the TYC. 
Many of the reasons for the protests in Tibet stem from religious suppression. From the 1980's to 2008, Tibetans would celebrate the Dalai Lama in temples on Wednesdays, but in late 2008, China cracked down on them for this "forbidden" religious act, and since then, a movement known as Lhakar has risen up. "Lhakar" translates to "White Wednesday", in accordance with the day they would go to their temples. This grassroots organization is less extreme than those who promote self-immolations, and perhaps that makes them that much more powerful. Lhakar believes in small steps. Instead of radical acts, such as self-immolation, they believe in changing their everyday lives to be in accordance with the values they believe in, rather than the values imposed on them by the Chinese.
Whether one takes the radical option or the option of noncooperation, fighting against oppression is most always commendable. Now I am not condoning these suicides, by any stretch of the imagination, but in my opinion, whenever people are willing to give up their lives for a cause, it is incredibly notable. Those of us living in a free country must take steps to help the oppressed, or we are no better than oppressors ourselves.

Sources: 
Phayul
Hindustan Times

Silent War

Who can name to me the wars going on in the world right now? Ready.. set... name. I'm going to guess the first thing you said was the War on Terror, where we in the States are fighting in Afghanistan. You may have mentioned Libya, Somalia, Egypt, the Arab States, Israel, Palestine, or others, if you read the news. If you're on the internet a lot, you may have mentioned the "War on Kony", which currently seems to be a stalemate. And if you are in the know, you'll mention the Korean War, which, despite popular belief, is still going on; it is one of the only places in the world where the Cold War still exists. But how many of you mentioned the Second Congo War, the "Great War of Africa", the deadliest war in the world? I would hope all of you. Sadly, this is not the case. This war, despite the deaths of over six million Congolese since the war began 14 years ago, is not popularized or often reported by the media. Yesterday morning, however, my respect for actor Ryan Gosling grew immensely as he and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast posted about it on the Huffington Post website (which usually I do not frequent, but had to for this article.)


Their joint-authored article is short but concise, telling their readers to go check out the new "I Am Congo" video on the Raise Hope for Congo website. 


I'm not here to just advertise for them, however. I'd like to tell you my take on the war. It's like the "Kony" thing we heard, except blown up, happening on such a larger scale. This country is wracked with horrors such as rapes, murders, terrors, and basically, pillaging of the entire Democratic Republic of Congo. And nobody reports about it. Nobody. Apparently our current favorite celebrities' outfits on the latest movie premiere's red carpet is more important than the lives of millions of people. Yes, you read right. We read more about celebrity gossip than we do about the deaths of millions of people. Think of the deaths of our superstars. We give them so much more respect than we give to  our servicemen and servicewomen, and we pay so many more times attention to one celebrity life than a million Congolese deaths. If the word ignorant burned it's way to the front of your mind, that's okay, it did to mine too. 


We need to raise awareness about this SILENT WAR going on in the Congo. Nobody is making a "Congo 2012" video. WE are the change we need to see in the world. WE must be the ones to raise awareness, not a 15-minutes-in-the-spotlight video. WE must help the voices of the Congolese be heard. Only we can do it.

Should We Be Making Kony Famous?

Kony 2012. Make Kony Famous. Last week, all our emotions were aroused with a persuasive, pathos-ridden video convincing us to take a war criminal out of the world. Great idea, right?! We should give all our savings to Invisible Children to stop this man with his army of 30,000 innocent children! Well, yes, that would be great, if the things presented in the video were not skewed to confuse us and toy with our emotions. Now, don't get me wrong, I am so glad my generation is finally becoming more aware of the world around us, I just don't think we should be following a movement like lemmings just because we watched a video with inspiring music. I believe we should do our research before we jump headfirst into something. 


First of all, we should be looking into the organization called Invisible Children who put out this video. You can look up charities & see how much money they actually give to their cause, the best are those with a 10% overhead and 90% of their funds go to the cause. With Invisible Children, however, only 30% goes to Uganda. This is partly because they spend a lot on raising awareness & travel to Africa, but a lot also goes to the individuals on the board of Invisible Children. There are better charities for the same (or very similar) cause. Also, we should be looking into the statistics on Kony himself. Yes, Joseph Kony is a horrible, cold-hearted man. He lies to the world, saying he is fighting for a "Christian cause", when, in fact, he is a witch doctor. He kills thousands, also true. But does he have an army of 30,000 innocent children ready to charge and take control of the world? No. That is an estimated total of those children who have been in his army in the last 26 years. It's definitely still horrible, but didn't Invisible Children's video manipulate you to think there were 30,000 in his army right now? They did for me, when I first watched the video. This leads into my tertiary point, which is the manipulation of our emotions by Invisible Children through this video. Truth is, the pathos (emotional pleas) and inspirational music in the video were pointed at our generation because the charity knows how they can manipulate our emotions. Yes, Kony needs to be dealt with. Of course he does. However, Joseph Kony has been in hiding since 2006! The video didn't say anything about this. WE must stop this man, yes, but, for the moment, he has stopped.


My point here is, we should look into things before we allow ourselves to buy into them , At the heart of this movement is a huge gold nugget, despite the truth-twisting in the video. This gold nugget, worth so much to the world, is the new found awareness and good intentions of my generation, which, before this movement, had little to no interest in the problems of the world. Now that a seed of awareness has been planted in their hearts, I have high hopes that my generation will open their eyes to the world around them.

The Internet Can Save The World

The world is messed up, yes. You want to help, yes. But do you have the time or money to do huge advocacy programs or donate a huge amount? If you do, that's great! But most people in the current economy are unable to spare much money, and that's where the internet comes in. Many charitable organizations have websites that can help you with your awareness and advocacy. For example, freerice.com can donate rice meals to people without food with you merely expanding your vocabulary a little. The Action Center of the World Wildlife Fund's website will give you form letters that you can add your information to and you can advocate for things you believe in. These links can help you open your horizons to new things you can do for the world. 

Global Trashing.

I notice that a lot of people talk about global warming this, global warming that. What should be talked about much more than global warming, which is hotly debated, but the issue of what I call "global trashing." Every time a piece of trash is thrown onto the side of the road, it could be ingested by a foraging animal, rain could wash it into our water source and further contaminate our water system, or it could just sit there and make our world look ugly. People say "oh, it's okay, I only litter once in a while", but, surprise, surprise, it is most definitely not okay. Every time you leave a plastic bag around, it makes a roundabout journey, sometimes flying through the air, sometimes floating in a river, into our oceans. Have you heard of the garbage patch? Now, "garbage patch" brings up the mental image of a pseudo-island made of trash. Instead, it is a "gyre", which means it is a place, one in each oceans, where all the currents converge and all the trash gathers in a central location. This resemble a soup, about 3 feet deep, of floating plastic garbage. The largest in width is the Northern Pacific Gyre, which has been described as taking up twice as many square miles as Texas. This is just not okay. I mean think of that, twice as large as Texas, and three feet deep. There is a 6 to 1 ratio of trash to life in these areas. SIX TO ONE. Do you know what that ratio should be? ZERO. There should be no trash in the ocean. This is what is killing our oceans, and we have to stop it. So, stop littering, stop carelessness, and be earth-aware.  

I Am Tiger, Hear Me Roar.

I think everybody knows about the plight of the tiger these days, but if you don't, I'll give you a quick refresher. The tiger is a top-of-the-food-chain animal living in a bottom-of-the-food-chain status.  This once-populous creature, at a couple hundred thousand in the world, now is endangered, with only 3,200 surviving today. I know I have talked about the World Wildlife Fund before, but there's really not enough you can say about it. This wonderful organization is doing all it can to save the tiger, and every other endangered animal there is. With their "Symbolically Adopt" program and their partner website, SaveTigersNow.org, they are fighting the fight to save these beautiful creatures. Support them, and you are supporting the prolonging of the lives of all the tigers everywhere.