This has been appearing far too many times on my newsfeed for me to ignore. As I'm typing this, it has already received considerable attention, including 10,000+ likes and 270 shares. Most of these approvals have come from women and I'm shocked. I'm aware that I'm one too, but I've got to take an opposing stand this time. But this is probably one of the most obvious explanations on why feminism is being treated like a dirty word.
Gender equality - a very elusive and impossible utopian ideal that has never been further away from us. Feminism has now been encrusted with the element of vindictiveness, vengeance, and competitiveness to tip the balance over to the other side. In other words, being sexist towards the male population while bearing a sense of entitlement to do so. Histories of female oppression had happened, and is still occurring through a lot of different domains - tangible, intangible, subconscious, blatant, pervasive, occasional - of society. We get it already. But such behaviour, as demonstrated above, will not get us anywhere nearer fighting for women's rights and opportunities. It vilifies the voices of feminists who are calling for the rewriting of policies and also ultimately pushes us further from gender inequality.
Male oppression is very real and no less important than female oppression, and possibly much more severe in its heavy-handedness upon them. Men are made voiceless by masculinity expectations. It's almost as if they don't deserve any airtime when it comes to the gender equality debate because they have been the dominant, the aggressors, the provider, the decision-makers... the privileged. But did anyone asked if they wanted to be? They were just shoved into that frame of expectations. Just like women. Mutual respect, support for same and opposite genders and emancipating our behaviour from gender stereotypes would be the first important step. But that's easier said than done given our anarchic state of mess when it comes to gender (in)equality debates.
If you haven't: Emma Watson made an excellent UN speech for #HeforShe campaign, and it will be a worthy 13 minutes.
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