As always I have to make the point that these opinions are my own and if you've been reading my blog for a while you should know that my views are not here to contradict anyone else's but merely to give an alternative perception.
Now on to the juicy stuff: Feminism
Of course there will be many more reasons why Feminism is needed but to spare you all from a post which would go on for days, I've cut it down a little bit:
1. Equality
Feminism is not trying to make women seem better than men nor is it the practice of hating men. Feminism is the belief that both women and men are human beings and should be treated equally so, just as we want equality amongst races or equality for people who are gay, equality amongst genders is essential because both gender parties are necessary to each other.
2. Banning Gender stereotypes
I have a theory that we have certain gender stereotypes because by putting people into categories we are mislead into believing that we understand them more and humans typically don't like what they don't understand. Seeing a female who is interested in both mechanics and knitting can be seen as intimidating but this is only because it doesn't stick to the typical conventional gender stereotypes.
It is ridiculous to think that just because I have a vagina that I am immediately going to like the colour pink, because frankly I do not. Would you tell someone that they have to eat pasta if they are a girl, even if they don't actually like pasta? No, of course not because we can appreciate that everyone has individual tastes and preferences and the same goes for an individuals interest. A man can like the colour pink just as easily as a woman can like playing video games and restricting what people are able to like is therefore restricting peoples happiness.
3. Because men like to be well groomed too
There has been some controversy around a Veet advert which didn't allow a woman to get into a taxi because her legs weren't shaved. We seem to forget that we are living in a society where it is normal for both men and woman to shave and maintain a well-groomed appearance. Likewise if a woman doesn't want to shave her legs does that make her any less of a woman? No of course not. The ONLY thing that makes a woman a woman is her genetic makeup, not how much makeup she wears, not how she styles her hair, not how she dresses. If you have a vagina, congratulations you are about as female as you are going to be and telling someone that they are not a female if they don't shave, or likewise telling a man that he is acting like a girl because he wants to be well-groomed is sheer madness.
4. Because my body shouldn't be an object.
I have a body, congratulations, so do you. In fact here is a crazy fact, every single human being has a body! Which makes me question why showing some of my legs, despite the fact that I would say almost all of the human population has legs, somehow makes me a slut?
If one day I decide to wear a dress which shows a bit of skin that is not a justification into being able to cat call me, that is not a justification for you to come up to me and make a sexual advance at me and that is most certainly not a justification for you to call me a slut. I do not dress to impress males, I dress to impress myself and you know what, I am impressed.
5. Because excusing your sexually inappropriate behaviour because you are a 'man' is sick.
I recently had an interesting conversation about girls uploading pictures of themselves naked on to the internet and how by doing so a woman is degrading herself. To this I just laughed. A persons body is the only thing that they can rightfully call their own and if ANYONE wants to upload a picture of them self then they can. I believe it is not the act of uploading a naked picture which makes it degrading but the fact that we know that if a girl uploads a picture of her tits, there will be a male out there who will masturbate over it. It isn't the act of uploading a picture which is gross, it is the fact that we all are aware that it will now be turned into some sexual content for men to leer at. In this argument, my peer argued that 'of course men will masturbate over it, they are a man' again I just laughed. If a man honestly can't control himself from wanking over a picture we have a bigger problem. Now I am not saying that a man, or woman are not allowed to be sexually aroused by someone else's naked body because it is in our genetics to be sexually aroused, I am just saying that when I see an attractive male I don't start touching myself and then think "Sheesh this guy just made me touch myself because I am aroused, how degrading is he?" I simply think, wow he is good looking and then go about my day hands free my down under regions.
6. Because rape culture is scary and increasing.
Now on to the juicy stuff: Feminism
Of course there will be many more reasons why Feminism is needed but to spare you all from a post which would go on for days, I've cut it down a little bit:
1. Equality
Feminism is not trying to make women seem better than men nor is it the practice of hating men. Feminism is the belief that both women and men are human beings and should be treated equally so, just as we want equality amongst races or equality for people who are gay, equality amongst genders is essential because both gender parties are necessary to each other.
2. Banning Gender stereotypes
I have a theory that we have certain gender stereotypes because by putting people into categories we are mislead into believing that we understand them more and humans typically don't like what they don't understand. Seeing a female who is interested in both mechanics and knitting can be seen as intimidating but this is only because it doesn't stick to the typical conventional gender stereotypes.
It is ridiculous to think that just because I have a vagina that I am immediately going to like the colour pink, because frankly I do not. Would you tell someone that they have to eat pasta if they are a girl, even if they don't actually like pasta? No, of course not because we can appreciate that everyone has individual tastes and preferences and the same goes for an individuals interest. A man can like the colour pink just as easily as a woman can like playing video games and restricting what people are able to like is therefore restricting peoples happiness.
3. Because men like to be well groomed too
There has been some controversy around a Veet advert which didn't allow a woman to get into a taxi because her legs weren't shaved. We seem to forget that we are living in a society where it is normal for both men and woman to shave and maintain a well-groomed appearance. Likewise if a woman doesn't want to shave her legs does that make her any less of a woman? No of course not. The ONLY thing that makes a woman a woman is her genetic makeup, not how much makeup she wears, not how she styles her hair, not how she dresses. If you have a vagina, congratulations you are about as female as you are going to be and telling someone that they are not a female if they don't shave, or likewise telling a man that he is acting like a girl because he wants to be well-groomed is sheer madness.
4. Because my body shouldn't be an object.
I have a body, congratulations, so do you. In fact here is a crazy fact, every single human being has a body! Which makes me question why showing some of my legs, despite the fact that I would say almost all of the human population has legs, somehow makes me a slut?
If one day I decide to wear a dress which shows a bit of skin that is not a justification into being able to cat call me, that is not a justification for you to come up to me and make a sexual advance at me and that is most certainly not a justification for you to call me a slut. I do not dress to impress males, I dress to impress myself and you know what, I am impressed.
5. Because excusing your sexually inappropriate behaviour because you are a 'man' is sick.
I recently had an interesting conversation about girls uploading pictures of themselves naked on to the internet and how by doing so a woman is degrading herself. To this I just laughed. A persons body is the only thing that they can rightfully call their own and if ANYONE wants to upload a picture of them self then they can. I believe it is not the act of uploading a naked picture which makes it degrading but the fact that we know that if a girl uploads a picture of her tits, there will be a male out there who will masturbate over it. It isn't the act of uploading a picture which is gross, it is the fact that we all are aware that it will now be turned into some sexual content for men to leer at. In this argument, my peer argued that 'of course men will masturbate over it, they are a man' again I just laughed. If a man honestly can't control himself from wanking over a picture we have a bigger problem. Now I am not saying that a man, or woman are not allowed to be sexually aroused by someone else's naked body because it is in our genetics to be sexually aroused, I am just saying that when I see an attractive male I don't start touching myself and then think "Sheesh this guy just made me touch myself because I am aroused, how degrading is he?" I simply think, wow he is good looking and then go about my day hands free my down under regions.
6. Because rape culture is scary and increasing.
I saw this image last night and I find it very true and interesting. I have seen many peoples perception on what a sexual relationship is be influenced by the porn industry or even just the media industry. We are teaching our kids that it is perfectly acceptable to tie up someone and dominate them however we are not teaching our kids that although everyone can do what they want in the bedroom, you have to make sure that your partner gives consent to it as well. I have friends who have more kinkier relationships but that is because they are both mutually comfortable with it and have created boundaries for themselves to allow this comfort. What porn on the internet, which is very accessible teaches, is that woman are always up for it, all men have giant willies and that a little bit of spanking is great. 1 out of those 3 points are true and I can assure you it isn't the giant willies one.
I have also seen how the influence of larger male groups can adapt a males behaviour. Not once have I ever been cat called on the street by just a single man, it is always in groups and I feel that it is like men are trying to impress each other. I have seen men who on their own be so lovely and respectful about woman yet when they are with their friends they suddenly turn into sleazy creeps. Come on girls, how many of you have had a boyfriend who when it's just the two of you, it is lovely and sweet but the second they are with another male it is like a fight to be the alpha male. And I just want to let any men reading this know, it is perfectly fine to be respectful of woman when you are both alone and not alone and this sort of behaviour is to be encouraged.
And that my friends is really what feminism is about, being respectful to others because they are a human and treating them as equals because you guessed it, they are a human. So if any of this has made sense to someone then I will be very happy and heck I hope you had a couple of laughs in between the seriousness of it all.
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