// HUMANS //

// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc //

"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch." - Bette Davis 

(I refuse to do my assignments yet I actively decide to write an article???? ok Annie ok)

GO.

One phrase that is often misunderstood is Feminism. Several people often think that it suggests man-hating, marriage opposing, bra burning notions. BUT NO. It simply means EQUAL rights - In which both men and women are treated with the SAME amount of respect and given the SAME amount of privileges. 
Being a feminist is NOT the same as being a misandrist. Yes there are feminists who stand for misandry BUT feminism in its purest form is supporting the rights and equality of women.

SO I FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT AS TO WHY ANYBODY WOULD IDENTIFY AS ANTI-FEMINIST BECAUSE WHY WOULD YOU NOT SUPPORT EQUALITY?

I think what's important to understand is that being a feminist doesn't mean you blame the entire male population for hundreds of years of oppressive behaviour. Unfortunately, more than half the population are still left slightly in the dark and don't fully understand the extent of this phrase. This is blatant in which comments along the lines of 'I'm not a feminist because I don't hate men' constantly make an appearance within society.  

EXAMPLE
I'm definitely not hating on Shailene (she's honestly one of my girl crushes #wcw) but I saw an article based on one of her interviews which reinforces the fact that feminism is an often misinterpreted notion. 

Upon being asked "Do you consider yourself a feminist?" Woodley replies "No, because I love men, and I think the idea of 'raise women to power, take the men away from power' is never going to work out because you need balance...And also I think that if men went down and women rose to power, that wouldn't work either. We have to have a fine balance. My biggest thing is really sisterhood more than feminism. I don't know how we as women expect men to respect us because we don't seem to respect each other." 

Now I understand where she's coming from, I really do. However, I also believe that she hasn't grasped the concept of what it is to be a feminist. WE NEED IT because despite what some people would like to think, the world is not utopia and there is A LOT of sexism, racism and segregation. 
Feminism is a movement attempting to fight an uphill battle against traditional ideals in society where men and women are NOT treated equally. It's not about raising one gender to power. It's about EQUALITY. Something that society is most definitely lacking right now. 

Why do we need feminism? 
because
...a man should not feel emasculated by being a nurse.
because
...people still ask what the victim was wearing..'
because
... worldwide, more girls have been killed in the past 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the 20th century. 
because
...Over 135 million girls and women have undergone genital mutilation and 2 million more girls are at risk each year.
because
...between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across the international borders each year. 80% of those trafficked are women and girls, mostly for sexual exploitation.

These are only a few examples that lay within a jungle of endless evidence.

Of course, there are several other areas in which gender inequality is clearly evident. There are a lot of cliche comparisons I could make...but I'm not going to do that because I feel as though everyone SHOULD already know. But I do want to point out something that not as many people may have noticed. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY (??). In many cases, within the music industry, women are most definitely not as recognised or respected as men. 

EXAMPLE 
I've noticed (!!!) that young groups of average looking teenage boys who are able to hold a note in tune receive A LOT more recognition and attention in comparison to a group of girls with the EXACT same ability. On youtube and almost every other social media platform, there's constant backlash against female artists that dress in slightly more revealing clothing. I've also noticed that male artists can dress in just as revealing outfits and they'll be praised and idolised rather than slut-shamed. 

WHICH IS STUPID BECAUSE WE'RE ALL HUMANS AND SHOULD BE TREATED WITH EQUAL AMOUNT OF RESPECT AND BE ABLE TO EXPRESS OURSELVES HOWEVER WE WANT TO. WE CAN WEAR WHATEVER WE WANT. THERE SHOULDN'T BE A TYPE OF 'WAY' A WOMAN CAN OR CANNOT DRESS. 

HATERS GON' HATE

As a person of the 21st century (Imagine me speaking in a documentary voice), I read a lot on twitter. One of my favourite twitter accounts is @NoToFeminism, a satirical account that points out the problems within this misogynist society by tweeting the exact opposite. 

Here's a few fun examples:

Whilst we're on the twitter subject...
All you twitter-ers (is there even a word for people on twitter?) may have noticed that a while back #feministsareugly was trending worldwide. 

AT FIRST I WAS LITERALLY LIKE: 

However, after delving a little deeper I came to find that this hashtag was first posted by 2 self-identified feminists (Lily Boulourian and Christine Yang). The hashtag lead to women posting cute selfies all over the internet, trying to fight against the pre-conceived notion of feminists being ugly. The original hashtag was made to counteract those 'absolutely silly and completely unattainable' standards, under which 'every single woman is (considered) ugly, especially if you're a woman of colour'. Lily Boulourian stated "I wanted to find a way to change the narrative on that and thought I could help inspire others to reclaim that narrative and define for ourselves what 'beautiful' or 'ugly' means."I'm not sure whether or not this trend was successful...the message was misinterpreted by many and created a lot of controversy. At the end of the day I think the most important message is to not let physical appearance dictate aspects of your life and that women do not need to conform to anybody else's idea of being BEAUTIFUL. They are allowed to BE whoever and DRESS however they want to and still feel beautiful. 

PS JUST TO CLARIFY: I don't hate men. It's just the double standards associated with women and men that I find to be ridiculous. It honestly NEEDS to stop. 
The most difficult thing about this is that we can blame it on society as much as we want but...WE ARE SOCIETY. 
I know a blog post will not change the world. But hopefully with the feminist movement we can plant more powerful conceptions based on equality within our communities. Who knows? In time, this notion could bud into something bigger and perhaps society will finally become a firm believer in Egalitarianism. (soz I just felt like using a big word)

THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY FOR NOW. IF ANYONE IS HATING ON THIS POST THEN HERE'S TO YOU XOXO

Lana knows best

peace owt
xo