Feminism is not a bad word

According to the the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, feminism is:

"1. Belief in the social, political, and economical equality of the sexes.
2. The movement organized around this belief."

urbandictionary.com (a dictionary with "culturally relevant" definitions of words) lists definitions such as:

Feminism: "A federally funded, politically correct, hate group." In fact, this entry compares feminism to Nazism. All entries under it are similar in nature and portray feminists as man- hating, illogical and psychotic females who "demand that we treat men and women as exactly equal unless it suits the woman to differentiate between the sexes."

I think these very different definitions pretty accurately exemplify what our culture has done to the word feminism.

Quick history lesson: The feminist movement originated in the late eighteenth century with women like Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Although there have been feminists (that is, those advocating for women's rights) throughout history, the beginning of feminism as a movement in the United States is normally attributed to the famed Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, during which women congregated to discuss the many disadvantages women faced at the time, both socially and politically.

Over time, feminism has become a word meaning something quite different than "equal rights for women". It has become a word that conjures up images of women leaving their husbands and burning their bras. We as a society have come to think of feminists as women who are extreme liberals, with no other possible political affiliations. Feminists are wild and crazy, and are to be avoided. Growing up, these are the impressions I learned about feminists and feminism. Many churches have become especially adverse to "feminists". I have seen numerous books and even heard speeches on the evils of feminism, which will make you God-hating, man-hating, and family-hating. (Supposedly). I grew up harboring the idea that if I became a feminist, I would be a "flaming liberal", overrunning the streets with protests and burning my bras.

I have a confession: I am a feminist. I am a feminist, and I adhere to none of the above practices.

I am a feminist, a Christian, and pro-life. It may seem that these ideals are contradictory, but to me, they are not. A short defense: As a feminist, I am pro- woman. I believe abortion damages women, both emotionally and physically. Along with being pro-woman, I am pro-life for the approximately 24,775,852 female fetuses that have been aborted in this country. And in other countries, such as India, girls are much more likely to be aborted than boys. In my mind, being pro- life makes me more of a feminist, not less of one. (However, that was a side note. This argument is not about abortion, it is about feminism).

Some may believe women's rights are no longer an issue. After all, women don't have to wear corsets. Women have the right to vote and to receive an education. Their husbands can no longer beat, rape, and kill them legally (some of which activities were still legal until 1972).

However: 70 percent of those living in absolute poverty are women. 1 in 3 girls will be sexually violated in her lifetime (as opposed to 1 in 10 boys). 67 percent of the world's uneducated are girls. Most victims of human trafficking are girls, a market that generates 9.5 billion in annual revenue.

And no, women are not completely liberated in the United States. Women still make only 78 percent of what men do, on average, for doing the same labor. Women are portrayed condescendingly and even brutally in our media and in the pornography industry. Women are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace then men, and women are almost always the victim in cases of domestic violence.

Not just as a woman, but as a person, I believe in equality. I am pro- woman, and therefore, despite society's pollution of the word, I am a feminist.


Male or female, you should be too.
Love, Katy





Resources: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language; urbandictionary.com, globalfundforwomen.org, nrlc.org, What Feminism Boils Down To by Molly Ivins