I'm Not a Feminist, But...

I woke up in a feisty mood this morning and decided to write about a topic that really grinds my gears. Recently, I’ve had a few conversations with people (men and women included) where they say, “I’m not a feminist, but…” and proceed to finish that sentence with some lame ass bullshit that pretty much equates to “I’m an ignorant person.”

Let me break it down for you -- you either believe in equality for men and women or you don’t. Simple as that. Here’s a flowchart to help illustrate this concept for those who are visual learners:

via The Huffington Post

Perhaps these people think the issues of sexism and inequality aren’t relevant topics anymore because they aren’t necessarily “in your face” for the typical young adult who is born and raised in an idealistic bubble. “It’s not something I’ve ever had to deal with personally, so I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal,” they say, minimizing the plight of women across the world with their apathy in one fell swoop.

You don’t think that a woman’s right to safety, education, fair earning potential, voting, freedom of mobility, and medical entitlement to her own body is a big deal? 

Are you afraid to be labelled as weak, radical, or anti-men? Afraid to ruffle a few feathers by acknowledging that a group of humans in today’s society, a group that includes your mom, sister, and grandmother, has been disenfranchised for thousands of years and is still discriminated against to this day? Yes, improvements have been made in most countries, particularly in Western cultures, but the playing field between men and women is most certainly not yet equal.

Go ahead and call me a bitch for standing up for my gender. But the next time you get in a car and drive somewhere without a chaperone, or take one of your birth control pills, or agree with a harsh sentence that is handed down to a rapist in court, I encourage you to think about women across the world who are denied the opportunities and security for which we don’t even give a second thought.

The next time you choose to denounce being a feminist I hope you take a second to realize what you’re really saying and the message you’re sending about your beliefs.

Linking up with This Flooded Sky and She is Fierce.

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