WTF Are You Talking About?

From day one, I’ve asked that as you enter this space, my space, OUR space, you keep an open mind, and with the introduction of this new segment, that is going to be especially important. I have never been the type of person that wanted to push my opinions onto others in hopes that it would make them change their way of thinking to align with my own. In fact, I’ve always thought that sharing differences in opinions makes things interesting and worthwhile. However, with that being said, I find it naive when people choose to form options on a matter without educating themselves about it first, and I wanted to do something about that.

Welcome to WTF- We Talk Feminism, a new segment here on thebeewrd where I hope to spread awareness and education on a subject matter that I find especially important and misunderstood, you guessed it, feminism. As an introduction to this topic, I’d like to discuss what it means, by definition, to be a feminist, as well as what it means to me to identify as such.

According to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, the simple definition of stick shift means, “a device in a car that you move into different positions in order to change the car's gears,” and the full definition is, “a manually operated gearshift for a motor vehicle usually mounted on the floor.” I’m sure most of you, if not all of you, can agree with those definitions, and that the Merriam Webster dictionary is a reliable source for obtaining this sort of information. Now, what if I were to say that according to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, the simple definition of feminism means, “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities,” and the full definition is, “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” because in fact, those are the exact definitions given.

So now that we have confirmed that “feminism” literally means equality, can you see why I’m so confused and saddened by the negative stigma around it? However, I’m not so oblivious that I am unaware of why we, as feminists, have such a bad reputation, but I’m also not okay with it. This man hating, havoc wreaking, angry, protesting, and cut throat character has not formulated without warrant, but was the direct result of the radicals and a lack of education. It’s an instance of letting one “bad apple” spoil the whole bunch, and I think it’s time that changes.

The truth of the matter is that all groups have their radicals. Democrats, Republicans, Jews, Christians, even vegetarians, have all had individuals who have taken it too far, but is it fair to let the purpose and the message of an entire group get lost and put to shame because of the few who over did it? I don’t think this is a valuable way of thinking or living.

To me, being a feminist means that I support the social, political and economical equality of the sexes. I believe that anything a man can do, a woman can do as well, and anything that a woman can do, so can a man. At the end of the day, I believe in equality for all, and the word I associate with that is feminism.

I’ve heard it time and time again, “if it’s about equality for all, then why isn’t it called equalitarianism instead of feminism?” and to that, I have a response. If we are comfortable living in a world where the entire human race can be referred to as “mankind,” but are not comfortable with the word for equality beginning with the letters F-E-M, it proves exactly why feminism needs to exist, because we are not seen as equals, because the letters M-A-N can refer to all, but F-E-M cannot, and that’s exactly why I have them tattooed on my right wrist (tattoo number two revealed!).

I am passionate about men, women, and everyone in between being paid as equals, valued as equals, believed in as equals, and SEEN as equals. We have made so much progress in doing so, but still have a long way to go, and I’m hoping that I can use my passion and voice to be an advocate in continuing this progress. Who’s with me?

XOXO,

Lexie
BB