It seems feminists have a bit of an image problem. According to a 2013 Washington Times article, only a scant 28 percent of Americans consider themselves feminists. And, as if that were not shocking enough, 23 percent of Americans consider the label “feminist” to be an insult. As a feminist, I find these statistics insulting.
Now, perhaps you are thinking, “How can you be a feminist? Men cannot be feminists.” Indeed, I have heard these words uttered in response to my self-identification as a feminist. The problem is that the majority of people view feminists in a wholly inaccurate way. The term calls to mind radical, men-hating women who engage in violent protest against the patriarchal status quo. The reality is not nearly so colorful.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a feminist as: “An advocate or supporter of the rights and equality of women.” Oh dear heavens! How dare anyone even dream of such a radical idea?! God spare us from these blasphemers! The horror! The horror!
This tirade of outrage is, of course, facetious. Indeed, there is nothing radical in the idea that men and women are equal and should thus be treated. In Virginia Woolf’s famous essay, “A Room of One’s Own,” Woolf clearly delineated the demands of feminists: If women are to stand on the same footing as men, they must have dignity, a living income and a room of their own.
These demands should not sound radical. The majority of Americans, although not self-identifying as feminists, hold feminist beliefs. Nearly all Americans believe, at least to some degree, that women and men are fundamentally equal, and that every measure should be taken to ensure that women are allowed to reach their full potential.
Of course, Western society has made vast strides since Woolf’s time, yet we are far from complete gender equality. Misogyny still makes its frightful visage seen in structural oppression and gender stereotypes.
It is an oft-quoted statistic that women tend to earn around 60 percent of what men earn for equal work. Yet, while dire, this grievance is relatively minor compared to the gender career gap.
The way that girls are raised causes them, subconsciously, to gravitate towards careers with smaller salaries and less prestige. Society subtly holds the expectation that women should be nurturing, caring and compassionate. Women may have a job, but their first and foremost occupation should be maintaining the household and rearing the offspring. Women still feel pressure to maintain the feminine mystique. Because of this expectation, many girls choose to become teachers, nurses, counselors or other service-based occupations. These careers are important, but they have far less prestige than a doctor or a lawyer. And are these really the careers women would choose if they had more opportunity? If not, then why are these predominately “women’s jobs”?
Boys, on the other hand, are socialized to pursue high-profile, prestigious occupations with large salaries. Men are expected to care for their wives and children, and it is unclear whether this is meant to be taken as one category or two. Men become scientists, engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. And this career gap is taken to be proof that women are not good in the STEM fields or in business or law. The disparity between ‘men’s work’ and ‘women’s work’ is not natural. Rather it is the result of social conditioning. John Stuart Mill summed this up quite well: “I consider it presumption in anyone to pretend to decide what women are or are not, can or cannot be, by natural constitution. They have always hitherto been kept, as far as regards spontaneous development, in so unnatural a state, that… no one can safely pronounce that if women’s nature were left to choose its direction as freely as men’s… there would be any material difference, or perhaps any difference at all, in the character and capacities which would unfold themselves.”
A feminist merely believes in equality between the genders. Such equality does not require lowering men to an oppressed position. All we need to do is raise women to the status of men, which can easily be done by changing the societal views of femininity. The media should be showing representations of smart, successful, career women (who may still have families). Maybe then, girls would think they can be more than just a pretty face; maybe they would feel more capable and motivated to engage in “men’s work.” We are making progress in this regard, but there is still a long way to go. We still have expressions such as, “That is a good job for a woman.” Feminists are not looking to crucify men for the crimes of patriarchy. Many feminists are men. Helping women helps all of us.
Almost all Americans are feminists by any reasonable definition of the label. And people often express their feminist beliefs, albeit in a very peculiar way. It is now a common trope for people to say, “I am not a feminist, but [insert feminist idea].” If you are a feminist, be a feminist. There is no need to be ashamed. Indeed, it is the antifeminists who should feel shame. Virginia Woolf expressed the infantile nature of the battle of the sexes quite well when she said, “All this pitting of sex against sex, of quality against quality; all this claiming of superiority and imputing of inferiority, belong to the private-school stage of human existence where there are ‘sides,’ and it is necessary for one side to beat another side, and of the utmost importance to walk up to a platform and receive from the hands of the Headmaster himself a highly ornamental pot.” It is time to grow up and stop treating women like the second sex.
