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Feminism Through My Eyes

The Way I See Feminism

By Catarina VazquezPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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Today, the fight for equality is quite possibly one of the biggest issues in our world. You may hear about a certain event taking place in your community or something in the news dealing with feminism, or equality. You may ask yourself what exactly feminism is. That I cannot exactly tell you as the word means many different things to many different people but I can tell you what it is to me.

Growing up I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. Most of us are told this, yes, but do we even see the power of the sentence, or has it just become a phrase? You can be ANYTHING. That’s what I thought.

When I was four years, old I decided I wanted to be the president of the United States. At that time I was serious, but today I wouldn’t even dream of it. I can’t name anyone who didn’t laugh at me. It hurt. I understand it’s a bit ridiculous for a four year old to decide what they wanted but that wasn’t why it hurt. I didn’t understand why they laughed. I figured it was because I was a girl because just the day before a boy in my class had said the same thing and no one laughed at him. Why shouldn’t I reach for the stars? When I was four I decided that maybe being a girl was a bad thing. I couldn’t be anything “cool” if I was a girl. I had to be the mom because I was a girl. I had to play the waitress because I was a girl. I had to be everything I didn’t want to be because I was a girl. Can’t a girl choose what she wants by HERSELF?

People also tend to use the word girl as an insult. It shouldn’t be. Everyday I hear “you run like a girl” or “don’t be a girl” or “you let a girl beat you?” That doesn’t sound very nice does it. I sure would hate to be called that. Oh wait - I am that girl. So is over half the population. By saying this you are saying men are girls will always be lower than boys because a boy can be called a man or a girl. A woman can only be called a girl.

As a feminist, there are many things I believe. I decided to list a FEW below. Now obviously there are so many more but here are some:

  • Love is love. People should fall in love with other’s hearts, not their genders or race. When you find your true love you should marry them.
  • Catcalling is not okay. No, it’s not a compliment and don’t pretend like it’s one.
  • All races should be accepted. We are all humans. The only reason our skin color is different from others is because the closer your ancestors lived to the equator, the darker your skin became to protect you from the sun.
  • We need to stop comparing ourselves to people on TV, movies, and models in magazines. In most cases, photoshop is used to get that “perfect” body. Stretch marks are erased, hips are widened, and waists are shrunk. These are unrealistic body standards. There are only a few people who look like those models. We need to get people who actually look like us, like me. Don’t hate your body, thank your body. You are beautiful and perfect just the way you are.
  • All religions should be accepted. Everyone should be able to believe what they want. This is honestly a stupid sentence because how can you believe and follow something you don’t actually believe (It’s confusing how I put it, sorry).
  • No human is illegal. What the heck, America? You shouldn’t be able to deport or reject people. America is a country of immigrants. We shouldn’t limit our resources to only people from certain countries. I feel like saying, “Wake up America!” How do you think you got here? Obviously not through teleportation. Let’s help everyone have a better life! :)
  • Everyone should have equal rights and opportunities. Why are we even deciding whether people get rights or not?
  • I am 100 percent pro-choice. Now, notice I said choice. Women should be able to decide what they want to do with their own bodies. If a woman wants to have an abortion, then she should be able to. We cannot ban abortions and force teenagers and rape victims to carry a baby in their body for nine whole months against their will. This can ruin someone’s life. Men should not decide what we do with our bodies. Only we should.
  • Blaming rape victims is not okay. I don’t really know how I can put this simpler. Don’t rape people. If a man or woman is wearing something a bit revealing it is not okay to take that as an invitation to intrude their personal space and rape them. No is no and yes is yes. It’s that simple. Now obviously, it can get a bit complicated when we start throwing alcohol and different substances in the picture, but let’s just keep it simple.
  • Men should be able to show show emotion. Guys, you don’t have to be tough and love sports for a girl to love you. The right person will love you for who you are. You are humans to. You are also allowed to cry and be sad. It is completely normal.
  • This one kind of goes with the rape one but people should not be dresscoded for wearing tank tops or shorter shorts or tight pants. My pet peeve is when people get sent home because someone can see their bra strap and it’s “distracting” to male staff and students. Oh my gosh. Tell them not to stare at us. Correct their behavior, don’t tell us to change our bodies. So what if someone chooses to wear something a bit revealing. They CHOSE to wear that. If schools understood this I think the academic excellence would be increased because classes would be interrupted for silly things like clothes.
  • Some people may find this silly, but I think many women will agree with me here. Free tampons, pads, and bras for all. We didn’t choose to have our periods so we shouldn’t have to pay for them. Also, do you know how much a bra costs? Somewhere around 50 dollars for ONE. Multiply that by at least five and you’re already at somewhere around 200 dollars. The thing is we wouldn’t even have to wear a bra if people weren’t looked down on for not wearing one.

Now these are only a FEW reasons. I could name many, many more but I don’t want to you take up to much of your time. Like I said, these are some of MY reasons. Someone else is bound to have different ones and that is okay.

One more thing I wanted to address is that anyone can be a feminist. Today, I was in class and the guy in front of me asked the person next to him if he was a feminist. I was copying down some notes and thought he was talking to me. Without skipping a beat I answered, “Of course I am.” He gave me a weird look and then I realized he wasn’t talking to me. He turned back to his friend asked something that is now stuck in my mind. “How can a guy be a feminist?” Well, by saying he is one.

Anyone can be a feminist. They just need to find the right reasons.

feminism
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About the Creator

Catarina Vazquez

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