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Feminism

The true meaning behind the word.

By HolliePublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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Wow, it's been 100 years since the suffragette movement began in 1918. As a proud feminist, its a year to celebrate all that we have achieved over the past 100 years to get closer to our goal of equality. Although we're not there yet, even in first world countries, we have made huge progress, from women gaining the vote in 1920 to women being allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia in 2017. But what does feminism really mean?

The UK feminist movement began in the 1960's. Women had proved that they could do manual jobs such as farming and mechanics during the world wars where they took over the necessary jobs from men. However, once the wars had ended, women went back to being unpaid housewives, and men back to being the breadwinner of the family. The feminist movement was used to get the recognition that women could work too and provide for their families.

If women got paid minimum wage for all the domestic duties that they do, they'd be on an annual salary of £30,000, however, women voluntarily do this for free. This is due to the way that we have been socialised, to look after others, be passive and to play it safe. No wonder young girls have so little opportunities compared to their male counterparts, were literally training them to not take any opportunities available and to shy away from challenges. We should be pushing our daughters, sisters, nieces and granddaughters to be their absolute best and to grab life with both hands. No more sitting on the sidelines! The future must be equal!

In the FTSE 100 (The Financial Times Stock Exchange top 100 businesses) 93 of the businesses are run by men, 7 by women. Why? Because our girls aren't aiming for the big spots. They're settling for secretarial jobs or office jobs. No more. We need our girls to be just as empowered as our boys, to make it to the top jobs and to say "Yeah, I'm a woman and I can do it".

Feminism isn't about man-hating or misandry. It is about equality. Making people see that just because we are women doesn't mean we are worth any less than men. We are women, we are proud to be women, and we want equality.

Emma Watson's United Nations Women speech.

On this centenary, we need to show that we are as strong as ever, that we won't let this society break us and that we won't give up. We will have equality. Maybe not now, maybe not in another 100 years, but if we continue to fight, we will gain equality for our girls.

And if you're a man reading this, don't sit back and think that this isn't your fight. This is everyone's fight. What about your mums, your sisters, your daughters? Do you want them to face these prejudices and inequalities? Make a stand and the world will become fairer. Every person who fights in this battle against equality brings us closer and closer to our goal. There should be no such thing as inequality—male jobs, female jobs. We shouldn't have to think about these things. That's a job. That's a man. That's a woman. And this is life.

"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided"
feminism
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About the Creator

Hollie

A sociology student and future law and politics student. I love reading, my fave books being Harry Potter. I love politics, law and sociology, so expect a lot written about those, as well as education in general.

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