Modern Feminism

A Human Movement

My favorite game to play growing up was “house," a game very creatively named by a group of six year-olds that mimicked what we believed to be a typical household. Every day, the dad would leave to go to “work,” which meant that whichever boy we had dragged into playing with us got to leave for the monkey bars. While “Dad” was away, girls spent the rest of recess pretending to cook, clean and raise our children. For some reason, that was fun for us. And that’s how the game always went. That’s how we liked it.

One afternoon, to our surprise, a boy in our class asked to play with us— but he didn’t want to go to work. He wanted to help us cook and clean and raise the kids. We laughed. And without missing a beat, we told him that’s not what boys do.

Before we were even first-graders, my friends and I had been cultured to believe what men and women can and cannot do. This realization is not only disheartening, but also typical today—and these rigid gender roles and constructions needs to go. But how can an entire culture of people learn to create an equal, happy society that would benefit men and women alike?

The answer is one word with three syllables, filled with passion for gender equality: feminism.

Feminism revolves around the basic belief that men and women should be equal politically, socially, personally and economically. More simply put, gender should not be a determining factor in these aspects of life. That’s it.

So why is it that feminism continues to harbor such a negative connotation, especially from men? Dr. Matthew Jones, a professor of women and gender studies at Miami University, believes this resistance stems from the media portrayal of feminism. “It’s viewed as this movement that hates men and wants to destroy men and is somehow threatening to men,” he said.

From a young age, boys are cultured to believe that they should be in charge. It’s ingrained in how we raise them. So when it comes to a movement in which men are not controlling the conversation, they don’t know how to react. They often push back.

Feminism focuses on women’s issues—that’s a no-brainer. But we could never solve these issues without our male counterparts.

Julia Koenig, co-president of Females Working On Real Democracy (F-WORD) at Miami, discussed the necessity of involving men in the dialogue.

“The main issues [of feminism] are in conjunction with men,” she said. “If we want women to be paid more, then their male bosses should pay them more. If we want sexual assaults to stop happening, men need to be educated on what consent is.”

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive.

But the feminist movement hasn’t always focused on including men. “The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments” was written in 1848 by a group of women who felt suppressed by men in society, specifically their husbands. While the document succeeded in drawing attention to the issue as a whole, the dialogue perpetuated men as being the ones to blame. Words such as “against,” “withheld,” “usurped,” and “deprived,” were used to describe the actions of men. This characterized the movement as a fight against men. Not exactly the best way to invite men into the conversation.

In more recent years, men have been encouraged back into the conversation. During the second wave of feminism in 1963, Betty Friedan released “The Feminine Mystique,” a book that acknowledged that most women were unhappy with their lives due to their inequality. But Friedan hit the nail on the head when she emphasized that men are not the villains, but they, too are victimized by the strict social stereotypes engraved in our culture.

Oftentimes, men feel that they can’t express their emotions. If they’re sad, crying in front of others is an embarrassment.

“Culture teaches men that to be kind and sensitive to anyone rather than children or parents means you’re soft or weak,” said Dr. Jones. Feminism often focuses on the oppression of women that we forget that men, too, are succumbed to their own expectations.

UN Goodwill Ambassador and British actress, Emma Watson, is a huge proponent of the feminist benefits for men. At an event for the HeforShe campaign in New York, she discussed the importance of men’s involvement.

“We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence,” she said. “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.”

Men are a part of the answer. If we don’t help men feel free from stereotypes, women will never be able to achieve equality.

Feminists want men and women to be viewed and treated equally. So why not find your purpose in fighting for this? In helping to create a society that does not condemn based on gender? In ensuring that your future daughter isn’t scared to speak up in a room full of men, that your future son isn’t disempowered to share how he feels?

It starts with us.

Don’t be afraid to be a part of the conversation— and to change the dialogue. It’s not a female issue and it’s not a male issue. It’s a human issue, and it starts with you.

written by Julia Plant

styled by Erin Haymaker and Olivia Petas

makeup by Erin Haymaker

models: Ali Royals and John Dzurec

photographed by Kira Salsman