I'm a feminist

    As we sat around a dinner table, awaiting our last group members to arrive before heading to the Rocky Horror Picture Show (Fourth of July Edition) Midnight premiere, the topic of feminism arose in response to a friend's comment regarding his misogynistic co-worker. I was frankly asked, "Are you feminist?"

     To which I replied, "I'm not sure, only because I don't know what exactly feminist means." In my mind, the term feminist mustered up images of bra-burning, butch, aggressive, man-hating, non-feminine females raging against the patriarchy-

     "Do you think believe men and women are equal?" my friend Rachel asked.

     "Yes, of course!" 

     "Then you're a feminist."

     

     If that's what being a feminist means, I've been one all along! Why did I have such a convoluted idea of what it meant to be a feminist? Where did all the negative stigma and non-feminine typing come from? 

     This article, How Most Things You Know About Feminists Are Vicious Conservative Lies, links the misrepresentation of feminism to conservative propaganda and speaks out against the feminist myths many buy into such as: 

• There is no sexism so feminism isn't needed anymore. 
• Feminists are all butch lesbians. 
• Feminists hate men and think women are better.

      In addition, there reigns the notion that feminism hates men. This is also a myth. Man-hating is not a quality all feminists possess! I'm sure some feminists do hate men, but feminism as a whole is not a movement against men. It's a movement toward equality. And as the article linked above states, "there's a difference between 'feminists' and 'misandrists'."