Feminism is defined as “the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes”; feministic activism is the struggle for that equality (Reisenwitz).  Many women and men today believe that the world does not need feminism, in a national survey conducted by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation it was discovered that fifty percent of men and thirty percent of women do not identify themselves as feminists. The numbers may not seem like large ones, but compared to the twenty-three percent of men and forty-three percent of women that consider themselves feminists, the opposing numbers are not far off (Cai). Feminism is more than a women who is incredibly angry at men and hates them, it is fighting for something that both the sexes deserve: equal rights. It has given us the right to vote, it has given us the chance to obtain a higher education, feminism is the only reason for that progression to occur. Resisting change does not mean that others will stop to bring it. We need feminism because it’s improved the lives of the American sexes, it is shown throughout history with the civil rights movement and women’s suffrage. We need feminism because it takes the edge off of stereotypes that society has placed on the sexes. We need feminism because Trump’s campaign and the words he has said have brought upon increased confidence in the Americans that are in agreement with him.

 Throughout history feminism has helped women. It has allowed them to obtain the right to vote with women’s suffrage, pushing legislation that opened universities to female students, and the civil rights movement among others. The reason that women can vote and get an education is because of feminism, the people that refuse to believe this clearly are historically ignorant. As time has gone on, not only women needed help but men did too. Men do not have as much of a paternity leave as women do a maternity leave, now the law is finally looking into changing that. Feminism has improved the lives of the American sexes and that is why we need it. In 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed as a constitutional amendment for women to have equal rights in the U.S. but the ERA failed to let it through, but the fight for it to be passed prevailed. The shift that it caused provoked a change in thinking of women’s roles. Moreover Feminism has called out the rape culture that is occurring, something that is quickly increasing across the country, “…it was feminism that helped begin to remove some of the stigma surrounding sexual assault, giving survivors the language to label their sexual trauma” (Maxwell). Throughout time, everyone has pointed fingers at the victims and claimed that women were “asking for it”. Instead of teaching women to cover up, why not teach the men to keep it in their pants and not act like immature boys that just hit puberty? It’s called self-control. Unequal treatment goes back to the women even on the highest podiums, before Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Supreme Court justice, she was arguing gender discrimination cases in front of the court that she would later have a prevalent role in. Feminism has allowed Ginsburg to fight for equality, she has made it to the highest court in all the land to fight for women and the inequality they face. Equality is the little things, ”The number of women in public office has only grown over the years, and the Senate currently boasts 20 women, the highest total in American history,” (Maxwell). The public office has only grown throughout the years but there are eighty-three men in total in Senate, there is no denying that progression has been made but the difference between twenty and eighty-three is a big one (Maxwell). Up until now, it may have seemed like everything feminism has done is for women but that is simply because women face the most backlash. One accomplishment feminism has joined in on that most look over is the struggle for marriage equality, though it is not known as a popular feminist issue. Feminists have fought tirelessly over the years to insure that the equal rights the LGBT community and the victory of the law for same-sex marriage passing speaks volumes. It gives everyone the right to marry who they please, as it should be. Another law that feminism helped pass is Title IX, “commonly associated with compelling colleges and universities to support women's athletics, one of the biggest and most immediate impacts of the law affected women enrolling in law and medical schools.”

It ensures them equal access to higher education, hence why women make up “fifty-eight percent of college undergraduates”, which is an improvement from numbers in the past (Maxwell). The internet has given  feminism a platform to shine light on key issues and to bring more awareness. There are many blogs dedicated to discussing feminism and the struggles that women are facing, because of internet it is allowing women from all over the world to come together. The backlash that women face in first-world countries is not right of course but the backlash that women face in third-world countries is far worse, especially in middle-eastern countries. The women in the United States are allowed to speak out about our rights, women in some middle-eastern countries get hit by police for not having their burka on. There are women in those countries fighting for their rights, but it is not 100% safe for them to do so. We need feminism because the women of first-world countries must recognize the privilege they have and support the women that do not even have basic human rights. Feminism has accomplished a lot in terms of a transnational level, but the concern now is, whether most Western feminists not seeing that feminism is a global issue. Western feminists have no idea what non-Western feminists endure in their countries, so the job the privileged group is to educate themselves on what exactly the others are facing and not assume that it is already known. Western cultural norms are not feminist for everyone, the countries that the non-Western feminists are from are not as modern as Western countries are – for example women in Saudi Arabia are not supposed to drive themselves to work or anywhere else (Bustle). The biggest complication that emerges when it comes to Western-feminists trying to understand what non-Western feminists endure is not being able to understand why their “norms” are even existent. For example, when the women choose to wear niqabs, hijabs, or burkas in the heat – that is something that is out of the norm for Western-feminists, so it is difficult to understand why it even happens. One important fact that Western-feminists need to understand is that some of those women wearing the niqabs, hijabs, or burkas have chosen to do so, not all of them feel forced to abide by their norms so pushing Western norms/culture onto them is not going to show support (Bustle). It is time that everyone realizes that being in the Western world comes with privilege: being able to get an education, having the freedom to speak out, etc. Western people certainly do not have it easy but it is important to realize that not all women or men get the same rights. 

The human mind tends to bunch things up in schemas and it boils down further into stereotypes, which is far too common in our society. Everything and everyone comes with a stereotype, sometimes it is not so bad and it helps but other times, it generalizes people into groups that they are not a part of. We need feminism because it takes the edge off of the stereotypes that society places on all sexes. Women are meant to be housewives, cook and clean. A man comes home from a long day of work and boasts about how hard his day was but fails to recognize that keeping the house together is just as difficult, only because it is not a real job.  A quote that was submitted to a Public Relations campaign for feminism on why feminism is needed stated, “I need feminism because when talking about women’s rights, someone came up to me and said, ‘Women are only good for keeping our stomachs full and our testicles empty” (Gaag). That is an example of the many stereotypes that are associated with women and what, in the eyes of some men, they should be – not to say that men do not face the same hostility. Men are meant to be macho, “manly” men, no crying allowed. If they cry, they are quickly called out and called a girl or a pussy as if it is an insult, because women are known as the weaker ones. Men are not meant to have feelings nor can they show them, which is why homophobia is so intense in the male community, because homosexual men are in touch with their feelings, show them as they please and that goes against what heterosexual males are taught to be. Although, the term pussy refers to the vagina of women and endures things that men could not even bear to go through but yet, it is quickly associated with weakness. The gap between men and women is so wide that women are not taken seriously at times when they need to be, like at a job. Hillary Clinton, for instance, is far more qualified to become president than Donald Trump ever will be, yet he won. She proves that no matter how qualified a women is, she will at times get turned down in the face of a man. Yes, the gap between men and women is large but men face prejudice as well. Women have more choices when it comes to who they want to be and how to express themselves, men on the other hand have to restrict themselves to certain models of what being a “man” entails. For example, cross gender behavior is not as acceptable in boys than it is in girls, “tomboy” is something that is used to describe a phase in a young girl’s life where she actively dressed like a boy would and it is deemed acceptable but for a boy, it gives way for bullies to poke fun.  Furthermore, the revolution that is feminism has made some men feel as though their needs and voices are being pushed aside hence why, some of them are not supporters. The men that do call themselves feminists and recognize their privilege are called out for “not being a real man” (Gaag). These stereotypes that have been around for years and years have been passed down to children and that is a mistake that has to be stopped. A four year old named Jeremy went to  nursery school wearing barrettes, he was told that he must be  girl because “only girls wear barrettes.” Many would argue that his parents were doing the wrong thing by allowing their son to come school wearing the barrettes but the were not doing anything wrong, they were simply trying to raise their son in a gender neutral house. Jeremy tried his best to explain that “wearing barrettes doesn’t matter” and “being a boy means having a penis and testicles” but at the end, he decided to pull down his points to prove that he in fact is a boy and him wearing barrettes does not say anything about who he is sexually. However, the children responded “Everybody has a penis; only girls wear barrettes.” (Gaag). This story shows without a doubt how gender roles are molded at such a young age, children quickly notice things and once they learn how things are “supposed to be” they continue to think that until they mature. 

However, children’s movies are on the road to changing the way kids think. The Disney movies Cars and Toy Story present their characters as natural born leaders, typical alpha male qualities – especially in Cars. Lighting McQueen starts off attaining a victory that he arrogantly knew he would achieve, his fantasies after winning the Piston Cup includes many female cars worshipping him. Later on during the film, he meets Mater and Sally. Sally is a headstrong woman who does not fall for McQueen’s charms and he does not think much of Mater, but he soon realizes that he does need them both. The same goes for Woody and Buzz in Toy Story, Woody is the natural born leader but is faced with Buzz who is the same as him. Towards the end of the film, they both become the best of friends and learn that they need each other. Films like these stray kids away from the typical gender roles that are shown in movies; the girl needs to be saved so the guy saves her, she falls for him immediately, he acts as if he owns her, and in the end, they are married.. It is not fair for young children to feel as though they can not truly be who they want to be because society has a messed up definition of what it means to be a girl or boy.  

In terms of defining what it means to be either sex, our current President Donald Trump showcased the clear definitions he had in his mind throughout the 2016 election. Trump’s campaign and the derogatory and controversial words he has said have brought upon confidence in the Americans that are in agreement with him. According to CNN, 

“Trump's rise in the political arena made it jarringly clear that women still face barriers bolted into society's foundations. With his incessant judging of women by their attractiveness and his boasts about grabbing women between their legs and kissing them without their consent, Trump has reinvigorated feminism by reminding everyone, women especially, of the small irritations and the serious violations.” Trump’s words have caused all havoc to break loose, specifically the incident of his interview from a few years ago that leaking and him stating that he used his fame to grab women and kissed them against their will. This directly translates to sexual assault, no other way to put it. Unfortunately, Trump ended up winning the election and the reaction to his attainment of the oval office was not a positive one. Many people joined in on the Women’s March, the only good thing out of this election would be the fact that feminism has become a household topic.  People had begun to ignore the many problems that women face and the issues were beginning to become faded. With Trump’s rise in the political world and his many acts of misbehavior, they became more evident than ever before. (Ghittis) Beyond that, the appeal that Trump has towards the male population all surrounds “fantasy of masculine power reclaimed” (Filipovic). The sheer fact that Trump ran against a woman after having a black president for eight years has had a toll on the male population that were used to seeing their faces “reflected in the halls of power, this trend away from white male authority has simply become intolerable” (Filipovic). Trump is rich, has beautiful women that want him and who willingly parade around him for him and his wealth – traits that his supporters strive to encompass. “Men don’t need more masculine posturing or promises to restore them to a forever-gone greatness. What they need is to make their own move toward gender equality, to break down the stereotypes and fetters of masculinity,” instead of attempting to attain vile characteristics, these men could be recognizing the lack of women’s rights and raising their voice to shine light on issues that are overlooked (Filipovic). 

The time when one of my friends told me that she did not understand why feminism was a moment that I realized that I 100% identify as one. My response was to roll my eyes and attempt to explain to her that the only reason we both are even allowed to be in school or able to vote is because of feminism, but she refused to accept it. Being an immigrant and a person of color has made a bigger impact on how I view feminism, especially because of the Indian culture I grew up in. My parents did not raise me in a typical Indian manner but the orthodox views towards women was apparent in the fellow Indians around me. The fact that my friend’s mom refused to do anything about a boyfriend beating her because of what the Indian community would say is the reason why feminism is needed, though talking some sense into the mom would help too. The way that men talk about and to  women nowadays is the reason we need feminism, women are only seen by some as subjects to talk about in a vulgar way. I need feminism because I am tired of being cat called, I’m tired of boys thinking they are entitled to my attention just because their nether regions contain testicles, I’m tired of fathers telling their sons to stop crying like a girl and letting them grow up thinking that they are not allowed to have feelings. It is 2017 and we are struggling to make all the sexes feel that they are allowed to be who they truly are. We are caging in men and allowing the recurring stereotype that they are meant to be robots who do not feel anything but the head below their waist continue. We are caging in women and allowing the recurring stereotype that they are meant to just be at home, taking care of the kids continue.  Feminism is not about women hating men – it has never been about that. It is about the patriarchy that has been around for years and the caged in expectations and stereotypes that have been created for men and women . It is about the prejudice men and women face – not just all men and women, but white men and women, POC men and women; they all face their own kinds of prejudice. Many have said that 2016 had been the year of feminism, but why not make that an event that occurs for years to come?
