Speech – The Problem with Modern Feminism
Boys, before you groan and sigh I want you to hear me out, because I am not going to stand up here for 10 minutes ranting on about equality and women’s rights, i’m going to stand up here and rant about the fact that you will groan and sigh at the thought of feminism because girls, it’s all our fault. Sexism is a problem in the developing world. Everyone always hears about female activist groups and organisations fighting for equality but the current problem with unfair statistics and judgements in this world is women themselves. We are the ones who share posts about mistreated women all over Facebook, we are the ones who constantly shame men for placing standards on us, we are the ones complaining about the pay gap when we should be getting on with our careers. Feminism has been tainted with miss information and a constant obsession with being offended and that’s something that really annoys me. The system isn’t fair, get over it.
3.6% of 15 to 19 year olds in the total population of New Zealand are male and 3.4% are women. Girls it’s time to face the reality: we will never have the upper hand, so don’t go parading around topless and refusing all contact with the opposite gender, because that’s not feminism and to me modern feminism feels fashionably fake. Modern feminists bring their crazy, stupid and one sided opinions into the realm of actually relevant political and cultural disputes. Feminism is defined as “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” So girls, why are we so caught up on the stories and misinformation when we should be working out ways to the top. Stop writing hundreds of facebook posts and believing everything you read on the internet. Queen Beyonce said it herself, girls run the world. So why are we so busy complaining about the problems with gender equality instead of proving that we can be equal with men by working hard. Boy’s, I’m sorry. Now I don’t want to add to you ever expanding ego clouds, but in this game of life you’ve been dealt the upper hand, you’re stereotypically faster, stronger and smarter than women and you’ve done a good job on never letting us forget that, but girls have done an even better job on victimising you. 1 out of every 10 rape victims are male. Let that sink in. Now don’t get me wrong out of a class of 27 students, if 15 were female, approximately 5 of them would be raped before they finish university, that’s at least 1 of your friends and at least 4 people you’ve had a conversation with, having been striped of their humanity and left completely vulnerable. But there are countless support groups, organisations and counselors that have all the tools on hand to reduce this and help the victims, and boy’s you’ve been forgotten. No matter the extremity of the event no one wants to admit to something like that happening to them but at least (unfortunately) women aren’t alone, men are isolated. Feminists all around the world are working towards gender equality but the modern extreme feminists are working to demoralize men altogether. An example of this is “A woman (who likely identifies as a feminist herself) quite sensibly writes that college girls should drink responsibly as a form of defense against sexual assault, and other feminists call her a ”rape denialist.” It’s time to get your head out of the clouds, work towards gender equality in a realistic manner and stop making each other the victim
The term feminism is used so loosely now days that the value of it has been diminished. Free the nipple, everyone’s heard about it, seen it all over the magazines and some may have even done it themselves. It as an extreme feminist movement brought upon us by big time celebrities including Miley Cyrus. It’s a campaign launched in the hopes to desexulise women’s breasts so they can show their nipples in public without consequence. Now don’t get me wrong, womens bodies are overly sexulised and demorilised and a women is free to choose how she looks without scrutiny, but this campaign is blemishing the face of feminism and instead of being seen as empowering women working toward equality, feminists are seen as “man-hating”- nudists. How can someone who twerks half naked on stage and expose herself inappropriately claim to lead a feminist movement thats suppose to entitle women? quote from thought catalog: “The issue here is that it alienates a lot of women in that the people who are normally willing to protest topless are usually thin and white and have access to Instagram on their iPhone.” Feminists on social media can promote major issues with the use of just one hashtag. Social media helps fight for women’s rights if you’re western, white, have an iPhone and aren’t wearing a hijab in a children’s hospital watching your child die of starvation”. Out of a total of 143 countries, 13 don’t have gender equality laws. That’s 13 countries filled with women striped of their rights and living in fear, voiceless. While in America Wendy is using the hashtag feminist because she hasn’t shaved her legs for a week. So before you dive into the powerhouse of social media, think about your true motivation before you hashtag feminism for what you show, do or say.
It’s time to start working just as hard as men to prove our worth. Girls stop complaining about how unequal we are and start proving that we do have the ability to do great things. You are, smart, capable and just as good as men, and even though only 2% of women in the world describe themselves as beautiful, believing in yourself and making a difference is what being a true feminist is about. Feminism is still a major movement in most parts of the world, there’s no escaping it, but it doesn’t have to be the way you think. Do what you want, make your own decisions, but make a difference on the way.
Boys, I hope that this speech has opened your eyes to the truth behind the feminist movement and you think twice before grimacing at the thought. Girls I hope you understand that all of your feminist actions have consequences and there’s a bigger world out there so stop focusing on the restrictions placed on you as a women and start living your life. A quote: “To be a true feminist isn’t to act like a man. It isn’t to embody masculine traits and add more fuel and division to an already very male eschewed world. To be a true feminist is accepting the uniqueness that comes with your gender – strengths, limitations and all, and respect that same uniqueness in the opposite sex.”
Melanie Telford