In my opinion, they are no short answer to this question.
A few months back, someone asked me if I was a feminist, and I have to say it took me a few minutes to respond. I was born in the late ’60s, feminism had another meaning then or perhaps another role. There was a lot of anger then, and in general, for me, the word itself always felt negative, not inclusive, and one-sided.
In the ’60s, the feminist movement was very radical, a bit of hatred toward men, perhaps it was necessary then, but in 2021 I do not think we need this drastic way of thinking. In my view, when someone asks, are you a feminist, it most often brings me back to that time, which my answer would have been no. The radicalness of the movement created a division between the group, and even today, we can feel the gap still being here. Indeed my 16 years old son mentioned something of that matter some time ago. Feminism should be unifying the groups to improve women’s conditions all over the world, not dividing them.
Time has changed and in terms of feminism,
I would describe myself as such but with a slight nuance: women cannot achieve what they want without men. I am a mom of two boys, I have been around the masculine gender all my life, husband, brother, sons, and even my cats have all been male. In my professional life, I have worked with many men executives. However, being in an industry populated mainly by women, we cannot avoid collaborating, negotiating, and conferring with the other gender.
I think being a feminist is educating people,
I believe it must start with boys and men. As a mom, I presume we have more chances with boys, and it is easier and faster to create new believes with the young generation than the older one. Nevertheless, teaching men respect and self-respect is the foundation of all. As women and mothers, we are responsible for teaching those young men the relation with their female counterparts and how to treat everyone equally. The responsibility of fathers is also very grand; their teaching must mirror the one led by women.
As women, we also necessitate to have self-confidence, and men need to strengthen those beliefs by supporting our cause, working with us, standing up for our rights, and working hand and hand with us. I believe this is not just a woman’s cause. It is humanity’s cause. That is why I love the “He for She” movement, and this where I would like to dedicate time, effort, and money in the future so we can build a wholesome world where men and women can have equal rights.
Equals rights are what we need to focus on and not to be equal.
Men and women cannot be equal; scientifically and anatomically speaking, we will always have our difference. We need to accept our diversity and embrace our uniqueness, but we need to have equal rights and gender equality on every professional, political and personal level.
In conclusion, to answer the question, Am I a feminist? I will answer yes if we all work together to improve the relationship between men and women worldwide.
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