Feminism has been around since 1848, when the first Women’s Rights Movement occurred. This was a pivotal moment within the development of what feminism has come to be. However, I believe that throughout the years, feminism has been misconstrued and its original purpose has been lost. 

People see feminism today and often picture radical women who believe that females are superior to males. I think that feminism is so much more than that and truly is not about superiority to men. 

Feminism is about equality. It is not about putting women on a pedestal. It is about breaking glass ceilings that have been around for centuries, about ending stereotypes, and about finding women to be equal to men. 

We are all human, and feminism, especially, emphasizes this. Today, I am often shocked when I hear other girls talking about how they are not a feminist. 

When women say they “are not a feminist”, they are saying that they do not believe women and men are equal and that women should be put in a little box, a category, with no choice. What they do not realize is that the majority of their rights today, including voting, owning property, having a bank account, simply would cease to exist if it were not for feminism. 

Feminism is not necessarily about being the CEO of a company. Not every woman wants that. Feminism, at its core, is about having the choice. Whether a woman wants to be a neurosurgeon or a stay at home mom, feminism gives them that choice. 

Before feminism as a movement existed, women were confined to their husbands. They had virtually no rights. The feminist movement strove to earn these rights. Women wanted control over their lives and the feminist movement is what gave them that control. 

Although feminism started with white, middle and upper class women, there was a second wave of the movement which focused more on cultural equality as well as just gender equality. 

As powerful as it was, feminism today is often viewed in a negative light, even by other women. Men often see it as polarizing which, in my opinion, is likely a response to being “threatened”. Men who are comfortable with their positions and themselves do not see it as threateningly as those who are insecure. 

More conservative women tend to see feminism as radical and out of the box. This is, to me, upsetting because feminism is not just about the rights of liberal women who want male-dominating jobs but about all women, no matter their political stance. 

The feminist movement has been heavily misconstrued, especially by more conservative women and men. As a society, we need to realize that feminism was, and is, crucial to the rights we hold today. It is not about being radical. To its core, it is about social, economic, and political equality for all women of all status.