For this week’s article, I would like my readers to participate in an exercise. I would like everyone to pull out a dictionary and look up the word “feminism.” I expect that some of you will be too lazy to do this, so I will provide you with the definition of feminism made available by Merriam-Webster: “the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”
You may be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t that weird how they just totally leave out the part about the embittered, man-hating mob of butch harpies with a lot of body hair and sagging breasts that so much of our society refers to as feminists?”
What I am trying to point out by examining the definition of feminism is that this often unfairly stigmatized philosophy is nothing more than the belief that men and women should have equal rights and should be treated with equal respect. It has recently come to my attention that a disappointingly large number of people have failed to realize this on their own due to a number of the unfortunately negative connotation associated with the word “feminist.”
I am unsure where the majority of the stereotypes about feminists have come from, but rest assured, a woman who hates and/or discriminates against men is not a feminist. She is a sexist, just as a man who discriminates against women is a sexist. Contrary to popular belief, feminism is about equality between people of all genders and sexes, not female supremacy.
Here are some crazy facts about me: I often wear makeup and dresses. I will even wear a pair of high-heeled shoes on occasion. I do not hate men. I shave on an almost daily basis. I do not typically exude bitterness or anger. I respect stay-at-home moms. I am not a lesbian. I do not whine often (outside of my weekly Maroon column, of course). I appreciate it when someone holds a door open for me. I do not hate sex. I have never burned a bra. In fact, the bra is one of my favorite inventions, and I wear one regularly. Also, I am a feminist, and I am proud.
Being a feminist does not mean that you have to shave your head and sign yourself up to participate in a pro-choice rally. It also does not mean that you have to castrate yourself and feel ashamed to be a man. Feminists hold many different beliefs; most are not radicals who are opposed to marriage and motherhood.
Truthfully, anyone can be a feminist so long as he or she believes in equality, which I assume most people at a liberal arts school in New Orleans believe strongly in. In fact, I am almost positive that most people at Loyola are feminists who just have yet to realize it.
This article is dedicated to Melissa Masako Hirsch, Dr. Mui, and Dr. Butler.
Holly Combs can be reached at [email protected]
