Feminism, a word that needs to be taken seriously by Tammin Williams

When we think of the word feminism, what comes to mind? Angry women, pitchforks in hand, screaming about how all men must be condemned to hell? Or perhaps a female that gets offended as soon as you demand she make you a sandwich?

What feminism actually is, is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of equality for both sexes. Many people often argue that feminism is not needed these days, how females are completely safe. However, I believe that it is very much needed. When you put a man in power who has been  accused of sexually assaulting and harassing women, then the result will always be biased. Look at  Kvanagh, Trump defended the perpetrator, degraded the victim and left her humiliated in the public eye.

The bible refers to a part where Jesus mentions gouging every male’s eyes out who dared look at a female in an inappropriate manner. If we took that verse as seriously as we do about gay relations,  most men would probably be blind. Another thing that the bible states is that man and woman are created equally.

Bills in Georgia, Ohio and Alabama have been passed to illegalise abortion. Someone who is found to have had an abortion, travelled to another state to get one or had a miscarriage can serve up to as  much as life in prison. You wonder who the senators or politicians who have passed this law are. Old, white males who have never been at the brunt of oppression? Not only that, but employers can refuse to let their employees have access to birth control or contraception. So not only is the world overpopulated enough but now we want to start up another HIV epidemic. These so called pro-lifers are not pro-life but in fact, misogynistic idiots who think it’s the 1900’s and have a say in women’s bodies.

Women are often told to keep quiet. Told to be secretive over our emotions and hormones or risk  being labelled hysterical. Yet the males who force the ideologies upon us praise the women in the  media for doing these things. They’re praised and congratulated for every female they sleep with and yet, if I show a slight interest in a male, I am labelled a s**t.  

They expect their partners to be modest, a virgin by the time they bed them on their honeymoon, just to boost their morality. Women are not allowed to actively or openly pursue a sexual desire of their own, often labelled a ‘s**t’ or ‘w***e’. Their skirts can’t be too low or they’re a prude; nor too high or they 'asked for it'.

By ‘it’, I mean rape. 85,000 documented cases alone are reported to the police, along with 400.000 cases of sexual assault or harassment in the UK alone. That doesn’t even account for the  undocumented ones. The fear culture around rape is extremely toxic, even the strongest of women silenced by the authorities. Questions in the form of ‘what were you wearing?’ often victimise the male, as if he was put in a hypnotic state by a pair of legs or shoulders or (heaven forbid) a stomach. It is not about what a woman was wearing (nor if the guy is a politician or male who has a bright football career ahead of him). Rape is a crime. You would not say the same for theft.

Yes, I understand that many men feel victimised or perhaps attacked, untrusted or slandered by the women who preach these beliefs. After all, it is not every guy who is like this. Perhaps we should focus on more important matters at hand, like climate change. This might not matter in 50 years time when we’re all dead. 

What would happen if we let every 'feminazi' have her own way? Honestly, not much. Every female has at least one male relative that they would not let harm come to.

 However, enforcing just a little more seriousness into this matter would do no harm to the world. Instead of praising the article writers who slander every feminist, stand up for her.

Before you think about pointing out that all feminists are ‘millennials’ or ‘gen z’ snowflakes who take everything in offence, remember the women who fought for women’s rights to vote. The women  who wore trousers and perhaps the original feminist, Queen Elizabeth I.

We must teach the new generation the error of our ways. Instead of teaching our boys to chase after girls in the playground, teach them to respect boundaries. Instead of teaching our girls that abuse is OK, a sign of guys liking them, teach them that it is toxic.

Feminism is a word that is slandered nowadays and we must teach the new generation the seriousness of it. 

Tammin Williams