Feminism : What Does Feminism Mean? Essay

806 Words Jan 19th, 2016 4 Pages
As with any social movement, feminism has supporters and opposers. After speaking with several friends and family members, I found a broad spectrum of stances within this group. When I asked, “what does feminism mean to you? And do you consider yourself a feminist?”, none of the answers truly surprised me since it seemed to reflect morals and values. Both of my parents responded by explaining that feminism is the belief that all genders deserve equal treatment and stated they consider themselves feminists. One of my female friends responded essentially the same way and added “of course I am a feminist! Why wouldn’t I wanted to be treated equally?” A male friend of mine described it as women complaining about unfair treatment and did not consider himself a feminist in any way. Lastly, another one of my female friends described that they support equality “which is common sense, not feminism.” She also brought up how “extremists” have altered her perception of the movement and she does not consider herself a feminist for that reason. The only motive for any of them to not consider themselves feminists was due to judgement rather than the true definition. Each of the responses with a negative attachment to feminism led me to think about “Zombie Feminism” by Andrea Lowgren. One of my female friends who talked about it this way used the terms “radical, man hating and unnecessary”. She identified with supporting equality but would not embrace the identity of a feminist…

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